photo by Zach Smith State Rep. Mike Stephens leads his constituents from Southwest Electric Cooperative on a tour of the famous Thomas Hart Benton mural "A Social History of Missouri" in the House Lounge of the Missouri Capitol during a visit in February. Benton painted the mural from 1935 to 1936. The Mural of MISSOURI Thomas Hart Benton's Capitol art memorializes state history by Jim Denny | info@ruralmissouri.coop N o trip to the Missouri State Capitol is complete without a visit to the Thomas Hart Benton mural located in the House Lounge on the third floor. The painted walls executed by Benton 82 years ago are still surprisingly bright and vivid. Benton's artistic wizardry pops out with dramatic 3D-like effects. Powerfully built figures seem to walk off the walls. Almost magical shifts of 48 RURAL MISSOURI | AUGUST 2020 perspective draw the viewers' attention across the scenes of Missouri history that span the length of a painting 16 feet high and 100 feet long, wrapping around two corners and three doors. At one end of this extraordinary work of art is the beginning of Missouri's development. The 50-foot-long middle section presents a Missouri of small farms and towns. The old-time scenes of a picnic and political gathering (Benton's father was the model for the speaker), the courtroom