This move directly aligns with our mission, as we are now in a space that also offers literary, performing, and culinary arts events and programs. Our Director said it best, 

“This is more than a building. This is a new heartbeat for the arts in our community and region. This is an opportunity for all of us to have a creative home...to dance, to laugh, to learn, to experiment...and to let every day of our lives be filled with wonder and friendship. This is the dream. You are invited to make it a reality.”

Our new home solely houses the Visual Arts Cooperative Gallery. The elimination of other in-house galleries is a strategic decision in order to make art exhibitions more accessible in different community spaces. The Children’s Arts Festival, I’m So Local…I’m Right Here, Members Exhibition, and Regional Juried Exhibition will be outsourced to other local businesses and galleries to promote community collaboration. Artists interested in exhibiting works in a solo setting will be partnered with these spaces as well. 

First Friday with the Arts was once a flourishing monthly event, but never quite recovered after 2020. While the event has been steadily growing, we plan to make First Friday bigger and better than ever, starting in the summer of 2025. With a new and more sustainable Friends of First Friday membership model, we hope that the majority of local Downtown Cape businesses will come together to create a walkable wonderland of arts, performances, shopping, and more. A thriving First Friday will have a positive effect on the health of our local economy.

While maintaining a professional gallery is a very important part of our organization, we are proud to say that over 50% of our program schedule is classified as arts education. We have continued to hold programs in our gallery space, as well as partnering with the Scout Hall venue in order to provide these opportunities for a larger audience. With nearly endless collaboration possibilities, we are excited to grow! Serving the underserved is something we are deeply passionate about, and our location will help us bring the joy of the arts to everyone in our community.

and we even precede the Missouri Arts Council in date of origination by a few years. We provide approximately 150 educational programs and events to the area over the course of the calendar year.

Over the past 64 years, the Arts Council has undergone many name changes and moved to various locations. However, the mission has always stayed the same. In pursuit of fulfilling this mission, the Arts Council partnered with a local artists’ cooperative titled the Visual Arts Cooperative in 2003.  The group is comprised of 30+ local and regional artists.

From 2016-2025, the Arts Council occupied 16 B N Spanish Street and operated under three gallery spaces: the ACSEMO Gallery, the Visual Arts Cooperative Gallery, and the Micro Galleries. This building also featured a sensory-inclusive classroom called the Collab Lab. Previously, the Arts Council had occupied the 32 N Main Street building. While there we had three different galleries: Jean Chapman Gallery, Gallery 100, and Lorimer Gallery.

Established in 2003, First Friday with the Arts is an event created to uplift local galleries and businesses in and around Downtown Cape Girardeau. The participants are called our Friends of First Friday and are encouraged to remain open during extended First Friday hours and host a special event or activity.

Over the past decade, our organization has focused our efforts on arts education in our community while maintaining a professional gallery space. Doing so, we have been able to expand our mission and create programming for underserved individuals in our community, such as children, adults with disabilities, and veterans.