A Fair to Remember

One St. Louis family’s dining room walls are a repository of history and family stories.

- S​ydney Loughran Wolf

When Kathy and Bryan Nicholson were ready to renovate the 1950s Colonial in Ladue they had lived in for five years, Kathy knew that the dated, dark- floral wallpaper in the dining room had to go—she just wasn’t sure what she’d put in its place. An art history major, Kathy has always loved painted, architectural wallpapers, but she thought she could achieve a similar, but singular, look with a mural. Searching for inspiration, she discovered artist Peter Engelsmann’s website, and was captivated by his elegant mural of Forest Park, filled with pretty pastoral scenes. In that moment, Kathy knew that Engelsmann could fulfill her vision of a mural depicting the St. Louis 1904 World’s Fair in her own home.

“Bryan and I were both raised here and have wonderful memories of Bryan’s mom telling us stories about her great-grandmother sneaking out at night to meet friends at the Fair,” Kathy says.

The Nicholsons and Engelsmann planned to show specific scenes from the Fair, and the family approved the artist’s initial sketch on paper. But as Engelsmann delved further into research—poring over reference materials, vintage images, and maps—he decided that he wanted to paint the scene with historical accuracy, placing each building precisely where it would have been in 1904.