This marker is located at the northwest corner of the northeast parking lot of the Saint Louis Art Museum. The marker is a very short history of the Art Museum.
Saint Louis
Art Museum
(picture of people watching movie top left)
Art Hill provides a wonderful venue for
outdoor concerts and movies in summer,
and of course, sledding in winter.
(picture of teachers and students climbing stairs mid center)
Every year through organized programs,
the Museum hosts more than 30,000
students and teachers from public,
private, and parochial schools.
(large central picture of the Art Museum)
Highlights of the Museum's collection
include French impressionism
paintings by Missouri artist George
Caleb Bingham, and 20th Century
German Art.
The East Building opened in 2013.
All photography courtesy of the Saint Louis Art Museum except where noted.
(photo of front of Art Museum lower left corner)
The Museum moved to Forest Park
in 1906 to occupy the former World's Fair
Palace of Fine Art building.
(picture of Festival Hall lower right corner)
Night view of Festival Hall and
the Central Cascades at the
1904 World's Fair. These were
located where this kiosk
currently stands; the Cascades
flowed down Art Hill into the
Grand Basin below.
Photograph courtesy of the Missouri History Museum
Forest Park was the site of the 1904 World's Fair (Louisiana Purchase
Exposition). The site where the Museum stands was the
highest point at the Fair, and the building was three times as large.
After the Fair, the temporary wings were demolished.
The motto chiseled in stone above the Main Entrance reads
"Dedicated to Art and Free to All" and demonstrates the generosity
of the people of St. Louis City and County, who in 1971 voted
to support this institution through their property taxes.