Whether you’re interested in taking a journey to the past or exploring contemporary voices, there is plenty to take in this month at the city’s many museums and galleries. Here are a few must-see shows to catch this month.
Steel Wheels and United Freights of America – Through September 20
Opaque Collective burst onto the scene this past spring with the delightfully cheeky Route 69. Now, they’re back with a pair of exhibitions dedicated to one of the graffiti world’s most enduring canvasses: the freight train. Steel Wheels in the collective’s gallery space and United Freights of America in the shop space will together “trace the living histories of more than 350 graffiti writers and the vehicle that connects them.”
Buenos Aires Modern, 1935-1950 – September 10 through January 4, 2027
Take a trip back to midcentury Argentina with Buenos Aires Modern at WashU’s Kemper Art Museum. The exhibition explores the capital city’s transformation and its effect on the artists working there across the early 20th century, including Grete Stern, Horacio Coppola, and their wider social circle.
Counterpublic 2026 – September 10 through December 12
St. Louis’ triennial celebration of community and public art returns this fall with Coyote Time, an expansive exhibition across various venues and locations, including the International Institute, The Luminary, Tower Grove Park, Powell Hall, and many, many more. Inspired by the cartoon and video game concept that sees characters hanging in mid-air before making their next move, Counterpublic invites visitors to take a leap with them and experience something new.
READ MORE: Counterpublic prepares to transform St. Louis with Coyote Time
Weaving the Infinite runs at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation from
Sep 10, 2026 to Jan 31, 2027
Olga de Amaral: Weaving the Infinite – September 10 through January 31, 2027
Groundbreaking fiber artist Olga de Amaral is academically trained in both architectural drafting and weaving, and the two worlds blend beautifully in her structured, sculptural works. In Weaving the Infinite at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, visitors can experience the Colombian artist’s evolution from her early 1950s weavings to monumental pieces created in the 2000s, in addition to works on paper and pieces from her personal collections.
In Blackest Shade, In Darkest Light – September 10 through February 6, 2027
This traveling exhibition curated by Patrick Earl Hammie has brought together Black artists whose work shapes worlds since 2022. It will end its run this fall with a new iteration for The Sheldon Art Galleries in which drawing “inhabits paper, walls, textiles, sculpture, digital space, and installation.”
READ MORE: In Blackest Shade, In Darkest Light combines sci-fi and the Black experience at The Sheldon
Great Rivers Biennial 2026 – September 10 through February 7, 2027
Every other year, the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis highlights the work of three regional artists on the rise with the Great Rivers Biennial, which provides artists with $25,000 in unrestricted funding to help create exciting new works for the space. The 2026 artists, Vaughn Terrell Davis Jr., Lauren dela Roche, and Vincent Stemmler, have put together three collections of work that highlight their unique artistic practices across various mediums.
READ MORE: Fall & Winter Arts Guide
Pew Pews and Hallways – September 19 through October 17
This exhibition at Fifteen Windows Gallery is the first solo show by artist and Screwed Arts Collective founding member Killer Napkins since 2017. Inspired by his love of early “boomer-shooter” video games, Pew Pews and Hallways explores the aesthetics and elements of the genre through ink, acrylic, sculpture, and large scale painting.
Visions of Antiquity – Through October 18
The Saint Louis Art Museum is looking back at the ancient world through the eyes of artists across generations in Visions of Antiquity, curated by associate curator of prints, drawings, and photographs Clare Kobasa. Works from 1500 to the present that explore Greco-Roman themes will be on display in three sections: “Knowledge and Order,” “Triumph and Tragedy,” and Remnants and Ruins” in Galleries 234 and 235.
’76,” from the “Kent Bicentennial Portfolio: Spirit of
Independence,” 1975; screenprint; image: 37 3/4 x 34
inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Lorillard,
Inc. 52:1976.9; © 2026 Artists Rights Society (ARS),
New York. On view in ‘Picturing Independence’ at the Saint Louis Art Museum.
Picturing Independence – Through January 24, 2027
The Saint Louis Art Museum is marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with this new exhibition in Shoenberg Gallery 236. Picturing Independence, curated by Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Associate Curator of American Art Amy Torbert, looks back on how artists have interpreted independence, from colonial times to the present.
READ MORE: Picturing Independence captures changing American ideas at the Saint Louis Art Museum
Begin Again: Wak’a Garden – Through April 15, 2029
The second installment in Laumeier Sculpture Park’s Begin Again series dedicated the to the art space’s 50th anniversary, Wak’a Garden is a commission by 2026 Visiting Artist in Residence Juan William Chávez and 2026 Kranzberg Exhibition Series Artist Kiersten Torrez. The organic structure is not only a sculptural piece in itself, but will also act as a gathering and teaching space during its tenure at Laumeier.
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