Evelyn E. Newman, a creative St. Louisian, has helped launch some of St. Louis’ foremost arts institutions and cultural events. The Spirit of St. Louis Fund, which later evolved into the Arts & Education Council of Greater St. Louis, was founded in her living room. In 1950, she inaugurated the Greater St. Louis Book Fair — today the largest event of its kind in the nation — as a fundraiser for the Nursery Foundation of St. Louis, now one of the area’s premiere daycare centers.
Newman subsequently devised other innovative fundraisers, such as the Scholarshop for the Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis; the Flea Market for the Missouri Historical Society; the Gypsy Caravan for the Saint Louis Symphony Society; the Wishing Well for the Barnes Jewish Hospital Gift Shop; and the Camelot Auction for the Arts & Education Council.
Newman was selected by the Rouse Company to help restore and revitalize the St. Louis Union Station. More recently, she served as Executive Director of Forest Park Forever, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1986 to rehabilitate and maintain Forest Park, the civic “Crown Jewel” of St. Louis, and also launched a new park support group, the Park Conservancy. In the mid-1990s, she conceived and raised the funds to construct the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House and Education Center, a 16,000-square-foot facility that in 2001 became part of the Missouri Botanical Garden. In 1992, she became the first recipient of the Award for Lifetime Achievement of the Arts & Education Council. In 2003, she was honored with the Spirit of Philanthropy Award by the Association of Fundraising Professionals of St. Louis.
She now heads the Evelyn E. Newman Group, which primarily assists not-for-profit clients in their mission and fundraising efforts.