By Michelle “Mike” Ochonicky,
Healthy Planet Arts Editor
Photo Caption: Acorns, acrylic by Mike Ochonicky.
It may still be warm but September signals the end of summer. Back in 19-oh-never-mind, the school year started after Labor Day. The sidewalks of the neighborhood where I grew up were lined with huge pin oaks. By the start of school, their acorns were in full force. It was a daily challenge to see how far I could kick an acorn on my way to and from school (yep, ‘way back then kids walked to school). I still feel a twinge of nostalgia when each September and its acorns arrive.
Rather than hosting a stroll down memory lane, I thought it better to just devote this column to a straightforward guide on ARTful occurrences this month.
Because health-safety guidelines change more often than St. Louis weather, please check the provided websites for the most current updates. Effective on September 1, many music venues (such as The Blue Strawberry, The Pageant, The Delmar Hall) now require proof of vaccination for all guests, staff, and musicians.
Listed in calendar order:
It’s Not What It Seems, a surreal and fantasy art exhibition, runs September 1 through October 30 at Green Door Art Gallery, 21 N. Gore, in Webster. Learn more at www.greendoorgallery.com .
Craft Alliance, 5080 Dellmar, presents a solo exhibition by L.A. artist Alicia Piller Unearthed: Time Keeping Mound City, through October 23. The works explore race relations in context of the region’s natural landscape. Details at www.craftalliance.org .
Contemporary Art Museum, 3750 Washington, reopens on September 3 with its fall/winter exhibitions by Shara Hughes (On Edge); Kathy Butterly (Out of one, many/Headscapes); Farah Al Qasimi (Everywhere there is splendor); and Lorna Simpson (Heads). Find out more at www.camstl.org.
Works by Carmon Colangelo (This or That; and Installation in Window on Forsyth) and James Austin Murray (Hue, Brightness, and Saturation) are on view September 3-October 16, at Bruno David Gallery, 7513 Forsyth. Info at www.brunodavidgallery.com .
It’s back!! The Japanese Festival at Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw, marks its 44th year with sumo wrestling, martial arts demonstrations, dance performances, authentic food, and candlelight walks in the Japanese Garden until 10 p.m. on September 4 (until 5 p.m. on September 5-6). Ticket info at www.mobot.org/japanesefestival .
Music at the Intersection is an inaugural music festival September 10-12 at multiple Grand Center venues. More than 60 national and local musical acts perform jazz, blues, soul, and everything in between. Details at www.musicattheintersection.org .
St. Louis Art Fair returns to Clayton on September 10-12 (www.saintlouisartfair.com) or take an easy drive to Mount Vernon, Illinois for Cedarhurst Art Fair (www.cedarhurst.org ). View works outdoors–and purchase some, too!—directly from the artists who made them.
The Mildred Lane Kemper Museum, on Washington University’s campus, presents The Outwin: American Portraiture Today, a major exhibition organized by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, September 10-January 23. Also on exhibition, are works from the collection in Colonizing the Past: Constructing Race in Ancient Greece and Rome (through December 27) and two video works by Andrea Fraser (through November 28).
Mark Katzman lectures on Photogravure: The Popularization of the Art of Photography, at the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum, 3514 Olive, on September 11 at 10 a.m. For ticket info visit www.iphf.org .
On September 17, Scooter Brown takes the stage as the first official Jazz St. Louis concert in front of a live audience. For ticket info, visit www.jazzstl.org .
Enjoy great open air dance performances at Dine on Dance Lunchtime Performances. Presented by Karlovsky & Company, performances are free, noon to 1 p.m., September 17 in Strauss Park, 3534 Washington, and September 24 in The Old Post Office Plaza, 801 Locust. Details at www.karlovskydance.org .
Enjoy an afternoon of circus performances, creative activities and refreshments, supporting St. Louis’ Flying Children, on September 19 at Circus Harmony’s Busker’s Bash, 3-5 p.m. in Tilles Park. Reserve tickets at www.circusharmony.org .
The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra opens its 142nd season on September 25-26 at Powell Hall, led by Music Director Stéphane Denève. The orchestra gives the first St. Louis performances of Jessie Montgomery’s Banner and Anna Clyne’s DANCE with cellist Inbal Segev, and choreography performed alongside the orchestra by dancers from St. Louis troupes. Tchaikovsky’s electric and celebratory Symphony No. 4 concludes the concerts. Ticket info at www.slso.org .
It might be wise to mark your calendar now for a busy weekend October 2-3, with the return of the beloved Best of Missouri Market at Missouri Botanical Garden (www.mobot.org ) and the 29th Historic Shaw Art Fair (www.shawartfair.org ).