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Photographer: Kevin A. Roberts
Freida Wheaton of the Alliance of Black Art Galleries
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Photographer: Kevin A. Roberts
David Robertson of the St. Louis Symphony
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Photographer: Kevin A. Roberts
KDHX-FM
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Gary Martin
Thelonius & Damon
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Jennifer Silverberg
Middle Class Fashion
Fall Art Exhibit
World Chess Hall of Fame’s
“A Queen Within”
It could have just been about the design and still blown minds. But the genius of collaborators Sofia Hedman and World Chess Hall of Fame director Susan Barrett was in how they used those clothes to tell a larger story. Mixing canonized designers like Alexander McQueen with up-and-comers like Charlie Le Mindu was brilliant, too, drawing the attention of New York’s art and fashion worlds. But what really set the show apart in our mind was its dedication to St. Louis, including a tie-in Anne Deniau show at Philip Slein Gallery and its goal to attract girls to the game of chess. 4652 Maryland, 314-367-9243, worldchesshof.org.
Spring Art Exhibit
Saint Louis Art Museum’s
“Impressionist France: Visions of Nation from Le Gray to Monet”
It’s not an ethereal waterlily mega show, all pink and lavender. It’s sepia tints and earth tones, a call and response between 19th-century French photographers and painters. And it’s shocking how relevant the subject matter still is. Photographer Charles Marville documented the transition of Paris from medieval to modern city—we call it gentrification now—and Claude Monet’s The Promenade with the Railroad Bridge depicts the encroachment of industry on nature. Though filled with beauty, it’s a challenging show that will have you thinking about not just history, but also our place on the planet today. Through July 7. 1 Fine Arts, Forest Park, 314-721-0072, slam.org.
Theater Initiative
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’
“New Works, Bold Voices” Series
Last year, Opera Theatre launched an ambitious three-year cycle of new opera commissions with Terence Blanchard’s “jazz opera,” Champion. Not only was it the top-selling premiere in the company’s history, it also was named a finalist in the world premiere category at the International Opera Awards in April. This season, Opera Theatre portrays poet Gertrude Stein with Twenty-Seven; next year, we’ll see Salman Rushdie’s novel Shalimar the Clown translated to the stage. We suspect this triptych will become core opera repertoire. Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar, 314-961-0644, opera-stl.org.
Theater Experience
Shakespeare Festival St. Louis’ Henry IV & Henry V
In honor of William Shakespeare’s 450th birthday, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis artistic and executive director Rick Dildine used the occasion to get extra ambitious: Audiences had the rare chance to see Henry IV and Henry V, with the hardworking Jim Butz playing the king. Not that the other 21 cast members were slacking—all had multiple roles, playing the whole run of ’em on double-feature nights. And factor in that the company had just produced Shake 38 the month before as well. It was a hell of a birthday gift to Shakespeare—and to St. Louis, too. 314-531-9800, sfstl.com.
Classical Music
St. Louis Symphony’s Peter Grimes
In response to the symphony’s performance on November 22, 2013, composer Benjamin Britten’s 100th birthday, The New York Times wrote, “This concert performance, a highlight of Carnegie Hall’s Britten festival, was as involving as any production you could imagine.” Though it was a pinnacle of the orchestra’s 2013–14 season, it was far fromthe only triumph, alongside the local premiere of John Adams’ City Noir, a nationally lauded U.S. premiere of a John Cage work, and Ben Folds’ performance with the orchestra. 718 N. Grand, 314-533-2500, stlsymphony.org.
New Gallery
William Shearburn Gallery
After closing his CWE gallery a few years ago and focusing on the art-fair circuit, William Shearburn opened a new ground-floor gallery this spring. There, he’s curating quarterly exhibits that juxtapose contemporary local and national artists with work by heavies like Willem de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, and Robert Motherwell. Thoughtfully redesigned by architect Phil Durham, the gallery is just the right size. 665 S. Skinker, 314-367-8020, shearburngallery.com.
Arts Education
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
It’s not that the shows aren’t important or brilliant—this spring’s exhibits, Joyce Pensato’s “I KILLED KENNY” and Nicole Eisenman’s career retrospective, are perfect cases in point. But the stuff scheduled around the shows is just so superlative. The Contemporary’s programs are innovative, welcoming, and fun—a worthy complement to the world-class exhibits. And we’re not just talking about the studio tours; the museum has a book club, culinary tastings, and a summer Teen Museum Studies program. 3750 Washington, 314-535-4660, camstl.org.
