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Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum
DESCRIPTION: The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, formerly known as the Washington University Gallery of Art, has what is considered one the finest University collections in the country. Washington University has been collecting art since its founding in 1853 and has operated a museum since 1881. The museum exhibits works from the Washington University permanent collection, special loan exhibits, student and faculty shows. The permanent collection includes significant holdings of 19th and 20th century American and European paintings, sculptures and prints as well as major contemporary works. Artists represented in the collection include George Caleb Bingham, Thomas Cole, Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, Alexander Calder, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Barbara Kruger and Christian Boltanksi.
ADDRESS: Campus Box 1214, 1 Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130-4899
The Gallery is located in Steinberg Hall, near the corner of Forsyth and Skinker Boulevards.
LOCATION: University City
PHONE: 314-935-4523; E-MAIL: wuga@wustl.edu
WEB SITE: kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu
GETTING THERE: From downtown, take I-64 west to Exit 34B (Clayton/Skinker Blvd.) Turn right onto S. Skinker Blvd. and follow it approximately one mile to Forsyth. Turn left onto Forsyth and then turn right into the first parking lot (Hoyt Drive). Turn right at the first opportunity after you enter the parking lot and go a short distance. Steinberg Hall is on the right.
HOURS: 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Mon. - Fri.; 1-5 p.m., Sat. and Sun.; closed holidays and summers.
ADMISSION: Free
ANNUAL SPECIAL EVENTS: Each year the museum features a faculty art show and a student art show. It also sponsors various programs, lectures and film series.
HISTORY: The St. Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts, a department of Washington University, became the first public art museum west of the Mississippi when it was dedicated on May 10, 1881. The museum’s opening included the most ambitious art exhibition to date in the American West.
In the years that followed, the museum earned a national reputation with its growing collection and visiting exhibitions. Following the 1904 World’s Fair, the University moved its collection to the Palace of Fine Arts which was rededicated as the St. Louis Museum of Fine Arts. A campaign to pass a tax proposition in support of the Museum was launched and was passed by the voters in 1907.
The result was the establishment of the first municipally supported art museum in the United States. A legal tangle resulted when the city refused to release tax dollars to the University, a private institution that was prohibited by the state constitution from administering public funds.
Following two years of negotiations, the St. Louis Museum of Fine Arts dissolved as a department of the University and became the City Art Museum. Washington University agreed to lend its collections to the city and the two institutions maintained a unique cooperative relationship for more than 50 years.
As the City Art Museum grew into a major collector of art with a national reputation, its collection overshadowed the University’s collection which was soon relegated to storage. Following a call for the University “to become the leading center for the study and teaching of the arts in the middle west,” the University’s 1929 master plan called for construction of an art museum on campus. But it wasn’t until 1946 that a “gallery of modern art” was unveiled in a renovated classroom in Givens Hall with the goal of attracting the interest of potential benefactors.
Within 10 years, the University reportedly obtained “the wherewithal to assemble one of the finest collections of modern art to be found in the Midwest” and plans were drawn up for a building to house the University’s art collections, the Department of Art and Archaeology and the Art and Architecture Library. Steinberg Hall, dedicated in 1960, linked the visual arts departments on campus with the University’s art museum which was renamed the Washington University Gallery of Art.
By the end of the 20th century, the Gallery of Art had outgrown its space in Steinberg Hall and the University began considering constructing a new Visual Arts and Design Center building. Renamed the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in 2004, the facility is part of the Sam Fox Arts Center at Washington University. The center is dedicated to interdisciplinary studies in the arts and design and collaborative research and teaching.
WHAT’S COMING UP: Plans are underway to build the Sam Fox Arts Center at Washington University which will create a new home for the Kemper Art Museum, Art and Architecture Library, Media Center and the Department of Art History and Archaeology. The new Kemper building, scheduled to be complete in 2006, will be a 65,000-square-foot limestone clad structure designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect and former Washington University lecturer Fumihiko Maki.
HANDICAPPED ACCESS: The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum is handicapped accessible.
WHERE TO GET LUNCH: There are several places to have lunch in nearby Forest Park – the Painted Giraffe at the Zoo, Meriwether’s at the Missouri History Museum or Puck’s at the Saint Louis Art Museum. Visitors can also have lunch on the university campus. A favorite among students and visitors is Holmes Lounge located on the quadrangle across from Brookings Hall (right up the hill from the museum). There are several places to have lunch in the University City Loop (Delmar Boulevard), including Blueberry Hill, Thai County Café and the Saint Louis Bread Company. Also near the Gallery of Art is Kaldi’s Coffeehouse and Café located in the Demun neighborhood.
GIFT SHOP: The museum has a small gift area featuring post cards, exhibition catalogs and other items.
WHAT’S NEARBY: Washington University is adjacent to Forest Park with its free attractions – the world-famous Saint Louis Zoo, the Science Center, the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Missouri History Museum – as well as the Muny Opera and miles of trails for walking and biking. Also nearby is the Loop Neighborhood with an eclectic mix of shops and restaurants and the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
PUBLIC RELATIONS CONTACT: Liam Otten at liam_otten@wustl.edu or 314-935-8494
Readers should call 1-800-916-0040 to request a free copy of the Official St. Louis Visitor Guide or point, click and explore St. Louis at www.explorestlouis.com
