Letter from the Publisher

Written by Craig Kaminer

While I am not sure what this year will bring, one thing is for sure. 2023 will be about uncertainty.

How ironic! We are living at one of the most exciting times in the history of humankind, yet we are as uncertain as our ancestors were as they boarded ships in search of a new and better world.

What will the new year bring for Ukrainians, the nuclear aspirations of North Korea, the fight for gender equality in Iran, the drought and starvation plaguing Africa, the storms and fires caused by climate change, the anti-Semitic rhetoric by some of our most notorious musicians, and of course the United States who at times feels like it's on the verge of civil war? How can we still be fighting the same old fight?

In this issue, we highlight people who are working hard for good. Like the Taylors, who just three generations ago started Enterprise Rent-A-Car and turned it into the largest car rental company in the world. Instead of giving up on St. Louis, they are doubling – or tripling – down on the city they love by spending nearly half a billion dollars on bringing major league soccer to St. Louis. This isn’t solving the world's biggest problems, but it sure will bring something new and great to St. Louis that should have happened a long time ago.

We also talked with the executive director of the Saint Louis Art Museum, Min Jung Kim, who said, “I think one of the challenges of our times is that we are in this moment of evolution if you will. I don’t think that is specific to us as the St. Louis Art Museum or even specific to museums or art and culture. I think we are seeing this really everywhere, but I also think those challenges can be opportunities as well.”

As we celebrate Black History Month in February, I also wrote about my experience visiting the National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington DC. 

So, for 2023 let’s look at our challenges as opportunities. Let’s focus on all the good happening in St. Louis, and hope it drowns out the bad. Let’s encourage our change-makers and people willing to invest their time and treasure – literally – to make a difference here. I know some of you don’t welcome change. But without it, we are at a standstill at best, or at worse - going backward.

Here’s to moving forward in 2023.