Saint Louis Art Museum

Saint Louis Art Museum Summary

Took the two kids to the St. Louis Art Museum during New Year's break, and it was probably one of my favorite places as an adult to go in the city.

This visit marked our first time in the building after having gone past it hundreds of times to the zoo.

The contemporary art gallery in particular, contained hours worth of top-notch art. They also had Ellsworth Kelly, who I had not heard of previously but became an instant fan, on display during our visit.

While I enjoyed the heck out of it, I can't say the same for my kids. This museum may have been the most kid-unfriendly place I've been. We barely made it forty-five minutes in the museum, including a twenty-minute snack break at the cafe with smuggled snacks.

The security-obsesses about not allowing any food or drink into the building, which I understand conceptually, but is super shitty in practice. I hid the granola bars in an outside pocket behind hats and mittens, but he still caught the water bottle and was going to make me put it back in the car but took pity on me because I had the kids.

So, as soon as we got through the door, that was "yelling" number one.

It was basically then I realized I would have to come back by myself to actually enjoy the museum, which I did a week or so later.

I spent four hours working in front of the Ellsworth Kelly display but had to return to my car to eat lunch because of the no food-in-packback rule.

I will make it a regular workplace as the Wi-Fi is free, and the creative backdrop is amazing.

I checked out the Grace Taylor Broughton sculpture garden, which was a dud in my opinion, particularly compared to the awesomeness of the Laumeier Sculpture Park not too far away.

Overall, the Saint Louis Art Museum is one of my favorite places in St. Louis thus far to visit as an adult, but I won't be bringing the kids back anytime soon.

Saint Louis Art Museum Things To Do

Let's get the rant out of the way on the kid stuff:

• I learned when we arrived they don't allow food or drink in backpacks. I got lucky, and ours was hidden well enough to pass security. But come on, adults should be adults enough to keep the food away. First yelling.

• Nothing is interactive, which means you can't touch anything. Again, it's not a problem for me, but it's a bigger problem for a four-year-old.

• You can't put kids on your shoulders to carry them around. Even in 100-foot high ceilings. Second yelling.

• In the middle of the museum, another staff member didn't believe someone had checked my bag and thought I snuck in contraband. Third yell.

• We left 45 minutes after getting there, including a 20-minute snack break, which means the kids were basically instantly bored

This kind of art does not speak to kids.

That said, my friends told me the Sunday afternoon crafts for kids from 1 pm - 4 pm are kid-friendly; just don't bring food or drink, apparently.

Exhibits

They had Ellsworth Kelly on a special exhibit when we visited. It's truly awesome artwork, in my opinion, with simple shapes and colors that use their interplay to create shadow and feeling.

I think of art like wine or beer; if you like it, you like it.

They also had another exhibit that cost $12 for adults or $10 for kids. We skipped that, although my rich friends, who just got a piano and didn't let me help get it, went the next day and said it was fun but that it should have more precautions to stop kids from getting too close.

You can get in free on Fridays as part of community art outreach, so that'll be on a future Friday.

The contemporary gallery was my favorite. Here are some of the best things I saw.

I didn't make it to the sculpture park in the back with the kids, so it was the first place I went back to when I came back to work. It had maybe a dozen sculptures that were either too literal or too abstract for me.

I think of sculpture like art; if you like it, you like it. I didn't like it.

My kids and I got through the basement of African pieces and part of the marbled entrance. They didn't care for much of that, and before we could start on what I would call the traditional art wing, they were already asking to go back home.

Even going back to to work, I didn't get past the midway of the Museum, although I did see a I liked in the first half.

Guess I'll be going back.

Saint Louis Art Museum Details And Info

It's amazing how many places in St. Louis have terrible hours but free admission. The library has free admission and not crazy awful hours.

The Museum is free every day, and they offer free admission to main exhibitions on Friday as part of an art outreach.

Hours

Tuesday-Sunday, 10 am-5 pm

Friday, 10 am-9 pm

Closed Monday

The last entry into ticketed exhibitions is one hour before the Museum closes.

The Museum is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The Richardson Memorial Library is open Tuesday-Friday, 10 am-4:30 pm.

The Grace Taylor Broughton Sculpture Garden is open every day, 6 am to 10 pm.

Saint Louis Art Museum Parking

Parking is easy, as two dedicated lots are right across the street. We arrived at 10 a.m. when it opened, and it was empty on the holiday weekend. When we left at 10:45 a.m., both lots were mostly full, and people were parking on the street.

When I came on a weekday, the parking lot seemed half full when I left at 2 pm after being empty at 10 am when I got there.

They have an underground lot for $15 or $10 as a member. Too rich for my blood, I'd be happy to walk at most ten minutes.

Saint Louis Art Museum Receipt