Springs Events are in Full Bloom
By Michelle “Mike” Ochonicky,
Healthy Planet Arts Editor
Image: Artwork by Derriana Murphy, student, University City Student Art Extravaganza Exhibition.
It was my pleasure just yesterday to speak at the Rockwood School District’s Career Fair. I love to encourage young people wishing to pursue a career in the arts, to answer their questions, and to introduce options for the many ways to engage their artistic abilities.
Student Art Extravaganza returns to University City Library Gallery, 6701 Delmar, through April 15. Works shown are by students of University City School District. Very impressive! www.thegallery@ucitylibrary.org
What’s better than a springtime drive in the country? Arriving at Lyon School Studio’s Spring House Concert & Art Show! Two seasoned musicians with a soulful, earth-moving singer from Brazil bring their vibrancy to artist Julie Wiegand’s art studio on April 7, noon-6 p.m. at 4588 Lyon School Road in Berger, MO. View Julie’s freshest paintings, too! www.juliewiegand.com
Art Saint Louis presents its Spring 2024 exhibition, “Window to the Soul,” April 13-May 16, at 1223 Pine Street. A free public reception on April 13, 5-7 p.m., invites guests to view the show, meet featured artists and exhibit Jurors, and enjoy complimentary beverages. www.artstlouis.org
Through April 13, see Sprung Spring, an exhibition (and sale) of paintings by members of St. Louis Watercolor Society, at Norton’s Fine Art, 2025 S. Big Bend. www.nortonsfineart.com
The Body in Pieces is extended through April 15 at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, on Washington University’s campus. Inspired by art historian Linda Nochlin’s 1994 influential text of the same name, this exhibition considers how early 20th century artists depicted the human body as fragmented, symbolizing destruction and disconnection of modernity, featuring exemplary works by Jean Dubuffet, Fernand Léger, and Joan Miró. www.kemperartmuseum@wustl.edu
There’s ARTful fun at Third Degree Glass Factory’s free Spring Fling, April 19, 6-10 p.m. Come for the glassblowing demos, stay for live music by Dodging Potholes, plus a cash bar and food available from Urban Eats, all at 5200 Delmar. www.stlglass.com
Feel like you’re juggling too much these days? Wait ‘til you see what Circus Harmony juggles! Join them at City Museum, 750 N. 16th, April 20 to celebrate World Circus Day. Shows at 1 and 3 p.m., plus a free lesson and giveways! Return on April 27, for the annual Juggling Ball, an exhilarating evening of dining, dancing, daring, and dreaming. www.circusharmony.org
Jazz St. Louis provides a soundtrack for Spring, starting April 8 with Jazz St. Louis Book Club (Mister Jelly Roll: The Fortunes of Jelly Roll Morton by Alaz Lomax) through the Bach at the Bistro: Night at the Movies, April 16, ending with the April 28 Youth & Family Concert—plus a few other performances in between. All at 3536 Washington. www.jazzstl.org/events.
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra shows its breadth this month at Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market. Watch Star Wars: The Last Jedi as never before–with live score accompaniment, April 13-14. Or shift gears for Verdi’s Requiem, April 27-28. www.slso.org
St. Louis Classical Guitar finishes their 60th Anniversary season with a guitar concert by legendary Cuban Maestro Manuel Barrueco at the 560 Music Center E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall, April 13th at 7:30 p.m. www.stlclassicalguitar.org
Indulge your senses as The Bach Society of Saint Louis brings J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos to life on April 20, 3 p.m. at Salem United Methodist Church, 1200 S. Lindbergh. www.bachsociety.org
Dance St. Louis provides a “spring in the step” with BodyTraffic, a Los Angeles contemporary dance company, at the Touhill on April 6. www.dancestl.org
Consuming Kinetics Dance Company performs Woman, at The Marcel, 3310 Samuel Shepherd in Grand Center. Woman explores oppression and the female experience in America. The concert is conceived, choreographed and performed by girls and women alongside non-binary persons, queer and straight men who are supporters and allies of women, and those born in women’s bodies. Join the conversation, April 12-14. www.ckdc.org
Saint Louis Ballet performs Sleeping Beauty, April 26-28 at the Touhill, with live orchestral score. Classic! www.stlouisballet.org
Upstream Theater presents Don’t Wait for the Marlboro Man, a play by Olivier Garofalo, April 12-14, 18-21, 25-28, at Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand. The play, with two very different people meeting in a hospital, explores a collision of lifestyles and values, touching on issues of risk and security, individual freedom, and social responsibility, with vivid dialogue in an intriguingly theatrical frame. www.upstreamtheater.org