creve coeur
Last week, Creve Coeur unveiled the city’s first ‘rotating’ sculpture: Streamlines by Ali Baudoin of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The abstract metal piece will be on display for up to three years, after which it will be replaced by a new sculpture. The installation is the first in a series as part of a new Creve Coeur initiative to bring temporary art to public spaces. The city’s Arts Committee unveiled the piece in front of the Shoppes at Westgate at Olive Boulevard and Tempo Drive Oct. 19. In consideration of a site plan development proposal, the property owner offered to work with the committee to provide a location for the display. The committee serves as curator for the city’s public art collection, works to obtain funding for art-related projects, and advises the city on all matters relating to cultural arts.
des peres
A disturbing retail trend began a few Novembers ago: shopping on Thanksgiving Day. Rather than intensifying this year by opening even earlier in the day, at least four shopping malls in the metro are dialing it back. These will be closed all day Thursday, Nov. 24: West County Center in Des Peres, South County Center in Lemay, Mid Rivers Mall in St. Peters and St. Clair Square in Fairview Heights, Illinois. Good for them, and good for those of us who can wait just a few more hours for those door busters on the traditional first day of the holiday shopping season—Black Friday. And good for mall employees who are about to embark on a season that already has them working late on Christmas Eve. They weren’t exactly full of holiday cheer when the season was jump-started on Thanksgiving Day, robbing them of priceless time with family and friends. Before this new, saner move, I was beginning to wonder whether you’d be able to get a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings in the food court. Alas, this year there will be holdouts: both outlet malls in Chesterfield Valley will open late on Thanksgiving night. At this writing, details about holiday hours for the Galleria in Richmond Heights and Chesterfield Mall had yet to be disclosed. I worked at Brooks Brothers in Premium Outlets with associates who stayed overnight on two Thanksgivings. Customers in the wee hours are … crabby. And employees are … delirious. Well, they’re really tired. Some even went home for a few hours to nap before returning for the store’s closing late on the evening of Black Friday!
kirkwood
In light of all the creepy clown activity purported to continue here, there and everywhere, Ronald McDonald has gone deep undercover in Kirkwood, the metro and nationwide. The corporation has curtailed the activities of the talented young men who appear as the fast-food chain’s clown in dozens of markets. I knew a fellow who played Ronald for St. Louis; it was his full-time job. Before taking the gig, he had honed his expertise as a magician. He was quite good and fascinated kids and their parents at every turn. But was he creepy? Underneath the white greasepaint, who knew? That’s the problem with folks who have at least a touch of coulrophobia (an irrational fear of clowns; yes, it’s a real thing). Bona fide evil clowns, such as Pennywise from Stephen King’s It, haven’t helped matters in recent years. Well, let’s hope Ronald’s hiatus isn’t for too long. For one thing, it would break Willard Scott’s heart. At any rate, for the time being, the only glimpse you’ll get of the cheerful clown is, perhaps, a statue of him here or there in front of a fast food restaurant.
richmond heights
Looks like The Boulevard in Richmond Heights may be expanding to the south … finally. Two phases of development were originally planned for the ‘mixed use’ complex of retail, restaurant and residence that opened 12 years ago, but that stalled when the Great Recession gripped the economy in the late ’aughts. The charming center with the flavor of, dare we say, a European village has butted up to quite the eysore to its south: a surface parking lot with the occasional here-today, gone-tomorrow types of businesses that have included a mattress store, a discount shoe place, and vendors of seasonal holiday trimmings. The wheels of municipal government have started turning again for what could be a $79 million project, including TIF monies. Reportedly, no new stores have raised their hands as of yet, but we surmise it will stay classy. Current restaurants include the excellent Maggiano’s and our first P.F. Chang’s China Bistro location. A decision by the city is expected for early next year.
st. louis
Urban Dictionary defines ‘zack’ as: ‘Perfect in all aspects of life. Amazingly talented … beyond belief.’ That is an apt description for .ZACK, a multipurpose arts venue nearing completion in Grand Center’s historic Cadillac Building. .ZACK’s four floors will house an incubator for the performing arts, an arts-focused retail and community space, a full-service event and catering venue, plus a restaurant and commercial office space. (What, no disco? Dang. Plush nightclub used to occupy the space.) This is happening thanks to Kranzberg Arts Foundation, which continues its mission to invest in the infrastructure and systems needed to support local artists and community arts organizations. The first and fourth floors of the 40,000-square-foot space at 3224 Locust St. are now complete and open, and the remaining floors will be fully finished and move-in ready in early 2017. The floors will contain:
Grand lobby with box office; 200-seat theater with flexible seating (shared by resident performing arts incubator organizations); 150-capacity restaurant and event space that will be the new home of Turn by chef David Kirkland (opening early 2017)
Arts-focused retail and community space that will house Sophie’s Music Lounge and Music Record Shop; Performing Arts Incubator home, including co-op office/collaboration space, conference rooms, scene and paint shop shared by nine resident organizations
Mixed-use office space with four commercial suites, three of them already leased
Now booking events, a 5,000-square-foot ballroom/event space with capacity for 200 (seated) or 300 (standing), full bar, on-site catering, picturesque views of downtown, local fine art, and a private spa/dressing room suite … with sauna, rain shower, open tub and seating for pre-event preparation—plus, we’d wager, post-event relaxation.
Otherwise, the ballroom may serve as additional rehearsal space for resident arts organizations. Incubator resident organizations are expected to begin hosting performances in November. Cinema St. Louis also plans to use the space for part of the St. Louis International Film Festival. But why .ZACK? That’s his name, i.e., the grandson of Kenneth and Nancy Kranzberg, who are among the metro’s most generous and tireless arts patrons.
town & country
Chicago commercial real estate giant Cushman & Wakefield, which already has about 900 workers in the metro, reportedly plans to beef up its presence here with about 600 additional employees, most of them to be located in Town & Country. With that number of new jobs projected, the company’s influx of about $17 million has Gov. Jay Nixon pumped; the move will qualify Cushman for incentives from the state. Cushman will consolidate its office here for the property client accounting group, among other services, which have national and international entities as clients. Last year, C&W was purchased for $2 billion by Chitown-based firm DTZ. Keeping the Cushman & Wakefield name, the company now boasts about 43,000 employees globally and $5 billion in revenue. Talk about an 800-pound gorilla!
university city
Aha, lookit! Why, there’s a whimsical wooden sculpture of a squirrel holding an acorn, perched atop the stump it originally was carved from … with a chainsaw. Closer inspection reveals that the artwork is succumbing to the elements and nature’s, um, natural influence. The head is cracked and a section of the ‘bushy’ tail has disappeared, with chunks of it scattered around the bug-infested base. The squirrel is one of two charming, repurposed wooden features along the grassy, tree-shaded median separating the north- and southbound sections of Oakbrook Lane in western U. City, between Cornell and Stanford avenues. The other is a bench made from a length of tree trunk, maybe from the same felled mighty oak, if the acorn is any indication of where the wood came from. They’ve both seen better days because the wood is exposed to all four seasons and rotting as vigorously as it would out in the woods. For anyone who is fond of their chainsaw-carved giraffe, bear or other critter carved from the tallish stump of a tree that had to be removed for one reason or another, a word to the wise … varnish. But time marches on. Compared to bronze or marble, these sculptures will last about as long as a snowman.