Kernels of Culture: Maize Around the World (May 3, 2024 – March 31, 2025) at the Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum focuses on the complex story of one of the world’s most important crop plants, maize (Zea mays), which is used by billions of people every day, for food, for animal feed, and as biofuel. This history begins thousands of years ago with the first Indigenous farmers in southern Mexico who hybridized these plants continuously, domesticating the kernels of teosinte—the acknowledged wild grass ancestor to maize—to the corn cobs we grow and use today. The exhibition features the Missouri Botanical Garden’s historical maize specimens, ancient and contemporary objects used to process and enjoy corn as food and drink. It highlights contemporary farmers who grow maize for their communities and contemporary scientists who are leading the research on corn genetics and diversity. Maize is expressed in art by St. Louis-area students celebrating corn and commissioned artworks made by St. Louis artists exploring both the spiritual and scientific impact of this beautiful plant.
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