International Poster Exhibition debuts at UMSL
During the Chicago International Poster Biennial, opening this week at UMSL's Gallery FAB, 92 award-winning posters from 21 countries will make their very first traveling debut. This poster is called “C’est L’été,” or "This is Summertime."
FROM THE NEWS WIRE:
For the first time in its history, the Chicago International Poster Biennial show will be on display outside of Chicago.
Gallery FAB on the campus of the University of Missouri–St. Louis is serving as host for the Second Chicago International Poster Biennial Finalists Exhibition. The exhibit will run through April 12 and feature 92 of the 175 finalist posters created by award-winning international poster artists from 21 countries around the world.
Jennifer McKnight, associate professor of art at UMSL, organized this special exhibition with Lance Rutter, director of the Chicago International Poster Biennial.
“If you came out last year to see the CIPB Juror’s show, you are going to love this collection of winning posters from the 2010 Chicago Poster Biennial Finalists show even more,” McKnight said.
Gallery FAB hosted the CIPB Juror’s show in fall of 2011.
The exhibit’s opening reception will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Jan. 19. Lance Rutter, CIPB director, will attend the reception, and CIPB2 posters by acclaimed New York graphic artist Paula Scher and CIPB2 catalogues will be available for purchase. CIPB2 was the Second Chicago International Poster Biennial, held in 2010.
Gallery FAB is at 201 Fine Arts Building at Rosedale Drive and Florissant Road, 63121. All exhibits at the gallery are free and open to the public. Regular hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, call 314-516-6967 or visit umsl.edu/~art
Hazelwood Central senior earns acceptance to MIT
Luther Banner, a senior at Hazelwood Central High School, will fulfill his dream of attending prestigious MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
For all the grief that North County schools receive, you might be surprised to know that the Hazelwood School District has been quietly building an award-winning robotics program. It is so successful, in fact, that one of the students on the Hazelwood Central team recently received a rare invitation to study mechanical engineering at MIT, the #1 ranked university in the world for engineering and technology! HSD’s Diana Gulotta shares his inspiring story…
Every college-bound high school senior has aspirations of getting accepted to the college of his dreams, and when the dream becomes a reality, it takes a little getting used to. Luther Banner, a senior at Hazelwood Central High School, is on the verge of experiencing his dream of attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
In mid-December, the school released its early action decision list online. A few days after seeing his name on the list, he got a shiny, silver cylindrical package from MIT containing a formal acceptance letter, confetti, balloons, stickers and information about the school. The package arrived just before Christmas.
“It’s pretty surreal for me. It hasn’t settled in that I’ve been accepted to MIT,” said Banner, noting that only 11 percent of students are accepted for early action. “It’s still shocking. It’s my dream school.”
Banner plans to accept the offer from MIT to study mechanical engineering. He said MIT will offer him a scholarship, but he is researching other scholarship opportunities too. He was also accepted to Georgia Institute of Technology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
“My grandmother and mom are really excited. They pretty much told me that they knew I was going to get in, but I was worried about it,” he said. “I wasn’t 100 percent sure I’d get accepted. It’s a highly competitive school to get into. I was thinking about the other kids that I’d be up against for admission.”
Banner is a notable student, taking five advanced placement (AP) classes this year – calculus, senior English, government, Spanish IV and physics. He is a co-captain of the RoboHawks robotics team, and last spring, he was nominated and received the FIRST Dean’s List Award at the FIRST Robotics Competition St. Louis Regional.
Banner and his teammates on the Hazelwood Central RoboHawks demonstrated their robotics skills at a St. Louis Cardinals game last year.
FIRST – For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – is a “thrilling and unique spectator sport experience in which teams of high school students solve an engineering design challenge through imagination, dedication, teamwork and the help of their robotic friends.” The RoboHawks won the event and qualified to participate in the FIRST National Championship, which took place in St. Louis. (in NoCo actually, at St. Louis Community College – Flo Valley)
During the championship competition, Banner was named to the FIRST Dean’s List, an honor recognizing 10 students from the United States and abroad for their leadership and dedication to FIRST. Of the 10 selected, only two were juniors – Banner and a student from Rhode Island. Winners received a long list of prizes, including a BlackBerry Playbook tablet, a BlackBerry Torch mobile phone, a Nike book bag with a shirt and hat, gift cards to JC Penney and Starbucks, a Kindle e-reader, a flip camera, software and a trip to New Hampshire to the FIRST headquarters.