Arts Pioneer
Chesterfield Arts
Long before the St. Louis Bluesweek Festival and Taste of St. Louis tallyhoed to West County, Chesterfield Arts was holding down the fort, bringing in “random acts of art,” a virtual choir, and lots of outdoor sculpture. It’s been doing that since the ’90s, and it expands its offerings every year, with summer camps, art happy hours, and its University Sculpture Competition. 444 Chesterfield Center, 636-519-1955, chesterfieldarts.org
Innovative Arts Project
PXSTL
Once upon a time, there were two empty lots: 3713 and 3719 Washington. The sun shone, the rain fell, the grass grew, and mowers cut the grass. That is, until The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts and Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts conceived PXSTL, a national competition inviting artists, architects, and designers to reimagine those grassy lots. This year’s winner, Brooklyn’s Freecell Architecture, designed a temporary structure titled Lots, made up of a metal armature and fabric canopies. Since opening in May, the site has hosted events by people and organizations from all over St. Louis. 3713 and 3719 Washington, 314-754-1850, pulitzerarts.org.
Music Collective
FarFetched
Though it’s only a few years old, the FarFetched Collective’s influence has resounded like a sonic boom. It’s achieved its first directive, making sounds never heard before. Founders Damon Davis and Corey Williams, as well as its other members, are making boundary-pushing music via the annual FarFetched compilation, Prologue. Though its members’ first task is to make art, the way they do it—ignoring outdated ideas about genre, race, class, gender, and sound—is challenging and changing St. Louis. wearefarfetched.net.
Arts Collaboration
Alliance of Black Art Galleries
“2-5-Oh! Surprise, Sadness and Struggle in the Mound City,” a yearlong group show featuring 25 local artists, is a typically thoughtful offering from curator and photographer Freida Wheaton, director of the private domestic gallery Salon 53. Wheaton’s also the galvanizing force behind the Alliance of Black Art Galleries, which formed this past fall. Together, its members aim to share resources and ideas; organize salons, exhibitions, and gallery hops; and give artists of color opportunities to show their work. The alliance is also a huge boon to audiences—many people haven’t yet experienced these galleries, though some have been around for more than 20 years. For art lovers, what could be more thrilling than discovering new galleries?
Where Art meets History
Laumeier Sculpture Park’s Sculpture City Saint Louis and “Mound City”
For St. Louis’ 250th anniversary, Laumeier’s Marilu Knode dubbed our town “sculpture city.” (She speaks the truth: Visit sculpturecitystl.com, and you’ll realize that there’s probably a piece of art lurking nearby, wherever you land.) Working with Via Partnership’s Meridith McKinley, Knode programmed a year’s worth of events under the Sculpture City moniker, including a conference in April that attracted folks from around the world. That weekend, Laumeier opened its second “archaeology of place” exhibit, “Mound City,” which presents the other side of the concept-examining what we have lost or ignored, namely the presence of native tribes and the mounds they built. As ever, Laumeier found a surprising but perfect way to approach the topic, commissioning work from five artists and hosting two archaeologists-in-residence. 12580 Rott, 314-615-5278, laumeier.org.
Local Band
Middle Class Fashion
For a few months in 2012, the opening chords to “My Attack” were hard to avoid on KDHX-FM. And no one minded—it’s one of the most infectious pop songs ever broadcast on that station.
St. Louis has its share of homegrown punk, metal, psychedelia, alt-country, and even straight-up noise, but at the moment, it’s in the middle of a pop-music renaissance, and Middle Class Fashion is at the center of it. Jenn Malzone’s deadpan vocals, jumpy keyboard riffs, and sharp songwriting ground the band, but all of the other members (bass player Brian McClelland, drummer Brad Vaughn, and synth player Katie Lindhorst) pull their weight—which is why the band’s sophomore record, Jungle, was KDHX’s most-played record of 2013. The strength of that disc also landed the band a Daytrotter gig, a musical slot on This American Life, and a mention in The Village Voice’s 2013 Pazz & Jop poll. middleclassfashion.com.
Architectural Renovation
Sun Theater
Ten years ago, saving this little Beaux-Arts jewel seemed daunting, maybe even hopeless. The last time it saw regular use, President Richard Nixon was in the White House. It opened 101 years ago as the Victoria Theater, but never quite found its footing. By the time the Lawrence Group embarked on its $11 million restoration last year, it was the usual sad story of a building long vacant—the theater had resident pigeons and raccoons, water damage, and volunteer trees. The theater, which is now part of Grand Center Arts Academy’s campus, was restored the right way—that is, the expensive, difficult, uncompromising way. Its rococo plaster ceilings were documented and recast; its water-damaged wooden stage was reproduced. With the theater’s completion, Grand Center now boasts a small-scale, 700-seat venue nearly as historic and opulent as Fox Theatre. 3627 Grandel, 314-533-1791, grandcenterartsacademy.org.
