The Missouri History Museum will continue its Bridging Worlds Through Art series on Thursday (August 20) with Cbabi Bayoc and Dr. Amber Howlett Bayoc — a conversation that traces how their work, partnership and community ties reflect the imprint of St. Louis.
The series explores what it means for artists to be shaped by St. Louis — and to carry that influence into work that reaches far beyond the region. The conversations highlight how Black artistic practice connects place, people and possibility. Part one, featuring Basil Kincaid, took place on July 30.
This week’s installment centers on Cbabi Bayoc, whose career has made him one of the city’s most recognizable contemporary artists.
Bayoc is a multidisciplinary painter, illustrator and muralist whose work celebrates Black family, joy and community through bold color and expressive storytelling.
“There’s that rhythm, that connection we have with everything,” Bayoc said. “We have music in our steps — all the brilliance we walk around with and don’t even know it.”
His murals appear throughout St. Louis and East St. Louis, and his artwork has been featured in private collections, public spaces, children’s books and national publications. He is also an arts educator and community advocate, using creativity to spark dialogue and connection.
Bayoc will be in conversation with his wife and collaborator, Dr. Amber Howlett Bayoc. Together, they will discuss how partnership shapes their creative life — and how their shared vision remains rooted in the communities that raised them. Their dialogue will explore influence, legacy and the ways artists build bridges between intimate experiences and collective stories.
“I bring everything with me that I’ve ever done on this journey of representing him and I am still learning,” Howlett Bayoc said. “This is not going to be like any other art talk you’ve ever been to — because I don’t really want to recreate that. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s just not my personality.”
He says his creative drive is constant.
“There’s so much in me that I want to get out and it almost drives me crazy at times,” Bayoc said. “I still feel like I’m figuring it out, still trying to release everything that’s inside of me and just keep going.”
The evening will also feature a drumming and dance performance by the Sunshine Cultural Arts Center, an East St. Louis organization centered in African diasporic traditions and youth arts education.
Part two of the Missouri History Museum’s Bridging Worlds Through Art with Cbabi Bayoc and Dr. Amber Howlett Bayoc, as part of Thursday Nights at the Museum, will take place from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. on Thursday, August 20. Food and drinks will be available for purchase from 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. A conversation with the Bayocs in the Lee Auditorium will follow. For more information, visit www.mohistory.org.