By Michelle “Mike” Ochonicky, Healthy Planet Arts Editor
Photo Caption: Everything is Golden, by Lizzy Martinez at COCA.
Art fairs abound in autumn but reserve October 7-9 for the best—Best of Missouri Market at Missouri Botanical Garden, that is! Over 100 artists, vintners, unique food producers meet under open-air tents, showcasing (and selling) everything special to the region, with live music and a fun Kid’s Corner. The Market runs noon-8 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday/Sunday–plan to stay all day! www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/Best-of-Missouri-Market.
Just outside the Garden’s east gate is the 30th Historic Shaw Art Fair, October 8-9. Some 130 artists exhibit and sell their works along Flora Place and Tower Grove. www.ShawArtFair.org.
Webster Arts hosts Gazebo Artists Market, October 15, 10 a.m.-noon, at Lockwood and Big Bend. Meet 18 local artists offering their unique works for sale, with music by Cambia providing the soundtrack. There’s also a Young Artists’ booth! www.webster-arts.org .
Small Works XVI, an exhibition of not-so-large 2-D artworks presented by Webster Arts at Webster Arts Public Library, with an opening reception on October 21, 6 p.m., The show runs through November 4. www.webster-arts.org.
Shifting to large-scale works, Craft Alliance’ Staenberg Gallery, 5080 Delmar, presents Strange Familiars, a solo exhibition of soft sculptures by Denver-based artist Frankie Toan through October 29. These colorful works investigate plants, bodies, queerness, ecosystems, and their interconnectedness. Concurrently, Craft Alliance Creative Commons feature a special exhibition in partnership with Missouri Botanical Garden showing connections between gardens and creative making. Said Jennifer Scanlan, Deputy Director of Craft Alliance, “We are excited for the synergy between Frankie’s Garden and the fascinating Missouri Botanical Garden’s collections.” www.craftalliance.org.
The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, on Washington University’s campus, hosts Katharina Grosse Studio Paintings,1988–2022: Returns, Revisions, Inventions. Experience swaths, drips, and mists of color; complex layers of paint; sweeping movements; and fluid, abstract forms, on view through January 23. www.kemperartmuseum@wustl.edu.
Artist Lizzy Martinez reclaims discarded materials to create feminist sculptural interpretations of mythological figures in her solo exhibition, Everything is Golden, at COCA’s Millstone Gallery, 6880 Washington. Who decides what is trash or what to preserve? This thought-provoking exhibition remains through November 6. www.cocastl.org.
Opening on October 7 is Jeff Bridges: Pictures, in the Bellwether Gallery of The Sheldon, 3648 Washington. For over 30 years, on dozens of film sets, the actor perfected his own personal style of photography, never before exhibited in the Midwest, through January 21. www.thesheldon.org.
Starting on October 9, Family Sundays return to the St. Louis Art Museum. These biweekly art activities are free and always fun, 1-4 p.m. www.slam.org.
Moving on to performing arts:
Karlovsky & Company Dance opens their 10th season with InTRANSIT, a free community performance of site-specific dance and live music at multiple locations around the Grand Center Arts District, October 7, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Performance sites listed at www.karlovskydance.org.
The Bach Society kicks off its 82nd season on October 9, 7 p.m. with A Journey of Voices, an awesome vocal concert at Community Music School of Webster University. www.bachsociety.org.
The Sheldon presents the new Anat Cohen Quartetinho. The Grammy-nominated saxophonist-clarinetist joins with Vitor Gonçalves, Tal Mashiach, and James Shipp, 8 p.m., October 14. Cohen remains a force in international jazz for over two decades, so don’t miss this performance. www.TheSheldon.org.
The jazz never stops at Jazz St. Louis, 3536 Washington, with a lineup this month that’s exciting: starting with Nella (Oct. 1), finishing with Tia Fuller, Mimi Jones and Matt Wilson (Oct. 28-29), with lots more in between. www.jazzstl.org.
Celebrate United Nations Day, October 24, as the Chamber Music Society of St. Louis performs Without Borders, a concert of music from around the globe, 7:30 p.m. at 560 Music Center (560 Trinity Avenue). www.chambermusicstl.org.
Cathedral Concerts in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, 4431 Lindell, present the powerful Faure Requiem, performed by the Cathedral Choir, at 2:30 p.m. on October 30. Free will offering at the door. www.cathedralconcerts.org.
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Stéphane Denève, performs Reena Esmail’s Testament, plus Florent Schmitt’s The Tragedy of Salome Suite. Trinidadian Soprano Jeanine De Bique then takes center stage with the St. Louis Symphony Chorus, all at Powell Hall, 718 Grand, October 21-22. Tickets start at just $15!
Oooh….on October 30, the Symphony performs the live, spooky score as Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller, Psycho, is shown on the big screen at Powell. The performance begins at 7 p.m. (but you might not be able to sleep that night!). www.slso.org .