Being named as a Top 10 student involved in robotics certainly didn’t hurt his chances of realizing his dream. “It helped,” he said. “MIT was always the school in the back of my head. I knew it was tough to get in. I didn’t view it as a reality at first, but I decided to apply at the end of my junior year.”
Banner went to New Hampshire in August, during the first week of school in HSD. While there, the students toured MIT, but at this point, he had no idea what his future would hold.
Fast forward to the present and Banner seems quietly humbled, yet excited, about what’s to come. The robotics team is preparing for the competition season and plans to participate in events in Kansas City and St. Louis. The team is working toward earning the prestigious Chairman’s Award, presented to the team that best represents a model for other teams to follow and embodies the goals and purpose of FIRST.
Banner said the team is trying to enhance the awareness of FIRST and be an “inspiration to the community and the District.” When he goes to college, he said he will “miss everything” about robotics.
“I plan to find a team to help mentor. It’s an environment and an atmosphere that you can’t get away from,” he said. “I’ll miss being on a team. To see that you built something that great with your own hands is exhilarating.”
Banner gives credit to “every teacher I’ve had who pushed me to work as hard as I can” in getting him to where he is today. He especially gives thanks to Catherine Sylve, a former teacher at HCHS and RoboHawks sponsor, for “making” him get involved in robotics. Sylve continues to be actively involved with the team. He also gives thanks to retired Spanish teacher Carol Villalobos for encouraging him to apply to MIT.
As for his family, Banner is grateful to them for “believing in me and for all that they give up to support me.”
“My family has always said ‘Strive to be the best. If not, why do it?’ I try to live by that in everything I do.”
Eagle Days returns to Chain of Rocks this weekend
FROM THE NEWS WIRE:
Eagle Days 2012, January 14 and 15
9:00 am to 3:00 pm
View eagles in your own backyard!
Residents of the bi-state area are invited to view bald eagles this January at Eagle Days – a free public program at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge. During the winter, the Mississippi River hosts one of North America’s largest concentrations of bald eagles, who are drawn to areas of open water in search of fish, their preferred food. The Chain of Rocks rapids to the south of the Bridge are ideal fishing grounds.
From the Bridge, an ideal viewing platform, visitors can watch eagles fishing, riding ice floes, soaring overhead or roosting in nearby trees.
Additional Eagle Days Programming Includes:
Live Eagle Educational Program
By the Wild Bird Sanctuary, repeated every 20 minutes from 10:00 a.m. until 2:40 p.m.
Eagle Viewing
Scopes at the center of the bridge are staffed by trained volunteers to help you view eagles diving for fish, roosting in the trees along the banks of the Mississippi, and soaring over the bridge.
Eagle Nest Replica
This full-size eagle’s nest is a great photo opportunity!
Warming Tent Activities
Hands-on art activities for children facilitated by Green Center (Saturday) and the EarthWays Center of the Missouri Botanical Garden (Sunday).
Living History Demonstrations
Lewis and Clark re-enactors from the Discovery Expedition of St. Charles, Missouri and the Lewis and Clark State Historic Site. Don’t miss the raising and lowering of the flag at 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. at the Missouri Bridge entrance!
St. Louis Audubon Display
Featuring hands-on exhibits of local birds courtesy of the St. Louis Audubon Society.
The Confluence Partnership Display
Learn about the history and importance of The Confluence region and America’s Great Rivers.
Refreshments
Ed’s Food will be serving hot dogs, chicken strips, shish kabobs, egg rolls, crab rangoon, hot cocoa, lemonade, soda, and water.
Things to Bring:
- Binoculars
- Very warm clothes including a hat and gloves
- Camera
- Comfortable Shoes (It is about a 1/2-mile walk to the eagle scopes and additional Eagle Days programming, both located at the middle of the Bridge.)
- Cash (Eagle Days is free but select parking lots and food vendors will only accept cash)
- Curiosity
Please Leave at Home:
- Your dog Fluffy or any other pets
Parking:
Free parking is available at two satellite lots in Missouri, the St. Louis Welcome Center at Riverview Drive and I-270 and North Riverfront Park, off of Riverview Drive south of the waterworks. A free shuttle will be available from both locations. Free parking is also available at the Illinois Bridge entrance. Parking at the Missouri Bridge entrance costs $5.
