Mission
The mission of Spiva Center for the Arts is to celebrate the creative experience.
At Spiva we do this by:
- promoting the arts
- showcasing visual, literary, and performing arts
- nurturing creative expression
- offering a myriad of classes and programs to excite and involve students of all ages
- stimulating and educating diverse audiences within the four-state region
- featuring exhibits in three galleries year-round
Our History
The Zelleken House
4th & Sergeant
The Zelleken House was built in 1893 by Edward Zelleken. He died in 1920 and left the house to his daughter.
The Ozark Artists Guild opened an art center there in 1958.
Photo: "The World's Greatest Zinc and Lead District",1907
Missouri Southern State University
In 1967 Spiva Art Center moved to the Fine Arts Building at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Mo.
Cosgrove Building
3rd & Wall
Current location of Spiva Arts Center
George A. Spiva
Originally incorporated as the Ozark Artists Guild, George A. Spiva Center for
the Arts has presented visual arts experiences to the four-state region since
1947.
George A. Spiva—businessman, philanthropist, and lover of the arts—helped establish Joplin’s first art center in 1958. Founded on the belief that opportunities in the arts should be available to all, the Center continues to flourish through the generosity of members and friends who share that vision.
First located in the Zelleken House at 4th & Sergeant, Spiva moved to the campus of Missouri Southern State University before relocating to its current home in the historic Cosgrove Building at 3rd and Wall in downtown Joplin.