MWSU’s Potter Project

Through class projects this semester, Potter Hall students are working on site-specific design to transform and give the Livestock Exchange Building the facelift it needs while encompassing the rich history of the building. The goal is to bring attention to the building and to generate interest towards the renovation of the building while showcasing students talents.

The Livestock Exchange Building is a historic building in the Southside of St.Joseph that used to be a major cultural and business hub for the livestock industry earlier in the 1900’s. After many years, the building is in need of some major tender loving care. The building is currently being renovated by the Friends of the St.Joseph Society, under the charge of Kim Schutte, with hopes to repair and return it to its original glory and bring arts, entertainment, and business back into that area.

“It’s really great across the board to see with preservation overall in St. Joseph. So much of St. Joe’s identity is in these old buildings and you can only understand really what St. Joe is and everything if you understand those. The most important one still standing that hasn’t been restored is the livestock exchange. It is one of the three most important buildings in the community. It’s in terrible shape and so any chance to help with that is important,”said Schutte.

Missouri Western’s students received the opportunity to give their own unique attention to the Livestock Exchange. Professor Kathy Liao, Assistant Professor of art and the director of the painting and printmaking programs, organized the time and logistics of getting students to paint parts of the building.

“This last summer I was awarded the portal grant through Western State University and was able to do an applied learning project with students, and the project we did was the South Side mural,’’ said Liao. Organizers that were working with mural were originally working with a building down the South Side called Livestock Exchange building.”

“So that led into this semester where I had my drawing and painting students work on a site specific project where we actually got to go to the Livestock Exchange building and Kim Schutte gave us a tour,’’ said Liao. “We saw some of the origin molding, the tile work, and learned about the history of the building itself. And from there my students in the classroom came up with different designs based off of the history they saw in the building and things that really stood out to them.”

St. Joseph is home to museums, theatres, and many other historical landmarks. “Tourism is our number one or number two industry depending on how you can look at it. People don’t come here because we have a nice target up in the North Shops.That doesn’t bring people in, people come because of our history and you know, people are blown away by those old buildings and things but we don’t take care of as well as we should,” said Schutte.

“I want students to know it’s just as important to contribute back to where they belong. They can make a huge difference, locally too, it doesn’t mean that they have to go somewhere else to change the world. People that live near the Livestock Trade have a lot of pride in being a South Sider so we know it means a lot to the community,” said Laio.

Potter students are very dedicated to their work. what students are doing for the people of St. Joseph is not unnoticed and is surrounded by a very supportive community.

“For the students, knowing that your work makes a difference is such a great applied learning experience. That is something that as an art department and as a university we always advocate for students to do something that’s more hands on and actually makes a difference in the community,” said Liao.

“I know that when they were working on the mural and all the different art pieces, people down south so thrilled. They would drive by and honk at them and stop and talk to the students. I know when the students were doing the mural American Deli donated sandwiches. This meant so much that the students put one of the sandwiches in the mural. The community embraces the artwork and those students. I think it is important to Missouri Western because there are a lot of smart people a lot of engaged people here on this campus. So get out into town. I think it’s really important,” said Schutte.