Established in 1995, New Art in the Neighborhood is the Museum’s flagship education program, providing St. Louis-area high school students with pre-professional art instruction and opportunities to work with contemporary artists from around the world. This free, in-depth program provides twenty participants, ages 14 to 18, with more than fifty hours of studio time each semester, immersing them in contemporary art and ideas in order to develop a greater critical awareness of art history and their own art-making. This culminating exhibition explores ancient art processes in the contemporary context.

On view is a selection of work made by the class of 2017 in collaboration with visiting artists and educators. Recognizing the persistence of craft practices in contemporary art, participants were exposed to ancient methodologies, establishing a foundation on which to apply them in new and interesting ways. St. Louis artists Sage Dawson, Addoley Dzegede, and Virginia Eckinger introduced the students to paper marbling, indigo dyeing, and hand-built clay modeling, expressing the lasting vibrancy of these analog disciplines, yielding results that bear the mark of both past and present.

The New Art in the Neighborhood annual student exhibition is organized for the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis by Lyndon Barrois Jr., Museum Educator.