Art Centre and Library to host The Big Read
October 28, 2008
St. Charles County
The Foundry Art Centre received a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts to host The Big Read, a national initiative to promote literary reading. The Big Read will take place in St. Charles and surrounding communities beginning February 1, 2009 and will continue throughout the entire month.
Kick-off date for The Big Read is Sunday, February 1, 2009 at the Foundry Art Centre, 520 North Main Center in St. Charles. Festivities include a personal appearance of the Gateway Sled Dogs and a concert, performed by the St. Charles County Symphony. Further details announced later.
To ensure better community participation, the Foundry Art Centre, in partnership with St. Charles City-County Library District, has developed programs and activities centering on the selected novel, Call of the Wild, by author Jack London. The National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with Arts Midwest, a regional arts organization based in Minneapolis, provided nationwide participating communities organizational guides, reader’s guides and technical assistance to facilitate and implement The Big Read on a local level.
Activities simultaneous with reading of Call of the Wild will take place the entire month of February 2009 and include a read-out-loud marathon with local celebrities and community leaders, a film series, book-making workshops, book discussions and a tour of the Wild Canid Survival and Research Center. The Foundry Art Centre and the Library District are in the final planning stages of related activities.
Locally, Ameren UE, the City of Cottleville, City of St. Charles Arts and Culture Commission, and Hazelwood and Weber LLC are sponsoring The Big Read. Governor Matt Blunt, along with Representatives David Day, Billy Pat Wright, Ellen Brandom, Kathlyn Fares, Sally Faith, Jane Cunningham, Joe Smith and Maynard Wallace have joined The Big Read to help encourage a nation of active readers and thinkers. (see photo)
A quote from NEA Chairman Dana Gioia states, “The NEA’s landmark 2004 study, Reading at Risk, showed that literary reading in the U.S. is in steep decline. No single program can entirely reverse this trend, but if cities nationally unite to adopt The Big Read, our community-wide reading program, together we can restore reading to its essential place in American culture.”
The Foundry Art Centre is a fine arts gallery overlooking the Missouri River at 520 North Main Center, in the Frenchtown district of Historic St. Charles. The Foundry features a Smithsonian-caliber art gallery hosting national juried exhibitions plus 20 working artist studios where visitors can watch the creative process and buy art directly from the artists.
The not-for-profit art centre also provides community meeting rooms, event space and a children’s art gallery. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. Admission is free and donations are welcome. For more information, call 636-255-0270 or visit www.foundryartcentre.org.
Copyright 2008 Neighbors About Town
The Foundry Art Centre will host The Big Read to help promote reading.
Pictured are Big Read Representatives (from left to right) David Day, Billy Pat Wright, Ellen Brandom, Kathlyn Fares, Sally Faith, Jane Cunningham, Joe Smith and Maynard Wallace.