Ragtag is one of four businesses that share the building we call Hittsville, at 10 Hitt Street in downtown Columbia.
Uprise Bakery
Full-flavored artisan and whole grain breads, homemade soups, specialty sandwiches, scratch pastries, bread plates, and breakfast. Offering several vegetarian options in a relaxed atmosphere. Each meal is made fresh to order; this takes some time, so if you are thinking about enjoying a film with a meal, please allow for food preparation time.
Only food and drink from Uprise is allowed in our theaters.
The bar carries a wide array of craft beers, wines, and spirits. It's a great place to gather before or after a film. Open seven days a week. Note: the kitchen is closed on Sundays.
Hittsville has collaborated with Sager Reeves Gallery to adorn the walls in the Uprise dining room. Whether you're at Hittsville to dine or in line to see a movie, you'll now be surrounded by stimulating artwork.
Built in 1935, 10 Hitt St. was a Coca-Cola bottling plant before becoming Kelly Press Company from 1985-2005, and then Ragtag in 2008. The Hittsville building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
The Permanent Visual Arts Collection
Construction in Copper
Designed by Willy Wilson; constructed by Marty Riback, David Wilson, and friends
In 1920 the Russian artist and architect Vladimir Yevgrafovich Tatlin drew up plans for a huge tower constructed of iron, steel and glass as a monument to the Communist International movement. Its intended height was 1,200 feet — a third taller than the Eiffel Tower — with a cube, pyramid, cylinder and hemisphere rotating inside. The visionary work was never constructed; it would have taken more steel than Russia was capable of producing. The interpretation of Tatlin's tower that anchors our box office reflects the daring spirit of the original design, which is also evident in the films you will enjoy at Ragtag Cinema
Locust Street Elementary
Locust Street Elementary 5th graders and Dr. Ann Mehr; screenprinting on clay
The mural in the north courtyard displays the history of motion pictures and of Columbia's movie houses, all in 36 square feet. Constructed by Locust Street Elementary School's 2007 5th grade class, this clay mural started with the silkscreening of historic Columbia theater photos onto clay (with special thanks to Diggit Printing and the Missouri Historical Society). 3-D tiles created by the children brought the ghosts of Alfred Hitchcock, King Kong, Buster Keaton, and others vividly into life.
Horn Player
Bob Bussabarger; ceramic
The Horn Player, with his mischievous pout, feels right at home on our outdoor patio after years at various other locations. One of Bussabarger's many music-themed sculptures, Horn Player was inspired by the comic marching Fufu bands of India. Bussabarger says, "The material is clay — earth — a basic element that is centered in the world," which, according to him, makes Ragtag an appropriate display site because he believes it is "the physical and mental center of the community."
Glass Wall Sconces
Susie Fiegel of Village Glass Works
Susie Fiegel, who makes reproduction glass shades for historic fixtures all over the country, created molds to form the glass wall sconces that illuminate Ragtag's halls. The molten glass for the sconces is poured onto a table, fed through rollers to produce thin sheets, which are cut to size and then bent in the kiln at 1170 degrees. The black-and-white glass was swirled by hand and then sandblasted. The dark red/orange glass in the big theater comes to us from the longest operating opalescent glass factory in the world.
