Saint Louis Art Museum
| Saint Louis Art Museum | |
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| Location | Forest Park, St. Louis Missouri |
| Coordinates | 38°38′22″N 90°17′40″W / 38.63944°N 90.29444°WCoordinates: 38°38′22″N 90°17′40″W / 38.63944°N 90.29444°W |
| Built | 1904 |
| Built for | 1904 World's Fair |
| Website | www.slam.org |
| Type | Structure |
| Reference no. | 21 |
 Location in St. Louis
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The Saint Louis Art Museum is one of the principal U.S. art museums, with paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from all corners of the world. Its three-story building stands in Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri, where it is visited by up to a half million people every year. Admission is free through a subsidy from the cultural tax district for St. Louis City and County.
In addition to the featured exhibitions, the museum offers rotating exhibitions and installations. These include the Currents series, which features contemporary artists, as well as regular exhibitions of new media art and works on paper.
The museum was founded in 1881 as the Saint Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts, an independent entity within Washington University in St. Louis, housed in a downtown building. The building was originally built by Wayman Crow as a memorial to honor his son, Wayman Crow, Jr. Crow employed Boston architects Peabody & Stearns to design the building located at 19th and Lucas Place (now Locust Street). The school, led by directory Halsey C. Ives, educated two generations of St. Louis artists and craftspeople and offered studio and art history classes supported by a museum collection. After the school moved to Washington University's campus and the museum moved to Forest Park, the building fell into disrepair and was eventually demolished in 1919.
The museum moved after the 1904 World's Fair, also known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, to the Palace of Fine Arts, built for the fair from 1902 to 1903. The building was designed by architect Cass Gilbert, who took inspiration from the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy. The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum remained part of Washington University, and the collection was lent to the Saint Louis Art Museum for several years.
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