I love walking in neighborhoods where you can get it all. You can live there, go to the dry…read morecleaners, grab a latte, buy a good book, look at antiques, eat well and then cap it off with a stroll around an art gallery. I love the layout of this place and it's really very user friendly. No one is hounding you or looking over your shoulder. It's pretty chill and you can relax and walk about at your leisure. I love their large scale paintings. Feels more like an art museum to me. Where else can you see a speckled mass of color called "Soul Stew"? Nowhere else I know of.

I really enjoy this gallery! The people who own and operate Atrium know what they're doing. The…read moreexhibits are well selected, the staff I've interacted with are knowledgeable, and the location is perfect right in the Central West End. Don't miss it!

I'm kind of conflicted with this review because while the house's architecture and decor are…read moregorgeous, there wasn't enough explanation throughout, and the "staff" was awful (instead of being at the front desk, they were sitting in the office watching TikTok on full volume. With that aside, it's free and has A/C, and worth a visit.

The house is open Tuesday-Saturday 11-4 and is $5 to non-SLU students (SLU students are free)…read more It's going to take you at least an hour to truly see the house. If you can bring a group of 8, a tour can be arranged, otherwise a very informative self-guided tour binder is available to you as well. Samuel Cupples was a man in the right place at the right time and built thriving businesses during a boom time in Saint Louis. There's so much more to read about him: http://www.slu.edu/cupples/history/samuel-cupples The house, though, is an amazing story. Not just for the amazing art, crystal, and antiques it hosts, but for it's very architecture. Built in the Romanesque style and with purple limestone, the home is majestic today...one can only imagine how it looked when it stood alone. When SLU started to expand, and the new buildings obstructed his view of the river, Cupples never forgave them and gave massive amounts of money to Wash U and stipulated that the home could never be sold to SLU. Clearly that got circumvented as the decades wore on (it now sits on the SLU campus). If you give yourself two hours, I think you'll really get a great "first taste" of its magnificence. PS Here's a bit more about the architecture: http://www.slu.edu/cupples/history/architecture-and-design

The Jefferson Underground is a relatively new space in Benton Park. We needed something inexpensive…read morewhere we could have our own entertainment for my friend's 30th birthday party in early October and I had stopped by there for a Jon Hardy and the Public show. It seemed like the perfect place. Here are some great things about Jefferson Underground: - It's a large space with indoor and outdoor accommodations. The patio area is larger and has more "umph", but if was too cold or raining you could go inside and host 50-100 people easily. - There are two full bars outside on the patio. One is your standard wet bar, while the other is a 1970's speed boat turned into a bar. Really cool! - There's a stage out on the patio where one could easily have a band play or a DJ with turntables and speakers. - All of the interesting touches add character to the space: an industrial fireplace, tile mosaic floor, disco ball dangling from a makeshift steeple and vintage neon lights are very "random" but make sense when put together. - It's affordable to rent for an evening! And patrons are allowed to bring in their own food, entertainment and alcohol as well. Here are some not-so-great things about Jefferson Underground: - The neighborhood. The parking lot had glass all over it, which led me to believe that at least one car had been broken into in the last week or so. And the windows facing the south side of the building have a view of abandoned buildings. - It's a very industrial/rough space. The concrete floors are hosed down after a big event and the entire place is pretty dusty. If one wanted to rent for an event, s/he could expect to spend a few hours the day of cleaning and decorating to distract from the raw nature of the place. - John, the guy who apparently owns the place, is a tad difficult to reach. There's no phone number to call and reserve the space. You just have to stop by and see if John is around. He's very nice and easy to deal with once you do track him down, though. For my friend's party, we spent less than $400 and had complete freedom of the third floor. We brought in a few cases of Two Buck Chuck and PBR, borrowed a PA and speakers and played our own music all night. We also had snacks and a very pretty b-day cake. In my opinion, the Jefferson Underground would be a great place for a wedding reception or anniversary party too. Am excited to go there again...maybe for my own wedding reception.

The venue itself on the roof of the building, yes you read it right, the roof of the building. The…read morelocation appears to be an old warehouse/ showroom. I truly think somebody's uncle won the lottery and his dream back in 1975 was to own a venue like this. It's very eclectic; like full of rejected items that the city museum didn't even want. The parking is sketchy and full of weeds growing thru the concrete. We had to wait about 45 mins extra just to get in because the promoter for the AZ concert didn't have a liquor license from the city. The agent told him he couldn't sell alcohol. Not that I drink, but I did notice that the "bar" would open and close every so often . lol I guess it was an attempt to get around not having a license. I think with the stage being outside helped the sound come thru ok.