Volunteers:
If you are interested in volunteering for Eagle Days, please contact Jamilia Harris at 314-877-1309 or jamilia.harris@mdc.mo.gov.
Sponsors:
Dana Brown Charitable Trust
Trio Foundation of St. Louis
Edward Jones
Great Rivers Greenway
Illinois Conservation Foundation
Metro East Parks and Recreation District
Pettus Foundation
Missouri American Water
Cargill
America’s Central Port
ConocoPhillips
Additional Support:
Chipotle
City of Madison, IL
Discovery Expedition of St. Charles, MO
EarthWays Center of the Missouri Botanical Garden
Katy Bike Rental
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
Lewis & Clark State Historic Site
Marshall Scott Enterprises
Mostly Bikes, LLS
Pei Wei Asian Diner (Ladue & Creve Coeur)
St. Louis Audubon Society
Starbucks
Sweet Tomatoes (Creve Coeur & Crestwood)
The Green Center
The Pasta House Company
World Bird Sanctuary
A big thank you to all our volunteers. This event would not be possible without your help.
Produced by:
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For more information on Eagle Days call 314.436.1324 x117 or e-mail charles@trailnet.org.
Rooms with a View: 9756 E Lookout Court
Among the rich tapestry of unique homes lining the Riverview bluff, this 1920s Spanish-style cottage just might be the coolest of them all.
In 1917, when Riverview Drive was nothing but a dirt road hugging the banks of the Mississippi, St. Louis real estate developers R.W. Sikking & Robert Beckwith hatched an ambitious plan. Eyeing the vast stretch of wooded hillside overlooking the river, they purchased 255 acres of prime bluff property and proceeded to sell off individual lots at a brisk pace.
Many of the buyers were well-heeled city dwellers like lumber magnate Ben Fry, who built a lavish 10-room residence with formal gardens and a grand pergola. But most of the homes constructed in the Riverview Gardens subdivision were actually summer cottages, chicken ranches and what the developers called “little city farms,” where men of modest means could work in the city, live in the country and grow their own food.
“The interest in Riverview Gardens,” said Sikking in a 1917 Post-Dispatch article, “is due to the fact that the home sites overlook the river and have the most attractive surroundings, including the magnificent Chain of Rocks Park and the long stretch of drive along the top of the towering bluff. The sites are in the country, in the sense that the homeowners can own their automobiles and raise enough [food] to pay the equivalent of rent; and they are in the city in the sense that they are right at the city limits, with street car service and other city conveniences.”
By 1919, Sikking & Beckwith were selling a “little city farm” every single day, at prices ranging from $250 to $500. But around the same time, others were flocking to the bluff for entirely different reasons, including the owners of Peabody Coal, who decided to build a tiny rustic cottage at 9756 E. Lookout Court. It was here, at this secluded half-acre hideaway with sweeping river views, that company higher-ups would escape to play cards, entertain women and sneak a drink during Prohibition.
A few years later, in 1926, legend has it that CEO Francis Peabody’s mother (or perhaps grandmother) wanted to use the cottage as a summer residence. But finding it a bit too small and rustic for her needs, she oversaw the construction of an addition, bringing the house to its current size of 1,000 square feet. She added two bedrooms, an indoor bathroom and a small basement, and reportedly lived there with a maid. She was also responsible for the Spanish Revival details on the exterior facade.
In 1951, after 30 years of ownership, the Peabody family sold the property to a couple who lived on Riverview Drive below. Unfortunately, the husband died soon after, leaving his widow to live alone in the cottage for another 40 years. She finally sold the home in 1991 to its third owner, Gena Scott, who has lovingly cared for it ever since.
Scott is an artist, a former antique store owner and an all-around free spirit, just like many of her neighbors on the bluff. And now that her health is declining, she is committed to finding the next owner and caretaker for this fantastic little rustic cottage.
During her time in the house, she often rose before dawn to paint, capturing the river’s changing colors in the sunlight. Her goal now is to share this one-of-a-kind haven with another creative soul, someone who will cherish the unique energy of the property and use the magnificent landscape for inspiration. Perhaps that person is you…
9756 E. Lookout Court is currently on the market for $98,000, including a half-acre of land. More photos and info available here.
If you’d like a buyer’s agent to show you this delightful vintage home on the most spectacular lot, I would be more than happy. Contact me at (314) 359-5927 or shannon@STLhomeswithsoul.com.
