When it comes to the world of St. Louis’ amateur miniaturists, you work with the supplies at hand.
“I once painted with the whiskers of a cat,” said Joann Martin, president of the Miniature Museum of Greater St. Louis.
While that’s a little out of the box as far as supplies go, it serves as a good example of just how tiny miniatures can be and how precise the artisanship is.
“Anything you see in real life, you can make in miniature from 1 in. scale to 1/44 scale,” Martin said. “Anything you see in life, someone can make it in miniature. Once it gets to be over a foot, it is not miniature anymore.”
Click through the slideshow above to get a feel for what the art of miniatures actually looks like.
If you’ve visited Bevo Mill in the past decade, you may have noticed an unassuming storefront on the corner of Gravois and Delor, which bears the name “Miniature Museum.” If you haven’t, that’s okay, that’s why we spoke with the people who run the museum, which specializes in all sorts of miniature art, sculpture and, of course, doll houses, as part of our “Hidden Museums” summer series.
Martin as well as corresponding secretary Fay Zerbolio joined St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh on Tuesday to discuss the museum, what it takes to be a miniaturist and some of the most interesting things you’ll find inside the museum’s doors.
Miniature artwork has been around for centuries, and exists in cultures all over the world — from Pakistan to South Africa to the United Kingdom.
“It’s fun, you can make anything you want,” Zerbolio said. “Your house can be dirty, your house can be clean. My dollhouse is always clean because my real house was never clean when I had children.”
Dollhouses aren’t the only purview of miniaturist art, however. Room-boxes, domes, gift bags, plastic cubes, sponge holders—think of a small-ish container, and you can make a miniature scene inside of it.
Getting started in miniature-making can be as inexpensive as you want, said Martin. You could start making a room out of toothpicks, for example. As you become more precise in your creations, requiring different brushes and moldings, the process becomes more expensive. Specialty props to go inside your miniature scene also get pretty pricey.
The Miniature Museum of Greater St. Louis was originally conceived in 1989 as a way for Martin to house personal miniature creations.
“We didn’t want our stuff to be destroyed,” Martin said. “When we pass on, we want our miniatures to stay and not go to the Goodwill or the trash heap. We started working in 1989 to raise money. In 1998, we started looking for a building. We bought the building in 2001. It took us 1 year, 4 months and 27 days to open to the public.”
This labor of love has paid off. The museum is now bursting at the seams with miniatures that have been passed down from local artisans (of which, Zerbolio estimates there are about 200 affiliated with the museum).
Among the treasures inside are a miniature replica of the Old Cathedral and a replica of the Bevo Mill. On a smaller scale, you’ll find a dollhouse with a swimming pool and other incredibly detailed homes. You can get a picture of what’s inside the museum here. There’s also a teenage room, a play room and an armory to explore inside the museum.
If you’re interested in learning to make miniatures yourself, check out this online guide. You could also check out the museum’s miniature show in October.
The museum subsists off of paid memberships, donations and an entrance fee to the two-story museum of $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $2 for children. The museum also includes a gift shop with supplies for budding miniaturists.
The museum is open Wednesday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. You can find more information here.
We want your input finding museums. Have you seen any quirky ones recently? What should we explore? We are particularly interested in discovering 'hidden museums' in Illinois.
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This summer, St. Louis on the Air will introduce you to a few such museums in the region as part of a recurring summer segment. Earlier this summer, we profiled the National Horseshoe Pitching Hall of Fame and Museum, the vacuum cleaner museum in St. James and the Museum of the Dog. You’ll also hear about other hidden museums that exist nationwide on Morning Edition later this summer. What should we explore?
St. Louis on the Air brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh and producers Mary Edwards, Alex Heuer and Kelly Moffitt give you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region.