The May Gallery is a wonderful gallery that features photography, mostly student work. It is…read morelocated at Webster University on the second floor of the Sverdrup building in the west wing. Shows last varying lengths, often a month or more. Typically each show features the work of a group of photographers, which makes it very interesting as each photographer can only choose a few images to show. The choices they make and the groupings that are formed always intrigue me. Sometimes the photographers clearly choose their best work, while other times a series is shown rather than individual shots. Visitors are able to peruse the gallery at their own pace, and there is no charge for visiting. A sign up sheet is always available at a podium, enabling visitors who so desire to be kept up to date on the goings on of the gallery.

As a Webster student, I so wanted to be proud of fellow classmates work. But I just don't think…read morethe May Gallery does it justice. My rating is not saying that the work shown in the gallery isn't good, in fact, in most cases it is spellbinding. But unfortunately, most people don't get to see it. In reality, the May Gallery is just a hallway on the 2nd floor of an academic building. It doesn't feel like a place where people can come, stroll through, look at the artwork, and then sit down at a cafe with a cup of coffee. Even if it were moved to the lower level, it might be more inviting than the end of a hallway next to some classrooms and offices. I know that colleges are limited and are trying their best to showcase student work, but surely, with the quality I've seen here, they deserve a better gallery space.

Got the opportunity to go see Eagle King exhibit and it did not disappoint. Love the art he did and…read morethey really told a nice story. Cant wait for him to display his next pieces!

Amazing Fish Fry tonight!!! Cod came out Hot and Fresh…read more Onion Rings, Slaw and Fries are the recommended sides.... The Mac n Cheese needs help!!! Such nice helpers and the drinks are strong!!!

This small town VFW continues to do good by honoring the dead and helping the living. I know them…read morebest for their fish fries every Friday--one of the best in the area and there is stiff competition in southern Illinois for a fish fry. During COVID19 they are accommodating customers by wearing masks and offering curbside pick up and walking out orders to people in their car while they're wearing masks. Unless you have something against fried foods I highly recommend supporting this local service group. The VFW building sits on a large grassy lot with many old oak trees providing wonderful shade and recreational opportunities to picnic, play horseshoes, enjoy a fire in the fire pit, or enjoy the cool breezes in the shade.

Concrete Ocean is a cool art gallery at the intersection of Jefferson and Shenandoah. We happened…read moreto be driving by one night and saw what looked like one hell of a party, complete with hula hoopers and a fire pit. Intrigued, we wandered in. Hello yummy free hors d'oeuvres! We spent about an hour checking out the art and chatting with Bryan, the super-nice owner. The space is really cool and has huge windows facing Jefferson. On one side is "mojo studios" complete with funky furniture and a splatter-painted floor. The other side is more of your typical art gallery. They have openings on fridays every 2 weeks and we've been back a few times. Who doesn't love art openings? Super cheap date and easy way to instantly feel sophisticated!

The owner is a jerk. So my city ransacked last night by rioters after what started as a peaceful…read moreprotest. Many windows were broken out in downtown businesses. I live downtown just a block away and I wanted to help paint the board ups. I don't currently have paint at my house but when I heard paint was being delivered for folks to come and paint the board ups, I headed out. Bryan, the owner of this gallery was there with a design in his head that would cover every single broken window on the street. Also, his design was very juvenile and crappy compared to the board ups that have been painted on Delmar. He wouldn't let anyone touch anything and we were certainly am emphatically told we were not allowed to paint. We were allowed to clean up after him if we wanted to. Ha! Screw that! I am an artist. I would've been a wonderful asset to this project. The only reason he's doing this is because he wants exposure for his gallery. I get that most artist are not team players and are used to working alone but this is a community event and should've involved all the people in the community that wanted to be there. When I arrived there were at least a dozen people there to help. When I left about 20 minutes later, when I realized I would have no input or ever see a paintbrush in my hand, there were two people left-- NO THANKS! I will never patronize this man's gallery or patronize him as an artist. Shame on you!

Located just down the street from the Delmar Metrolink Station, Christman Sculpture Park is a vivid…read moregarden of creativity tucked away in a residential neighborhood. How does one spot this in the middle of the 'burbs? Just look for the 15-foot pair of trousers outside. Unfortunately, Christmas Sculpture Park is not open to the public daily; only on Thursday evenings. However, since everything is outside, you can look over the gate into the park, and see a handful of statues out front. I'm a huge fan of kitsch art, which is what you'll find here: a dismembered Frisch's Big Boy statue, Weezer's grave, Greek philosophers holding a tire iron, an old spaceship. Basically, if you like the aesthetics at the CityMuseum, you need to visit Christman Sculpture Park. It is, after all, the studio for Bill Christman, the man who designed exhibits inside CityMuseum! Cost: FREE Open: Thursday evenings. (I would advise calling first.) As it is outdoors, it can be viewed from the fence anytime. Transit: Metrolink Delmar

You don't have to love the style or the taste to love the place. This place embodies the combined…read morenotions of art and public. It's lovely, it's intimate, it's personal and public simultaneously. What a treasure.