The Saint Louis Art Museum’s quarterly SLAM Underground event is this Friday, and this iteration—ACCELERATE—promises thrills at the speed of life.
“We are highlighting two exhibitions right now,” says Jessica Kennedy, educator, adult learning, and access for all program director. “We’ve got a lot going on!”
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The two shows, Roaring: Art, Fashion, and the Automobile in France, 1918-1939 and In Search of America: Photography and the Road Trip, offer complementary explorations of cars and their impact on culture.
The event for ages 18 and up runs from 7–10 p.m. Friday. Like every Friday evening at the museum, admission is free to the Roaring special exhibition—but that’s just the beginning.
A bingo card motivates players to move through the galleries in search of specific fashion elements. And speaking of fashion, artist and designer Justin Bradley will be painting a jacket, drawing inspiration from those slick, sculptural vehicles in the Roaring show. He’ll give talks at 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
DJ NYARA keeps folks on their feet around the Farrell Auditorium, and the jazz and ragtime group Gaslight Squares will play a live set from 8:30–9:30 p.m.
The prize wheel, a fixture at SLAM Underground, tests visitors’ knowledge of car and fashion logos. And the evening’s make-and-take art project is a keychain, naturally, made with the magic of Shrinky Dinks. The evening’s specialty cocktail from the cash bar is a Charleston.
A brand-new element for the evening is a car show in the west parking lot, west of the King Louis IX statue. “We reached out to local car enthusiasts, and, boy, were they super thrilled to be able to apply,” says Kennedy. “I think we’ve got up to 60 or 70—the cars themselves will be from all eras, including some from the ’20s and ’30s. But In Search of America is really about the road trip over time, so we thought that would be interesting.”
The SLAM Underground program, which dates back to 2014, is meant to attract new museum goers, as well as be a fun, social evening for all. It’s self-guided and self-paced, so if you want to spend the whole time gawking at the car show or watching Justin Bradley zhuzh up that jacket, feel free.
“The whole goal of the program is to attract a diverse audience, a younger audience,” Kennedy says.
