Stacey Morse Paints The Town With Art

This week, Chesterfield Patch introduces you to Stacey Morse, executive director of Chesterfield Arts. She guides the dynamic organization in their quest to develop Chesterfield into a city of art.

Residents of Chesterfield may be used to seeing the name  attached to events around the city. They may have gone to an art show at their gallery and offices at 444 Chesterfield Center, attended a talk in a literary speaker series or taken part in a workshop. But they may have enjoyed the fruits of Chesterfield Arts' labor without being aware that the organization and Stacey Morse made it possible.

Although Morse began her college years studying business, she eventually switched to her first love: photograpy and the arts. She didn't abandon her business studies, though. Morse took an interest in arts management, combining both her business acumen and her knowledge of the art world. It was a decision that would serve her well. She now resides in Wildwood and calls Chesterfield her stomping ground.

Created in 1995 as a commission of the city, Chesterfield Arts spun off into its own organization in 1996. The new board of directors knew they needed some guidance, so Morse and her husband were brought in as consultants.

“We ran the first board through a visionary session to make an organizational master plan and create the organizational structure,” Morse said.

Morse continued with Chesterfield Arts as a consultant and was named executive director in 2002. The growth of Chesterfield Arts is a story in itself. With limited resources in the early days, they still managed to get the job done. “The first gallery was in a renovated garage in (Chesterfield) Valley,” Morse said.

Today, Chesterfield Arts controls an extensive collection of approximately $5 million worth of sculpture placed throughout the city. None of the sculptures are bigger, both literally and figuratively, than “The Awakening,” by sculpture artist Seward Johnson. Located at Chesterfield Parkway West and Lydia Hill Drive, the statue depicts a giant bursting from the ground. The work was donated to Chesterfield Arts by Louis Sachs, the chairman of  and installed in 2009.

“The Awakening was turning point for Chesterfield Arts,” Morse said. “It was the first time we installed a sculpture that was a national work. The scope of it was huge. We wanted to create some excitement about it coming to Chesterfield, so Johnson loaned us 20 sculptures which were placed temporarily around the city.”

More recently, Chesterfield Arts installed two horse sculptures at the entrance to City Hall that used to reside in the lobby of the Adam's Mark hotel in downtown St. Louis. “When they closed the Adam's Mark, I wondered what happened to those horses,” Morse said. “I started making calls and we ended up getting those donated to us. We were excited to get them. They look awesome.”

Acquiring sculpture is only part of the Chesterfield Arts picture. Throughout their history they've held approximately 70 arts exhibits and also curate the art at St. Louis County Library, Samuel C. Sachs Branch. Published authors speak about their work in The River Valley Authors Series, which is free and open to the public. Their High School Poetry Competition grew from 50 entrants in 2009 to 150 in 2010. “That shows there's a definite interest,” Morse said.

Each year, Chesterfield Arts presents The Nutcracker with the , an idea that also came from Morse. The performances first were held in Center Court at .  “I was shopping in the mall and noticed huge lines of people waiting to see Santa,” Morse said. “There were all these kids, and I thought we should be educating them while they waited.” But when the mall was remodeled, Center Court no longer existed. Now the performances are at Logan College of Chiropractic.

Education is a big priority for Morse. Chesterfield Arts conducts summer camps for all ages and gives workshops throughout the year. In addition, they do a lot of community outreach. One such event is the upcoming , when a 550-foot mural will be painted on the Monarch Levy by more than 50 eighth through 12th grade students from the St. Louis region and members of the community. The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 4. There will be food vendors, live music and more.

“I had my eye on that big concrete wall for a year and thought what a great canvas it was,” Morse said. “I thought rather than hire an artist, let's make it a learning experience. The kids have taken part in all aspects of it. They've learned how to design and facilitate a work of art—tangible skills they can carry forward.”

Chesterfield Arts' , will run until May 14. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. It is closed on Sunday and Monday.

Each notable neighbor is asked a series of unrelated questions to offer us some insight into what makes them who they are.

What's your favorite movie of all time? My recent fave, Across the Universe.
What's your favorite food? Really good paella.
If you were shipwrecked on a desert island, what single thing would you most want with you? Pictures of my family—second item, music...no my camera. Definitely my camera.
If you could have a conversation with anyone in the world, living or dead, who would it be? My mom.
What did you have for breakfast this morning? Grape Nuts with fresh strawberries.
Who was your role model for life? My husband's grandfather, True D. Morse. Even at age 102, he had very insightful and applicable input on business. A true gentleman and he respected all.
What's your favorite book? I would have to dig back to fourth grade on this one. Where the Red Fern Grows. This was the first book that helped me to get lost in a book and see how the flow of words could inspire your thinking, emotions, creativity and ideas. I am fortunate that both of my kids love to read and are now exploring their own creativity through writing.