The Saint Louis Art Museum’s Learning and Engagement Division, founded in 1923 as the Education Department, has been a hundred years in the making. Starting with one employee, Mary Powell, a fine arts librarian turned museum educator, the division has blossomed into seventeen full-time employees, thirteen part-time employees, and over ninety volunteers and docents that reach the public and contribute to the museum’s continued efforts to serve the community. This paper will focus on three critical moments of change within the hundred years of this division here in St. Louis that have contributed to how the Museum has re-conceptualized its purpose in the community over the years, how it has cultivated an audience across time, and how these changes have fulfilled its mission statement. This paper will also discuss the importance and history of museum education and why these institutions are still relevant today to all audiences. 

Dr. Lorri Glover and Dr. Emily Lutenski have been two of the most influential women in my college career. They have both been with me since Day 1 and have continued to show up for me in every way, especially during the journey that went into creating this capstone and presentation. I can always count on them for anything. I would not be where I am today without them.