FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Contact: Jessica Robinson, 573-751-0290

Portrait of First Lady Melanie Blunt Unveiled

JEFFERSON CITY–The portrait of First Lady Melanie Blunt was unveiled tonight at a reception held at the Missouri Governor’s Mansion. Mrs. Blunt is the 28th First Lady to have her portrait painted and added to the Mansion collection. The Missouri Governor’s Mansion is the only governor’s residence in the nation with such an extensive collection of First Ladies’ portraits.

During the past 32 years, portraits of First Ladies, including Mrs. Blunt’s, have been added to the Governor’s Mansion collection through donations to Missouri Mansion Preservation, Inc.

“As thousands of guests tour these rooms each year, it is the portraits that help bring our state’s history to life,” Mrs. Blunt said. “I am truly honored to join in this lovely tradition. Generations from now, as new First Families make their home in this, ‘The People’s House,’ I hope they will carry on the wonderful tradition we celebrate today.”

Artist Gilbert “Chick” Early of St. Louis was commissioned to complete the portrait. “It is a great honor to be selected three times to do the portraits of Missouri’s First Ladies,” he said. Early also completed portraits of former First Ladies Carolyn Bond and Jean Carnahan.

The portrait was hung in the traditional location for the current First Lady, in the center in the Mansion’s Great Hall across from the fireplace.

In her remarks before the unveiling, Mrs. Blunt relayed her feeling of kinship to former First Ladies and, in particular, to Mrs. Katherine Stark (1937-1941). Mrs. Stark was also married to a Navel Academy graduate and was a young mother when she arrived at the Governor’s Mansion in 1937.

To honor that kinship and their shared history, Mrs. Blunt’s portrait features the same bench as Mrs. Stark’s portrait. The bench is part of the Mansion ballroom furniture. Originally it was on display in the Missouri Building of the 1904 Exposition World’s Fair in St. Louis, and rescued just before a fire destroyed the building.

In 1900, First Lady “Maggie” Stephens (1897-1901) had her portrait painted, which was paid for by donations from women and children from across the state. Mrs. Stephens’ portrait, now hanging at the curve of the Grand Stairway, was the first painting of a First Lady to be placed in the Governor’s Mansion.

The public is able to view the First Ladies’ portraits during regular tours of the Governor’s Mansion first floor on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 10 a.m. to Noon and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Reservations are required 24-hours in advance and can be made by calling 573-751-7929 or online at www.missourimansion.org.

The Governor’s Mansion tours are available for visitors with special needs. Please advise when making a tour reservation if there are persons in the group with special needs so that arrangements can be made to accommodate them.

Incorporated in 1974, the Missouri Mansion Preservation is a statewide, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to the Mansion’s restoration and educational programs.

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