Visual-Arts Redux
The Luminary Center for the Arts
“Intrepid” can’t even begin to describe Brea and James McAnally, who’ve spent years pushing The Luminary into its next phase. After winding things up at their former location, they continued programming art shows, booking concerts, and publishing Temporary Art Review (temporaryartreview.com)—all while scraping together money to rehab their new building, recruiting volunteers, and doing much of the hard work themselves. That meant 14-hour days in summer’s heat and this past winter’s apocalyptic cold. The result, though, is dazzling. What was a decrepit Walgreens now houses a gallery, a concert space, a photography studio, a community media library, and artists’ studios. The current exhibit, “Speculative Spaces::Working Theses”; Lauren van Haaften-Schick’s solo show “Non-Participation”; and The Luminary’s concert series are tastes of the amazing things to come. 2701 Cherokee, 314-807-5984, theluminaryarts.com.
Literature Redux
Observable Readings
After a decade, four curators, and four locations, the St. Louis Poetry Center’s Observable Reading Series has settled into a new home in the loft at Llewellyn’s Pub in the CWE. What hasn’t changed is the skillful mix of readers. On the same bill, you’ll hear both locally and nationally known poets, emerging writers and those verging on legendary, as well as nature poets and elliptical ones. Anyone who knows anything about poetry will tell you not to throw rocks in St. Louis, because there’s a 40 percent chance it will hit a poet. Still, at most readings, you may get a book signed and a quick handshake, but show up early for an Observable gig, and you can have dinner—and maybe even a beer—with that night’s featured poets. 4747 McPherson, 314-973-0616, stlouispoetrycenter.org/observable.
Music Redux
KDHX-FM’s Larry J. Weir Center for Independent Media
For more than 25 years, KDHX-FM broadcasted from a one-time bakery on Magnolia Avenue. It had miles of charm—wooden library catalog–style boxes for DJ mail and a lobby that almost felt like a funky living room. But the on-air studio got hot and cold, and the only window was a row of glass bricks. Staff tripped over each other in the tiny offices upstairs, and engineers had to break out a baroque system of crisscrossing cords when visiting bands did in-studio recordings. In the new building—named for Larry Weir, the late, beloved host of Songwriters Showcase—everything has its own space, including staff offices, broadcast studios, and an in-house recording studio. There’s also space to interact with the listening public: a coffeehouse dubbed the Magnolia Café and a long-awaited performance venue, The Stage at KDHX, which books film screenings, concerts, and record spins. Now, DJs can give weather reports by looking out the (very clear, very large) second-story windows. 3524 Washington, 314-664-3688, kdhx.org.
Music Trend
Hybrids
Similar to other cities, St. Louis’ overlap between the classical and experimental
genres is producing some of the area’s most compelling music.
Traditional
- Radio Arts Foundation
- St. Louis Symphony
- Jazz at the Bistro • Folk Schoo
- Scott Joplin House State Historic Site’s Ragtime Rendezvous
- Bach Society of Saint Louis
- Saint Louis Cathedral Concerts
- The Sheldon Concert Hall
- St. Louis Classical Guitar Society
- St. Louis Chamber Chorus
- Christ Church Cathedral
- The Focal Point
- American Chamber Chorale
- St. Louis Spelmanslag
- Flute Society of Saint Louis
- Chamber Music Society of St. Louis
- Collegium Vocale of Saint Louis
- St. Louis Baroque
- The Kingsbury Ensemble
Experimental
- Nathan Cook (BRUXISM, Close/Far label, N.N.N. Cook)
- Beauty Pageant
- Joe Hess (KDHX-FM’s Wrong Division with Mabel Suen, Undercurrent series)
- Jeremy Kannapell (Mild Power, Ghost Ice)
- Chris Smentowski (Brain Transplant)
- Yowie
- Skarekrau Radio
- Darin Gray
- Apop Records
- Spelling Bee
- NoiseFest
- Blank Space
- Skin Graft Records
- FarFetched
- The Luminary
- Foam
- Melt
- fort gondo
- Schlafly Tap Room's Friday-night shows (Brett Underwood)
- HEARding Cats
- Britches
Hybrid
- St. Louis Symphony Concert Series at Pulitzer Arts Foundation
- The 442s
- Eric Hall’s SITE/SOUND at Laumeier Sculpture Park
- New Music Circle
- Alarm Will Sound
- Kevin Harris’ “Audible Interruptions” at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
- Numbers (David Parker and Charles “Bobo” Shaw)
- George Sams’ Nu-Art Jazz Composers Series
- William A. Kerr Foundation
- Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center
- Joe’s Cafe
- Mizzou New Music Initiative
