Art History in Forest Park: The creation of SLAM

| Scene Reporter

“Dedicated to Art and Free to All” is the recurring mantra of the Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM), which although conveniently located in Forest Park, is easily overlooked by Washington University students. Despite some students’ lack of interest in the museum, it is intricately connected to Wash. U.’s rich history.

The museum opened as the Saint Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts, a department of Wash. U. Early activities featured a free evening drawing class open to the public, organized by Professor Halsey Ives in 1875. The department sparked interest in St. Louis locals, as the museum began collecting various artworks to display and creating more classes. Soon, a new venue was required to house its growing collection of art and its expanding class sizes.

The museum was originally located downtown but moved to its current location just before the 1904 World’s Fair, in which it served as the “Palace of Fine Arts.” It was the only building constructed for the fair that was intended to be permanent.

The museum separated from Wash. U. and was renamed the City Art Museum of Saint Louis in 1909. In subsequent years, it underwent multiple renovations and additions. In 1971, the city of St. Louis created the Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District to ensure the museum’s financial security.

Perhaps the idea of art museums conjures up memories of dull and prolonged school trips and deters you from venturing up Art Hill, but the Saint Louis Art Museum offers such a wide variety of art that you’re likely to find something to suit your fancy. Not to mention, it’s a St. Louis landmark you simply shouldn’t miss.

Chances are unlikely that you’ll have the same experience twice at the art museum, between the featured exhibitions, travelling installations and the museum’s permanent collections. Featuring works from Matisse, Picasso, Van Gogh and Monet, the museum’s collection of impressionist and post-impressionist art is quite impressive. It also lays claim to a staggering collection of 20th-century German art and boasts the world’s largest collection of Max Beckmann works.

One of the current temporary exhibits flaunts the museum’s edgier side; it is part of the New Media Series and presents French multimedia artist Laurent Grasso’s “The Birds,” an eight-minute video that runs on loop. This video displays work of living artists who take advantage of digital media and create full sensory experiences. The Laurent Grasso exhibit runs until Oct. 10.

An exhibition to look forward to is “Portrait of Depression-Era America,” which presents 22 prints by 10 photographers from the Great Depression. The works dance along the border of art and journalism and document a captivating era of American history in powerful images. The exhibit debuted on Sept. 24.

The Saint Louis Art Museum is in the process of yet another expansion, which is expected to cost over $100 million. According to the museum, the current plan is the museum’s most exciting renovation in its history. Expected to be completed in 2012, the more than 200,000-square-foot expansion will include new gallery spaces, public meeting spaces, a below-ground parking garage and a new entrance on Fine Arts Drive.

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