For the exhibition stylus–a project by Ann Hamilton–the Pulitzer has invited many different groups to activate the interactive installation: the St. Louis Symphony Chorus, Webster University dancers, Shape Note Singers, librarians , all the musicians and DJs associated with sound waves, to name just a few.  With “stylus” as the exhibition’s title and Hamilton’s history with knitting, it seemed obvious that knitters be added to the list.

The Pulitzer invites all of you knitters to join in the biggest knitting circle St. Louis has ever seen on January 8, 2-5pm, at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts. Onlookers are welcome too. This event is free and open to the public, and visitors may come and go freely.

Please read about how this event was developed and ties in with Ann Hamilton’s work on 2buildings1blog.

The holiday season is a great time to explore the visual arts around town. See below for a list of what you can expect to find at the Saint Louis Art Map institutions…

Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts
Current exhibition: stylus | a project by ann hamilton
(closed December 23, 30, and January 1)

Laumeier Sculpture Park
Current exhibition: Ahmet Öğüt: Underestimated Zones
(The offices, indoor galleries, and shop will be closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day. The park grounds will remain open from 8 am to sunset but will be closed on Christmas Day.)

Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum
Current exhibition: Rivane Neuenschwander: A Day Like Any Other
(open from 11-3 on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve and closed Christmas Day and New Year’s Day; otherwise open regular hours)

Sheldon Art Galleries
Current exhibitions: Uncommon Objects / Personal Views; Lourdes Delgado: Jazz in New York; Group f.64 & the Modernist Vision; Designing the City; St. Louis ArtWorks Public Art in the Community; Maturity and Its Muse
(closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as well as New Years Eve and New Years Day; otherwise open regular hours)

Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
Current exhibition: Richard Artschwager: Hair and Elad Lassry: Sum of Limited Views
(closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day; otherwise open regular hours)

MOCRA
MOCRA will be closed to the public until January 11 and reopen with a an extension of the James Rosen: The Artist and the Capable Observer exhibition.

White Flag Projects
White Flag will be closed during the holidays and will open the Time Wounds All Heels exhibition on January 5, 2011.

co-directors for Sweet Jesus-Kiersten Torrez, Lauren F. Adams, William Gass, Juan William Chaverz, and Jake Peterson

Thank you, St. Louis, for supporting the Arts on Cherokee Street and for stopping by on opening night and for the Saturday afternoon artist tour. We had over 700 visitors for this two-day exhibit!

Lauren Frances Adams-Don’t Trust Anybody Over Thirty
Wood, paint, bench, strobe lights 2010

I would like to give my fellow co-directors, Lauren F. Adams, William Gass, Jake Peterson and Kiersten Torrez, a 21-gun salute for undertaking an exhibition of such large scale.  Installing an exhibition of 15 artists in the 33,000 sq. ft. space of a historic brewery is no easy feat. Thanks you Lemp Brewery for collaborating and embracing the STL art community.

Laura Fried and Matthew Thompson Guest curated video installation detail-Sonny Liston fight at the St. Louis Arena.

Kiersten Torrez-Paul Raymond’s Revue,Light box and audio installation 2010

Documentation from the exhibition and performance will be coming soon to the Sweet Jesus website. Images will all so be posted on the Sweet Jesus face book page.

Juan William Chavez-Pruitt-Igoe Bee Sanctuary
Bee hives, super 8mm digital transfer.

Charles “Bobo” Shaw plays a two-valve bugle in the Main Gallery, for the rehearsal of sound waves: Jazz.

Join the Pulitzer this Thursday, from 6 to 9pm, for our third sound waves. Musicians  Charles “Bobo” Shaw, Zimbabwe Nkenya and KDHX DJ Josh Weinstein will interweave and improvise jazz throughout the installation stylus. As always, sound waves is free and open to the public. Come sip refreshments, explore the galleries and enjoy a truly unique listening experience.

For more information, visit our events page or e-mail info@pulitzerarts.org.

Many of us at Laumeier have been involved in various capacities with an exciting new sculptural installation in the Museum’s Children’s Sculpture Garden—Jessica Stockholder’s Flooded Chambers Maid, 2009. The colorful interactive installation was originally created for an exhibition in Madison Square Park in New York City. Laumeier is thrilled to bring the work to St. Louis on a long-term loan as well as an exhibition of Stockholder’s work in February 2011. Stockholder, is a highly influential American sculptor and the Director of Graduate Studies in Sculpture at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

Venture out to Laumeier to see the work as a crew of Laumeier staff, volunteers and County Parks employees complete the multi-component work in the next few weeks.

