Sep 12, 2025
Art can be a vehicle to make an impact on the world. That’s one of the first lessons Bob Madden remembers learning from Associate Teaching Professor Michael Behle at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, and the idea has continued to guide his career in arts engagement. Madden returned to study in 2021 after a 35-year career in restaurants, helped revive Artists Anonymous, and graduated in May 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in studio art. In October, he began working as special initiatives coordinator at the Missouri Arts Council, where his first project, “Arts Everywhere,” helped distribute arts funding to every house district in Missouri for the first time in 60 years.
“We need this work now more than ever,” Madden says. He points to Council funding that supported a small theater, murals that brought communities together, and a makers’ fair for home-schooled children. “Music and art and dance have this way of speaking to people and cutting through things… It brings people together and helps bond the community.” Madden believes even small grants can make a profound impact. “Knowing that we’ve gone into these communities and that we’ve helped in some way… is a very fulfilling and wonderful feeling,” he said. “Art never disappoints. It constantly brings the love, the passion, the need for life.”
