Join us Wednesday evenings in October for our formation series, "Soulful Spaces: Where Culture Meets Spirit"

In this series, we will have guest presenters from four iconic cultural institutions in the St. Louis area: The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO), The St. Louis Art Museum (SLAM), The Missouri Historical Society (MHS), and the Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG). Each of our presenters will discuss topics related to their institution. We will further explore how spirituality influences arts and culture. The program will begin each week after the 5:30 PM Midweek Holy Eucharist in Grace Chapel. There will be a dinner at 6:00 PM in the Undercroft with the presentations beginning at 6:30 PM. Please RSVP below so we can accommodate everyone. Thank you!

SCHEDULE OF PRESENTERS:

October 4th:

Marie-Hélène Bernard
President and CEO, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

October 11th:

Ann Corrigan & Bill Sitzer
Docents, St. Louis Art Museum

October 18th:

Jody Sowell
President, Missouri Historical Society

October 25th:

Sean Doherty
Vice President for Education, Missouri Botanical Garden

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:

Marie-Hélène Bernard
President and CEO, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

 Marie-Hélène Bernard joined the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) as President and CEO in 2015. Under her leadership, the SLSO has sharpened its commitment to artistic excellence, educational impact, community connections, and access to music. A Québec native of Belgian descent, she studied at the University of Montréal, and holds a Master's degree in arts management from Concordia University (Montréal). Prior to her appointment at the SLSO, she served as the Executive Director and CEO of the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston, and in leadership positions at other orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, and Canton (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra. Read her full bio here.

  

 

 

 

Ann Corrigan
Docent, St. Louis Art Museum

Ann Corrigan has been involved as a docent at the Saint Louis Art Museum since 2009 and has served as a past chair of the docent board. She has given interfaith tours to the general public and to many faith-based communities. She and has also led numerous tours to various age groups, including school tours, general public tours, member morning tours and opera-themed tours. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill Sitzer
Docent, St. Louis Art Museum

Bill Sitzer is an active docent and a past chair of the docent board at the Saint Louis Art Museum. He currently serves as a Regional Director to the National Docent Symposium Council and Vice President of the Docent Council of Metropolitan Saint Louis. He has written and published with, and he now serves as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Museum Education.

 

 

 

 

Jody Sowell
President, Missouri Historical Society

Dr. Jody Sowell serves as the seventh president in the 156-year history of the Missouri Historical Society. Though new to the position – he was appointed in July 2022 – Jody is hardly new to MHS or to St. Louis. He has worked at MHS in a number of roles for 16 years and has lived in St. Louis for 19. In addition to his work at MHS, Jody appears every week on KMOV’s CBS Sunday Morning in his popular STL History Minute segments and teaches at Saint Louis University, where he also earned his doctorate in American Studies. Read more about him here.

 

 

 

 

 

Sean Doherty
Vice President for Education, Missouri Botanical Garden

In June of 2022, Sean Doherty began serving as Vice President for Education at the [Missouri Botanical] Garden. Prior to his time at the Garden, he worked for twenty-five years in public education serving as a teacher, principal, leader of human resources and superintendent. His roots in education started in the 1990s at the Missouri Botanical Garden where he worked for their Education Department. Doherty has also served as a consultant for schools and districts in building capacity around leadership development, systems-thinking and strategic planning.