Address: 3750 Washington Blvd.
Pricing: Free on Wednesday and Saturday; otherwise, $3-$5
Phone: (314) 535-4660
Hours: Wednesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
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Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis: great art, tiny price
Jun 16, 2010
View art with a modern flair for less than you’d pay for a fast-food meal at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Located in downtown St. Louis’ Covenant Blu neighborhood, the museum offers the cutting edge in modern art — whether sculpture, painting, other installation or performance art — at a tiny price.
Artists who have recently exhibited at the Contemporary include New York-based Swedish artist Fia Backström, Korean artist Sung Hwan Kim, European conceptual artists John Armleder and Olivier Mosset, American expatriate artist Tom Johnson, London-based Carey Young, New York-based artist Aïda Ruilova, California artist Lutz Bacher, New York artist Alix Pearlstein and many artists from the greater St. Louis area.
Admission is free for everyone each Wednesday and Saturday and free for Contemporary Art Museum members and students (with an ID) every day. Otherwise, admission is $3 for senior citizens and $5 for other adults.
The Contemporary offers three seasons each year. You can take a self-guided tour with a downloaded podcast; however, a group tour offers a more interactive experience and explores the underlying themes of the current exhibitions and an overview of contemporary art. Group tours are free for students, $1 for senior citizens and $3 for other adults. Reservations for group tours must be made three weeks in advance.
Founded in 1980, the Contemporary moved to its current location in 2003.
HelloMetro Tip: The Contemporary makes owning a piece of history easy. The museum is selling a limited edition of a silver-cast sculpture by Maya Lin, best known as the designer of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. The sculpture is shaped like the Mississippi River. The edition was created at the time of Lin’s exhibition at the Contemporary in 2007, Silver River — Mississippi. The edition, which comes in a hot-stamped portfolio box, is issued in an edition of just 30 and costs $15,000. For more information, or to place an order, call assistant curator Laura Fried at (314) 535–0770, ext. 208, or e-mail her at lfried@camstl.org.
- by Ivonne Rovira, Saint Louis Reporter for HelloMetro
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Ivonne RoviraA graduate of the prestigious Columbia University School of Journalism in New York City, Ivonne Rovira worked as a reporter for the Miami News, The Miami Herald and The Associated Press. She has written articles for The National Catholic Reporter and The Courier-Journal. For more than 15 years, Ivonne wrote and edited articles aimed at middle-school children.
