Mayor Tishaura O. Jones is a true champion of the arts in St. Louis, Missouri. A native of St. Louis, her steadfast love of the arts started when she was a teenager, and her first job was serving as an usher at The MUNY the nation’s oldest and largest outdoor musical theatre that produces seven world-class musicals and welcomes over 350,000 theatre goers each summer.

Informed by her personal and professional experience, one of her first public acts of support for the arts and culture sector as Mayor was to create an Arts Liaison position in the Mayor’s Office and is a member of the Mayor’s Cabinet. The Arts Liaison’s role is to promote and uplift local artists and art organizations as well as develop opportunities for the City’s artists to find career fulfillment in their craft.

St. Louis boasts more than 700 arts and culture non-profits organizations that generate nearly $868 million in economic activity and 12,000 full-time jobs. In 2022, more than 8.1 million local and out-of-town tourists attend theater performances, concerts, art fairs, festivals, and more. 

Recognizing the economic and social contribution of the arts and culture sector in St. Louis Mayor Jones, created several community opportunities to hear from artists and arts organization that were devasted by the COVID-19 pandemic. On November 1, 2022, Mayor Jones, with unanimous support from the City of St. Louis’ Board of Aldermen, signed Bill #66 into law allocating $10.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis. This historic investment in the St. Louis arts community was one the largest direct municipal allocation in the United States.

Also under the Mayor’s leadership, the City of St. Louis is investing significant economic development dollars into the St. Louis Art Place Initiative, a regional trend setter in the affordable housing landscape and in arts-based community development that creates homeownership opportunities for local artists.