There’s a new festival coming to St. Louis, and it’s aiming to reframe the way we understand art history. Hosted by Chamber Project St. Louis (CPSTL), the American Women in the Arts Festival plans to highlight the contributions of musicians and visual artists whose legacies have often been excluded from a “canonical” arts education. Hosted in collaboration with the Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) and St. Louis County Library, the fest will be focused on contemporary women whose works are shaping today’s creative world. CPSTL co-founder and executive director Dana Hotle says the program celebrates women artists while questioning the institutions that have failed to recognize them.
“I think that the more you learn about women in history, the more you learn how influential they have been, and how important they are,” Hotle says. “And yet, in a traditional arts education, we really are not taught that—even though in their lifetimes, they were influencing the men who are in the textbooks.”
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As a classical chamber music ensemble, one of CPSTL’s most important tasks each year is curating inclusive programming that centers existing works by people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and women. During the pandemic, Hotle had time to reflect on this process and to rekindle her own passion for visual art. The intersection of the two mediums inspired her to reach out to SLAM curators Melissa Wolfe and Amy Torbert, who were immediately on board for a collaboration. Together, they began to research and make connections between classical music and art in SLAM’s collection. That link is the foundation of what ultimately grew into the American Women in the Arts Festival.
The three-part festival features events in May and June. On May 10, guests can join local composer Stephanie Berg for a Very Open Rehearsal of her new string quartet Tomorrow’s Garden. Berg’s passion for native gardening served as the main touchpoint for the piece, and attendees will have the opportunity to watch it come to life for the first time. The music, which was commissioned for the festival, has never been performed before.
“What an unbelievably rare opportunity to experience this moment,” Hotle says. “As a group that commissions a lot, there’s something really special about the first time a piece of music is played. It’s never been heard before, and you’re making it happen.”
Wolfe and Torbert will lead groups through a women-focused tour of SLAM’s collection on May 31 and June 1. Guests can expect to learn the stories of female artists and sitters while making connections to the music world. Finally, on June 2, the festival will marry its visual and musical components with a performance titled American Girl: Determination, Innovation, and Triumph. The program will feature the world premiere of Tomorrow’s Garden and music from current and past women composers, which “will be linked through story or style to an artist and a piece of art in [SLAM’s] collections.”
CPSTL’s first festival comes alongside its 15th anniversary as an organization. To Hotle, it represents a culmination of the collaborative spirit and inclusive mission that CPSTL embodies.
“Highlighting the people who have been historically excluded from the stage has become a huge cornerstone of our work that we’re really, really passionate about,” Hotle says. “[The festival] brings all those things together during this milestone season, and that feels good.”
The Very Open Rehearsal and Women in American Art tours are free, while American Girl: Determination, Innovation, and Triumph is ticketed. More information about all of the events is available here.
