You don’t have to work hard to see fantastic art in St. Louis; it’s rich with world-class institutions that rub elbows with scrappy indie galleries. But there’s a whole other layer of visual delectables to be found, and we’ve asked some in-the-know tastemakers to share their hidden gems with us.
Randy Vines, co-owner of STL Style House, recommends a trip to The Mural Mile (above). Located along the riverfront between Victor and Chouteau, it’s ever-changing. “You will find some just really unexpected artists’ creations there,” says Vines.
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The Grand Avenue Water Tower, in College Hill, bowled over Wassan Al-Khudhairi, chief curator of the Contemporary Art Museum, the first time she saw it: “It seemed to appear out of nowhere, almost like it fell out of the sky. The scale of the tower, especially with the surrounding architecture, feels magnificent and otherworldly.” Bonus: It recently underwent a makeover.
Jeske Park sits on 7 acres in the heart of Ferguson, on the site of one of its first formally designated public parks. Intended as an amenity of and for the city, the park is a place where you can find sculptures and installations by local and national artists.
“I love the portraits by Chris Green along Page Boulevard for Better Family Life,” says Tom Ridgely, producing artistic director for the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival. “[As you’re] driving east from Skinker and adding a stop at the Ville Monument, at Sarah and MLK, the cumulative impact is mind-boggling.”
Kristin Cassidy’s “Mudlark: Photographic Typologies of Found Objects Collected on the St. Louis Riverfront, MO,” is on display at St. Louis Lambert International Airport through next fall. She lets the river reveal itself to her on collecting trips, and time and weather’s toll on the objects—some from as long ago as 1880—lends them a beautiful historicity.
“One of my favorite pieces of visual art would have to be the Kinloch basketball court. Project Backboard and William LaChance transformed the entire three-full-court surface into a canvas,” says artist and documentary filmmaker Cami Thomas. “It’s an art piece that requires you to engage with the community in order to engage with the art.”
Vines has made a living out of loving the city through STL Style House, on Cherokee Street. “I love the mural on the side of our shop, which is by Liza and Robert Fishbone. It’s called Nothing Impossible,” he says. The mural mixes bright colors and iconic architecture.
“The Granite City Art and Design District is a hidden gem,” says Cassidy. The artist-run space, which turns 5 this year, takes up an entire city block in Granite City and hosts a wide array of exhibitions, from punk noise shows to immersive art installations.
Vines and Ridgely share a love for other murals, too: Ridgely says to check out Cbabi Bayoc’s Life’s a Chess Move, in Hyde Park, and Vines loves Faring Purth’s Prime, on the Nebula co-working building on Cherokee. In Wellston, keep an eye peeled in the 6300 block of St. Charles Rock Road for an excellent nighttime St. Louis skyline mural.
Check out “Twice as hard, half as much,” an exhibition of Marina Peng’s precise, beautiful, and discomfiting work, at The Gallery at The Kranzberg, through November 13. Peng explores the Cultural Revolution and the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Cassidy appreciates the giant storefront window because you can always peer inside.
