Updates from Cuba, Missouri Route 66 Mural City...videos, murals, magazines, and more - Cuba, MO

AMELIA EARHART DVD

Finally, after looking for the Amelia DVD about flyer Amelia Earhart for awhile, my husband ran across it at Mace’s Grocery and brought it home. It was an enjoyable movie that dealt with Earhart’s (Hilary Swank) conflict between her marketing duties to fund her aviation projects and her desire to spend her time flying and breaking new ground in the aviation world. Her relationship with her husband the publisher George Putnam (Richard Gere) seemed to present some conflicts as well. Of course,the movie led up to the final flight thats outcome is still a mystery.

After I watch an historical movie, I always wonder how much is fact and how much is fiction. One of our readers on our Cuba MO Murals Facebook Fan Page referred us to a couple of posts on The Institute for Aviation History that deal with the facts of the movie to help answer that question.

The important fact remains that the movie reminds us that Amelia Earhart was a courageous woman who was a pioneer in aviation history. I recommend that you rent or borrow the movie. Use that as a basis to do some reading about her accomplishments. Then drive by Viva Cuba’s Amelia mural and take a new look at a legend.

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ROUTE 66 CORRIDOR PLAN MEETING

Several displays highlighted landmarks along Rt. 66 in Crawford County.

Last Thursday Great Rivers Associates conducted a well-organized meeting in Cuba about the Rt. 66 Corridor Assessment. The corridor is the highway and anything that can be seen from it. The Great Rivers speakers explained that the assessment is to help Route 66 in Missouri become a National Scenic Highway as it is in Oklahoma and Illinois and other Rt. 66 states. This will make National Highway Funds and Grants more accessible to Route 66 towns. The corridor assessment plan does not contain zoning plans. Chris Case of the Cuba Free Press was present and an in-depth CFP article is in the works. Watch for it.

The Rt. 66 Corridor display shows more landmarks along the road in Missouri.

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MISSOURI LIFE MAGAZINE

Janet McLain's chair from a past auction took a lot of hands-on work to create.

Missouri Life Magazine‘s Sarah Reed contacted Viva Cuba that our May 8 Chair-i-table Auction was chosen as an Editor’s Pick in the April/May issue. We’re always happy about a little promotion in this quality magazine. Java.net Books & Gifts will host the event again this year. We’re looking forward for a new crop of artists’ creations in May. I talked to Missouri artist Ray Harvey yesterday, He painted the Bette Davis and History at the 4-Way murals. He was in town to scope out a commission on the Victorian Manor new construction. He is planning a chair for this year’s auction.

Save the date May 8 for this Viva Cuba fundraiser to raise money for mural maintenance and other beautification projects in Cuba, Missouri.

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VISITING ARTIST VISITS STEIGER’S ART CLASS

Mural artist Shelly Smith Steiger is teaching high school art at Cuba High School. Thursday, visiting artist Jennifer Van Winkle presents a workshop to Steiger’s class. The workshop involves extending aspects of recycled clothing using braiding and knotting. After a 10-15 minute presentation onVan Winkle’s artwork and her collaborative project through East Central College’s Visiting Artist Program, the students will create their own projects. Van Winkle studied at the Chicago Institute of Art. Steiger was the artist on the Apple, Amelia,River, and Millworks murals. She was assisted by Julie Brand on the Amelia, River, and Millworks murals.

Artist and teacher Steiger does maintenance work on the Amelia mural during the summer.

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A ROUTE 66 VIDEO–A LITTLE RETRO TO GET YOU THROUGH THE DAY

Here is a retro video put together by Eric Paul Johnson using the “Route 66” song version by the Nat King Cole trio. It was pointed out to us by Ron Warnick of the Route 66 news blog, a great site for all things Route 66. Enjoy the nostalgia if you grew up in the heyday of Rt. 66–or wish you had.

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