Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis

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The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis is a leading institution for contemporary art exhibitions in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. The non-collecting museum is located at the corner of Spring and Washington Avenues, which is situated next to the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts. The Contemporary has emerged with a strong mission towards furthering the awareness and accessibility of contemporary art to the St. Louis community. By initiating and embracing public education programs and community involvement they have dedicated themselves to the perpetuation of a unique art appreciation.

1 Architecture
2 Programs
3 Exhibitions to Date
4 ArtLink
5 External links

[edit] Architecture

After a nine month process, the Architect Selection Committee of the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis named Brad Cloepfil, principal architect of Allied Works of Portland, Oregon, as the selected architect for a new building located at the corner of Spring and Washington Avenues. The 27,000 square foot facility opened in 2003.

[edit] Programs

Emerson Visiting Critics and Curators Series With generous support by Emerson, the Contemporary is able to offer local artists the chance to have their work reviewed by our country’s leading players in the contemporary art world. The program brings internationally known contemporary art historians, writers and curators to St. Louis to view the work of local artists. The visiting critics and curators choose from among a pool of applicants the studios of those artists whom they which to view. As a result of this program, many St. Louis artists have gone on to receive national recognition.

Great Rivers Biennial The goal of this program is to provide wider exposure and financial assistance to promising local artists. Selected by a panel of national jurors, up to three artists receive a grant of $20,000 each, along with the opportunity to exhibit at the Contemporary. This awards program adheres to the Contemporary’s mission to both support the St. Louis art scene and encourage new talent.

Open Studios Allowing artists to interact with viewers can be a constructive process on both sides – this is the goal of Open Studios. On a designated day selected artists open the doors of their studios to art lovers, allowing one to view the art in its original space as well as converse with the artists themselves. This opens a rapport between viewer and creator that can easily deepen the appreciation of a work.

Youth Education Programs An essential aspect of elevating the community’s art awareness is education, most importantly youth education which is fostered at the Contemporary through various programs such as Fusion, Contemporary Art Reach and Emerson New Art in the Neighborhood. These are all programs dedicated to exposing students to modern art in an accessible and fascinating manner.

Embracing Technology Since the summer of 2005, the contemporary has been recording curator’s comments, interviews with artists and collectors, and staff picks in order to create its own podcasts for each of its exhibits. A new approach to the audio tour, podcasts allow audio access to exhibits over the internet. These recordings can be downloaded on to the computer and then onto an iPod or MP3 player and used when viewing the exhibit. The podcast is also invaluable for those who are unable to make it to the museum but still wish to learn about the exhibitions.

Select Nights The first Thursday of every month is Select Night. Local hipsters, young professionals and art enthusiasts gather from 6 p.m. through 9 p.m. to mingle and network while getting a chance to view the current exhibition and related local talent.

[edit] Exhibitions to Date

2006 Past Exhibitions:

Centering on the Grand

Selections from the Contemporary’s Flat Files

Contemporary Master Works

The Collectibles

2005 Past Exhihibitions

Great Rivers Biennial 2005-2006

Cindy Sherman: Working Girl

Girls’ Night Out

Dzine: Punk Funk

Ruby Osorio: Story of a Girl (Who Awakes Far, Far Away)

Alexander Ross: Survey

Contemporary Project Series: Katharine Kuhric

2004 Past Exhibitions

Yoshitomo Nara: Nothing Ever Happens

Laylah Ali: Paintings and Drawings

Contemporary Project Series: Danny Yahav-Brown

Keith Piper: Crusade

New Video, New Europe

Great Rivers Biennial 2004

Michael Lin

William Pope L: eRacism:electronica

Polly Apfelbaum: Crazy Love, Love Crazy

Yun-Fei Ji: The Empty City

2003 Past Exhibitions:

A Fiction of Authenticity: Contemporary Africa Abroad

2002 Past Exhibitions:

Art Cache: The Contemporary’s Art Auction

Terra Incognita: Contemporary Artists’ Maps and Other Visual Organizing Systems

Staging: Janieta Eyre, Julie Moos, and Zwelethu Mthethwa

[edit] ArtLink

Artlink is an organization that partners the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, the Laumeier Sculpture Park and the Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis. Its goal is to offer opportunities for young St. Louis art enthusiasts to get involved. Special events and opportunities are catered towards the mid twenties to thirties crowd--including happy hours, fundraising events and special discounts.