Please also join Laumeier in welcoming Jessica Stockholder to St. Louis as she presents an artist lecture in collaboration with the Sam Fox School at Washington University in St. Louis. This Monday, November 1, 2010, at 6PM a reception will preceed a 6:30PM lecture in Steinberg Auditorium at Washington University in St. Louis.

In the fascinating exhibition, “Uncommon Objects/Personal Views: The Collections of Rick Ege and   John Foster,” found and folk art transport us to a world of underground artists, con men, former slaves, criminals and hobos – drawing us in to a secret world of outsider art. John Foster has been collecting art since 1972, largely driven by his passion for surrounding himself with “objects of great mystery and design.” Foster makes no distinction as to whether an object is anonymous or by a named artist, but instead seeks quality and meaning.

In his own words, Foster tells the story behind “Assortment of 15 Carnival Punks,” one of the most wondrous pieces in the exhibition: Read the rest of this entry »

Nico Leone, Co-Executive Director of 88.1 KDHX, describes collaborating with the Pulitzer to curate sound waves.

Tomorrow, 6-9pm, the Pulitzer is hosting the second sound waves, a collaboration with KDHX, which pairs distinct music genres with the exhibition stylus. Each third Thursday of the month, a DJ and live musicians activate the installation by interweaving tracks and rhythms through its intricate sound system. Last month, we heard the sounds of Brazil; tomorrow,  you can hear the complex time signatures of Balkan music.

Next door, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis will be having their own music event (find out more here). Our institutions are teaming up to promote these “Third Thursdays” and encourage you to visit both buildings. Be sure to pick up a form at one of our front desks for a contest we’ve put together. You’ll have a chance to win a $25 gift card towards the City Diner in Grand Center.

Tonight, Cole Root and Francesca Wilmott host Los Caminos’ inaugural exhibition with a collection of work by RJ Messineo.  Located in the historic Cherokee District, Los Caminos transforms Cole Root’s second floor apartment into a unique gallery space for contemporary art.

Perfectly Fucked Up For You, Messineo’s first solo-show in St. Louis, integrates geometric abstraction with gestures of domestic intimacy and personal history.  Resonating in the materials and execution of Messineo’s sculptures, photographs, and paintings, is her investigation of subjectivity and the awareness that the artistic practice, as in life itself, is all experienced within our own skin.

Visit: http://www.loscaminosart.com/

Celebrate your  First Amendment rights with a Banned Book Reading tonight, from 6:30 – 8:30pm at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts.

Librarians from the St. Louis Public Library will read from banned or challenged books, symbolizing the importance of freedom of expression and providing enriching entertainment.

Bring one of  your own favorite censored or challenged texts–however daring it may seem–and join in the reading.

For a list of scheduled readers and their chosen books, visit the Pulitzer’s website.

If you’re unfamiliar with Golden Age, this is the perfect time to become acquainted. Hailing from the hot-bed of creative activity that is Chicago, Golden Age will set up shop in our space next weekend, from October 1-2. Join us Friday evening for the opening of Golden Age: Permanent Collection I and a first look at the goods on sale. This “pop-up” shop will feature a lovingly curated mix of artists books, exhibition catalogues, and limited edition tote bags, so you can carry that special book you’re eyeing safely home. Golden Age will stay open on Saturday from 12-5pm, after which it will be back on the road.

Their dynamic catalog includes everything from a North Drive Press box set containing artist multiples and interviews to a bootleg cassette of Javelin’s recordings. They have recently published Can I Come Over to Your House, a comprehensive 10th anniversary review of The Suburban, the Oak Park-based exhibition space co-run by Michelle Grabner, curator of White Flag’s exhibit Newtonland, from last season.

North Drive Press 05 – Various Artists | Can I Come Over to Your House

In addition to distributing books, zines, and albums, Golden Age hosts exhibitions and performances in-store. Cadaver Corpse presented a playful collection of exquisite corpse works from artists around the world. Zachary Kaplan’s Popular Reactions to September 11 invited participants to engage in a conversation centered around film, music, and text through the project’s weblog.

As a creative nexus, Golden Age works with an amazing variety of artists and idea-generators. Come see for yourself at our pop-up shop event – whether your obsessions lie in magazines, artist interviews, or sonic experimentation, Golden Age: Permanent Collection I is bound to satisfy that niche craving.

Golden Age: Permanent Collection I will open the evening of Friday, October 1st and continue through gallery hours on Saturday, October 2. For more information on Golden Age, visit www.shopgoldenage.com. For more information about White Flag and upcoming events and exhibitions, visit www.whiteflagprojects.org.