Compônere - About Us

About Us

About Compônere

Since 1986, Compônere Gallery of Art and Fashion has been located in the University City Loop, the heart of a revitalized area of St. Louis County recognized for showcasing regional artists. Compônere is one of the first galleries in the area to be designed to be friendly and UN-gallery-like. According to owner and founder Eleanor Wilson Ruder, the name 'Compônere' is derived from the Latin compônere, as in 'coming together,' 'putting together,' or 'arranging objects.'

Compônere Gallery in the Donaldson Court Building 2009

Photography by:
Charlene Leona Marks

The photograph was shot using an Olympus e-500 8.0 Mpix Digital SLR and is an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image, it's a series of three photo's merged together using Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 the photo's are shot with one overexposed, one underexposed and the third perfectly exposed. When the images are merged the software comes up with an extremely colorful image, much more so that a normal film camera or even a digital camera can produce.

Compônere Gallery, Gallery II

About the Owner

Eleanor Wilson Ruder was born in Denver, Colorado. Eleanor is married and has four sons and nine grandchildren. Eleanor has lived and traveled from Denver to Carson City, Nevada; to Nigeria Falls and Wilson, NY; Bethel, Maine, to Clearwater, Florida to Bah ia - San Salvador, Brazil. Recently she has traveled the Caribbean ports and through the Panama Canal. The highlight of her travels so far was in February 1999 when she spent 17 days in Paris. She has also visited the cities of Beijing China, New York, Chicago, Victoria Canada, Dallas and San Francisco as an adult. Eleanor attended elementary schools in New York State; Clearwater, Florida; Denver, Colorado; Bah ia - San Salvador; and returned to Denver to attend Junior High School. Eleanor moved to St. Louis with her family, and in 1952 graduated from University City High School. She majored in Fine Art for the next five semesters at Washington University in St. Louis. In 1966 she returned to complete her degree, a BFA in Art Education, K-12.

For sixteen years, Eleanor taught art in the Florissant, Missouri and Ladue, Missouri school districts. She then spent the following three years working and exhibiting as an artist before opening Componere Gallery of Art and Fashion in early March, 1986.

Compônere comports itself as an "artist-friendly" gallery. This attitude is well-known and any one of her 150+ artists will testify as to the careful documentation of their sales and timely payments when their works have been purchased.

Eleanor, active in her business community, was elected and served as Commissioner from 1989 to 1992 and again from 1995 to the present. She was elected president of the St. Louis Gallery Association in 1992, and has organized the publication of two issues of the St. Louis Gallery Guide. She has served as Membership Secretary of the local chapter of the Women's Caucus for Art since 1982. She was elected president of the Community Loop Foundation, and chaired the Loop in Motion Arts Festival in 1999 and 2000. She has also chaired the Friday Evening Gallery Walk during the Festival since 1995 and has also chaired the Banner Competition to choose the city banners that line the University City main street.

History of the Location

In the early 1950s, the University City Main Street, referred to as 'The Loop' after its streetcar turnabout, was a yesterday's mall. There were two movie theatres, two five-and-dime stores, a hardware store, a bank, a corner drug store, two grocery stores, a music store, a book store, a smattering of family-owned restaurants, and a few small businesses that sold hats, shoes or clothing. Unfortunately, these businesses all but died in the 1960s when everyone could afford a car and the malls became the way to shop.

The Loop, however, has gone through a successful evolution, heralding the nostalgic return to a small-city sensitivity and, in the process, becoming a major tourist attraction. Fifteen years ago, the Loop businesses formed a Special Business District to work closely with City Hall (housed in what was once a woman's magazine office building before women's suffrage), with the distinct plan to keep the area ethnically and culturally diverse.

Originally envisioned as a cultural center by its founder, E.G. Lewis, in 1904, University City encompasses Washington University, the St. Louis Symphony School, the Center of Contemporary Arts and the Craft Alliance Gallery, all within walking distance of one another. In the next few years, University City will regain its streetcar system as a part of MetroLink, St. Louis' light rail system. This will enable people all over the area to sample a diverse selection of specialty shops and award-winning restaurants. The cultural experience is enhanced by the St. Louis Walk of Fame, with its bronze stars identifying and summarizing the lives of over 90 famous St. Louisans. Six restaurants and pubs feature live evening music, and the restored landmark cinema, The Tivoli, offers unique movies. The Pageant is the newest addition to the Loop Business District, offering a venue for nationally-and internationally-known musical artists to perform in the heart of the St. Louis Metropolitan Area.

Archive Images

Compônere Gallery, Exterior, circa: 2000

Updated: 2010.05.10

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6509 Delmar Blvd • University City • MO 63130 • (314) 721-1181