Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum Takeaway. A small, free museum that punches above its square footage. I took in the museum in about thirty minutes. Each of the museum's three levels offers a different type of art. My favorite was the main level, which includes more contemporary art and the main exhibits. The upper level combines more classical art with some big names like Matisse and Picasso. The basement displays Greek artifacts and more avant-garde art.
One of the best free things to do in the city for grown-ups. Not kid-friendly.
Located on the entrance quad to Washington University across from Forest Park, finding free parking turned out to be quite difficult. There's a paid lot available. Amenities in the museum include a small cafe, gift store, bathrooms, and free wi-fi. The cafe's location has a great view of the main exhibit and would be a good place to spend an afternoon working. No food and no backpacks allowed. Odd hours, so check ahead.
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum Summary
I walked up to the Kemper Museum on a cold, windy Thursday morning. I felt kind of grouchy from not having slept the previous night, and the cold made my mood worse.
My second museum in as many days, I'm becoming a grizzled veteran of St. Louis's free museum scene.
Opening the doors, I realized the relatively unassuming facade hides a more contemporary interior. The entrance area is a mix of concrete walls, giant glass windows, and two friendly twenty-somethings minding the information station.
The first woman greets me with what I assume is a smile under her mask but gives some annoying news that makes my day worse.
They don't allow backpacks.
That means I'm going to be the guy taking pictures of everything, holding my computer under my arm. Why do these places have such odd rules? Do people really steal artwork in backpacks? Or maybe they can't control them.
More annoyed, I'm armed with my too-heavy old Dell under my arm. I'm thinking at least the Contemporary Art Museum let me turn my backpack into a chest pack.
With a final huff, I looked up to start taking in the museum.
And that's when it hits me. One of the best pieces in the museum. A giant, bright Lego mosaic contrasts with the sterile vibes of the museum.
At that moment, all the grouch wore off.
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum Things To Do
The Art Museum has three levels. I'll walk you through each one, following my path. Each level takes about 10 minutes to absorb without studying any one painting too deeply.
The museum is considerably smaller than something like the St. Louis Art Museum right down the road, but with more contemporary art.
First Level
After taking in the Lego brick canvas, I turned right down to the other main exhibit. This exhibit contained 52 canvases that collected various levels of Mexico City soot.
Trust me when I say the result is way cooler than the description.
The cafe is right next to the exhibit and is a great place to spend an afternoon working. The Wi-Fi is super fast, and you have a view of one of the best exhibits.
Right past the main exhibit is a gallery room housing the other primary contemporary art display.
Exiting the gallery and going back through the entrance area, you will see the permanent contemporary art exhibits.
Second Level
The second level has more traditional "art" from the 1800s and early 1900s. These collections are permanent.
The first room is photorealistic paintings surrounded by oversized gold frames. The second room has more early 1900 painters and starts to get more abstract. I think I found the Maitesse in this room.
The third room, going clockwise, approaches mid-century art and, again, gets more abstract.
Basement Level
Walking down the stairs from the Saligman Family Atrium takes you to the artifact. Tucked under the stairwell, kinda deserves to be there, in my opinion.
This kind of thing brings me back to my childhood museum PTSD, where my mom would drag us to boring museums.
Boring to me, at least.
Past the artifacts, you walk into the works on the paper and teacher galleries. Both of these galleries had darker, more haunting vibes. Some of them were interesting compositionally, but the videos in particular felt like they were what the guy in Saw would have played in the background.
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum Details And Info
The Kemper Art Museum is at what I call the "grand entrance" to Washington University in St. Louis. It's on the left-hand side of the most picturesque part of the quad.
That also makes it a pain to get to if you're not a student. You'll have to walk up the entrance of the University to get there, like I did, or come from the campus side of the building.
Like many attractions in St. Louis, it's free but with odd hours. The museum is closed on Tuesdays (?) and is open from 11 am to 5 pm on other days. I would LOVE 8 am to 2 pm hours during the work week so I could work all morning in the cafe.
Speaking of the cafe, it's half cafe and half gift shop. It's located near the bathrooms and has a great view of one of the main exhibits. The free Wi-Fi clocked in over 30mbs for me, so it would be a good place to set up a shop for a couple of hours of work.
The museum itself has a very modern, clean vibe to it. The staff was super helpful and answered all my questions about my favorite exhibits and wifi. Unfortunately, they'll also enforce the no backpack rule.
In addition to that, the St. Louis Museum's standard rule prohibits food and drink.
The Kemper Museum is not kid-friendly in the slightest. No exhibits aimed at kids. No area for kids to play. No kids in sight the whole time I was there.
There's probably an unofficial age minimum. I'm pretty sure one of my kids would break something.
Parking At Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum
Finding free parking near the Kemper Museum is a pain in the butt.
After deciding not to park in the Wash U's paid parking lot, I spent a good five minutes driving around. While my time is probably worth more than the dollar it costs to park there, I can't bring myself to pay.
I ended up parking on a side street, a ten-minute walk away. Finding free parking nearby is very hard.
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum Receipt
