Celebrating the Performing Arts in Joplin

The past, present, and future of the performing arts in Joplin are celebrated in this three-part mural painted by New York artist Garin Baker. On the left panel, Baker depicts the energy just outside the Club Theater on a weekend evening in the early 1900s, a time when it was a big deal to come to the city to see a live theater show and to walk with each other in the bustling downtown streets. The center panel of the mural shows the Fox Theater. Built-in the 1930s, this theater introduced a new form of entertainment to downtown Joplin: talking pictures.
The right panel of the mural embodies the success of Joplin’s performing arts today and the hope for its future. Here, Baker paints a woman - a theatrical muse - pulling back a curtain to reveal ballerinas in training, offering a glimpse of what is and is yet to come. The ballerinas, and others like them, will craft the future of performing arts in our city.