The value of the downtown Jefferson City building at 220 E. High St. has risen exponentially over the past several months - as has the value of what's inside it.
The Jefferson City Museum of Modern Art, located in the recently-renovated building that formerly housed Leed's Shoe Company, will bring something new and colorful to Jefferson City when it officially opens Friday.
The venue's curators are quick to specify the Jefferson City Museum of Modern Art, or JCMoMA, is a museum, not a gallery.
"We're going to bring in really great, museum-quality art, but it's not going to be for sale by living artists," said Sarah Knee, who is working with her father, Richard Howerton, the museum's owner. "It's more going to be from rotating collections that other museums might not be using at the moment."
In other words, the museum is for inspiration only.
More specifically, the family behind the museum intends for its creation to inspire young people to pursue their artistic inclinations.
"Right now the programming that we're going to try and work on is just to get tours in the museum from school groups," Knee said. "It might be another destination they want to come to after visiting the Capitol."
In fact, such school trips generally are the only time the JCMoMA will be open for viewing - it's not in the business of selling art, so it has no regular business hours.
In line with its mission to inspire youth, JCMoMA will celebrate its grand opening in conjunction with the annual fundraiser for the Boys & Girls Club of the Capital City, with all ticket sales benefiting the local organization that works to help young people reach their full potential.
The museum's inaugural event Friday evening will feature a group of Boys & Girls Club students who have participated in an art contest based on the work of JCMoMA's featured artist, Purvis Young. Knee, an accomplished artist herself, will judge the students' final pieces, which guests will have a chance to bid on during a VIP reception at 5:30 p.m.
The museum will be open for public viewing from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Friday. Tickets, available at the door, cost $25.
The majority of the art on display is by Purvis Young, a self-taught African-American painter from the Overtown neighborhood of Miami, characterized historically by a predominantly black population that has suffered severe poverty. Young himself spent three of his teenage years in prison for breaking and entering.
"The reason we chose this artist is because we thought he would specifically inspire youth," Knee said. "He had little to no education; he lived in a warehouse his whole life."
Young's work is known for its rich symbolism featuring imagery like wild horses representing freedom, and pregnant women denoting new life and renewal. His most valuable pieces were created using house paint on "found objects," displayed by Young's own handmade, hand-painted frames.
"He didn't have the money for canvases. He painted on lumber and plywood and all sorts of things - tablecloths, trays, vinyl," Howerton said. "You have to know the story behind it. The story is the amazing part."
JCMoMA also is displaying a few works by Thornton Dial, another self-taught African-American artist who is native to Alabama and known for his paintings as well as large-scale assemblage sculptures.
"What's amazing about these two artists is they both started out in abject poverty and they made a huge name for themselves," Howerton said.
The work of both artists is featured in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the American Folk Art Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as other notable collections.
Knee said the primary focuses for JCMoMA in the immediate future will be spreading the word to Missouri teachers about the opportunity for students to view the collections for free, as well as finding additional museum-quality collections to display.
The High Street building that houses the museum is a bit of a work of creation itself - or, more accurately, a re-creation. Howerton has completely renovated it since purchasing the property early this year, replacing all interior walls and severely rotted floor joists. He plans to complete renovation of the building's upstairs next year as a two-level work/living space, Knee said.
The art museum also will be available to rent as a small event space for gatherings of 50 people or fewer.