Historical March 1985 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Bill FitzGibbons resigned as the chairman of the West End Neighborhood Arts Council at a meeting on Feb. 21; Mary Bartley was elected as the new chairman.
The West End Arts Council was started in 1981 by Bill FitzGibbons and his wife Ann.
In the four years since its inception, the Arts Council has become one of the city’s leading neighborhood arts councils of which there are presently twenty.
The general boundaries of the organization’s involvement are Forest Park, Delmar, Vandeventer, and now, with the new City/ County arts organization, Big Bend. Bill FitzGibbons stated in a recent interview that he felt the council had made three major achievements, all of which have heightened awareness of the arts.
The Art Museum scholarship program has sent over 50 neighborhood children to the museum for classes, and The United Kingdom/St. Louis Artists Exchange has provided the invaluable stimulation which occurs when cultures meet and communicate. Bill felt that the Council’s third accomplishment was the sparking a heightened appreciation of modern sculpture in the community.
At the time “Orifice II” by Joe Moss was installed at the corner of Kingsbury and Des Peres, it was met with lively discussion on its merits and meaning.
However, when it was removed for display in an Eastern museum, it was missed. Neighbors and passersby expressed their disappointment at its departure. Both Ann and Bill feel that through exposure to the work, the community had become more aware and accepting. Plans underway by the FitzGibbons will be carried out by Mary Bartley; she has also initiated a series of new committees and plans to add some new faces to the Advisory Board.
In nominating Mary as chairman, Bill FitzGibbons described her strong administrative skills as the recent president of the Central West End Association and her interest in art and St. Louis through her involvement in planning the Vivace portion of The St. Louis Arts Festival and her “St. Louis Lost” feature in the West End Word.
As well as the final coordination and execution of Vivace, the West End Arts Council has two other projects underway: 1) a premiere-studio showing of a collaborative work by Bill Kohn, artist and Tom Hamilton, composer in May at Bill Kohn’s Gallery; 2) sculptor Alan Sonfist is designing a park near Union Station which will replicate the natural wilderness of St. Louis as it existed in the mid-1770s.
The Council will also continue the Museum Scholarship program and the United Kingdom/St. Louis Artists Exchange. Offices for the organization will be relocated in space donated by the Central West End Association at 4466 West Pine.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, March 1985.
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Original source: SD_Times1985_03.pdf, printed page(s) 1; PDF page(s) 1.
