You can’t nibble on this fall’s art exhibitions, but the rest of the senses come into play. In one museum, performers will dance among artwork, including some that can work as seating.
At Laumeier Sculpture Park, an outdoor art trail is the setting for audio works, and textiles show up in more than one setting, begging to be felt (but resist).
A history of midcentury Ƶ architecture and the Great Rivers Biennial offer chances to be immersed in especially local creations.
Monika Weiss: ‘Metamorphosis’
- When: Through Dec. 15; 7:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3 p.m., and 5:30 p.m. Monday-Sunday
- Where: Art Hike Trail, Laumeier Sculpture Park, 12580 Rott Road
- How much: Free
- More info:
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Using her piano compositions, Polish artist Monika Weiss’ outdoor sound installation comes from two steel columns along the wooded Art Hike Trail. Inspired by the myth of Daphne, who changes into a tree to protect herself, the installation is dedicated to victims of gender-based violence around the world. There will be a free artist talk at 6:30 Sept. 12 at 21c Museum Hotel, 1528 Locust Street.
‘Continuum: Figuration and Abstraction in the MOCRA Collection’
- When: Through Dec. 15; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday, Friday-Sunday; 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday
- Where: Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, 3700 West Pine Boulevard
- How much: Free
- More info:
Artists can use realistic figures or abstraction to convey spiritual dimensions in their work. The museum shows both in its exhibition, including some works that don’t fit neatly into one category.
Great Rivers Biennial: Saj Issa, Basil Kincaid and Ronald Young
- When: Sept. 6-Feb. 9; hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday and Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday
- Where: Contemporary Art Museum Ƶ, 3750 Washington Boulevard
- How much: Free
- More info: 314-535-4660;
CAM’s every-other-year celebration of Ƶ artists features three chosen unanimously by a jury: Saj Issa, Basil Kincaid and Ronald Young. Respectively, they focus on ceramics and paintings, quilts and textiles, and assembled sculptures from salvaged items. A CAM collaboration with the Gateway Foundation, the Great Rivers Biennial gives $20,000 to awardees. Also at the museum thus far, Shinichi Sawada, “Agents of Clay”; Ad Minoliti, “Manifestación pluriversal; and Charles Atlas, “Painting by Numbers.”
‘Scott Burton: Shape Shift’
- When: Sept. 6-Feb. 2; hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday and Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday
- Where: Pulitzer Arts Foundation, 3716 Washington Boulevard
- How much: Free
- More info:
Artist Scott Burton made geometric sculptures that could also function as chairs, tables or chaises. The Pulitzer Arts Foundation, which has one of the ‘Rock Settees’ in its permanent collection, now mounts the largest solo exhibition of Burton’s work. In addition, performance pieces will be performed on five days in connection with the show (see below).
Brendan Fernandes: ‘In Two’
- When: Noon and 2 p.m. Sept. 7, Nov. 8 and 9, Jan. 17 and 18;
- Where: Pulitzer Arts Foundation, 3716 Washington Boulevard
- How much: Free
- More info:
Scott Burton was a performance artist before he turned more toward making sculpture. In connection with an exhibit of his work, dancer Brendan Fernandes directs performance pieces among the art. (See above)
‘Design Agendas: Modern Architecture in Ƶ, 1930s–1970s’
- When: Sept. 13-Jan. 6; hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday and Wednesday-Sunday
- Where: Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University, 1 Brookings Drive
- How much: Free
- More info: 314-935-4523;
An examination of modern architecture — for better and sometimes for worse — shows influences of the New Deal, the Great Migration and the civil rights movement. Included are architectural drawings, photographs, models, films and more. It shows how the history was reshaped through ideological aims along with its own cultural and racial history.
“Narrative Wisdom and African Arts”
- When: Oct. 19-Feb. 16; hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday
- Where: Ƶ Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Drive, Forest Park, East Building
- How much: $12; $10 seniors and students; $6 children 6-12 and free for children 5 and under and museum members; free to all on Fridays
- More info: 314-721-0072;
About 150 pieces, ranging from 13th-century Africa to modern day, show how artwork can document or critique narratives, such as “leadership legitimacy, memory of place, prescriptions for healing and destiny, and enduring ancestral wisdoms,” SLAM says. About a third of the exhibition will be from the museum’s own collection with the rest coming from around the world and including textiles, sculpture, painting, photography and more.
Currents 124: Crystal Z Campbell
- When: Oct. 25-March 9; hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday
- Where: Ƶ Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Drive, Forest Park, Galleries 250 and 257
- How much: Free
- More info: 314-721-0072;
A multidisciplinary artist and experimental filmmaker, Crystal Z Campbell “centers the unloved and finds complexity in public secrets,” SLAM says. Campbell received the Henry L. and Natalie E. Freund Fellowship, which includes a residency at Washington University’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and a solo exhibition at SLAM.
“Bolts of Color: Printed Textiles after WWII”
- When: Nov. 8-April 20; hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday
- Where: Ƶ Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Drive, Forest Park, Gallery 110
- How much: Free
- More info: 314-721-0072;
Graphic textiles, often influenced by contemporary art, nature, architecture and other trends of the 1950s-70s, will be on display. The museum recently obtained the textiles made during a period of experimental screen printing and include well-known designers such as Rockwell Kent and Lucio Fontana.
Jo Stealey: ‘Reverie’
- When: Sept. 27-Jan. 18; hours are noon-5 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday
- Where: Sheldon Concert Hall & Art Galleries, 3648 Washington Boulevard
- How much: Free
- More info:
A retired professor from the University of Missouri-Columbia, Jo Stealey is best-known for sculptural objects and mixed media based on basketry processes. Also at the Sheldon on the same schedule will be Brigham Dimick’s imaginative paintings in “Private and Collective Spaces”; Kendra Ward’s photos of haunted houses, “There Is No Home”; and Stephen Signa-Avilés’ object-oriented collages in “(N)either This (Nor) That.”