The Luminary

The Luminary The Luminary is an incubator for new ideas in the arts founded in 2007 as a forum for artistic research, production and presentation.

The Luminary is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit founded in 2007 as a forum for artistic research, production and presentation, conceived in response to both our immediate and international community, alongside our audiences, and in dialogue with artists.

08/31/2026

Five years ago, we opened KNOW/HOW, a bookshop and communal publication studio inside The Luminary.

Since then, the bookshop has moved around, changed names, and taken a few different forms. We partnered with Black Coffee to create a third space inside the gallery, then moved into the storefront as INDEX in 2022.

Our storefront will continue to make room for pop-ups, gatherings, exhibitions, and experiments with a simpler, more focused purpose: to promote and protect reading.

To mark the transition (and five years of books!), we’re taking KNOW/HOW on the road for one night:

FIRST THURSDAY BOOK SALE
Sept 3, 5–8pm
at Tschüss tschüss

Come browse, drink, read, and help us clear some shelves for the next chapter. All sales support The Luminary and the small presses and independent publishers we work with.

The bookshop will continue to be open during regular gallery hours. ♡

ART • POETRY • FICTION • THEORY • DISSENTFor First Thursday, we’re partnering with our friends at Tschüss to keep it coo...
08/26/2026

ART • POETRY • FICTION • THEORY • DISSENT

For First Thursday, we’re partnering with our friends at Tschüss to keep it cool while The Luminary is closed for installation 📚

Come dig through the KNOW/HOW Big Book Sale, with deals up to 50% off artist books, poetry, fiction, theory, cultural criticism, and more.

Then head out onto Cherokee Street for the opening of our new storefront activation project, featuring 11 artist installations in windows throughout the neighborhood.

Thursday, September 3
5–8pm
Tschüss + throughout Cherokee Street

All book sales support The Luminary and our programs.

shop local. see art. read widely. support artists.

ART • POETRY • FICTION • THEORY • DISSENTFor First Thursday, we’re partnering with our friends at Tschüss to keep it coo...
08/26/2026

ART • POETRY • FICTION • THEORY • DISSENT

For First Thursday, we’re partnering with our friends at Tschüss to keep it cool while The Luminary is closed for installation 📚

Come dig through the KNOW/HOW Big Book Sale, with deals up to 50% off artist books, poetry, fiction, theory, cultural criticism, and more.

Then head out onto Cherokee Street for the opening of our new storefront activation project, featuring 11 artist installations in windows throughout the neighborhood.

Thursday, October 1
5–8pm
Tschüss + throughout Cherokee Street

All book sales support The Luminary and our programs.

shop local. see art. read widely. support artists.

UPCOMING: The Luminary is pleased to announce our fall exhibition with Ximena Garrido-Lecca Ximena Garrido-Lecca: SIGNAL...
08/25/2026

UPCOMING: The Luminary is pleased to announce our fall exhibition with Ximena Garrido-Lecca Ximena Garrido-Lecca: SIGNAL INTERLUDES, on view from September 11-December 12, 2026.

Garrido-Lecca’s practice investigates the relationships between materials, technology, labor, and colonial histories through sculpture and installation. This exhibition transforms The Luminary’s galleries into an expansive network of copper cables, industrial pulleys, and electronic circuits that examines the infrastructures connecting labor, trade, migration, and communication.

Curated by Stefanie Hessler and developed specifically for St. Louis for Counterpublic Counterpublic 2026: Coyote Time, Signal Interludes draws from the city’s history as an industrial manufacturing and distribution center situated at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.

Opening reception: Friday, September 11, from 7–9 p.m. Free and open to the public. 

Installation view “Redes de Conversion” (2021) Galería Livia Benavides, Lima. Photo: Juan Pablo Murrugarra. Courtesy of the artist. 

Ximena Garrido-Lecca
Stefanie Hessler
Counterpublic

✨ SEPTEMBER FIRST THURSDAY ON CHEROKEE ✨Supporting artists, independent businesses, musicians, makers, weirdos, dreamers...
08/21/2026

✨ SEPTEMBER FIRST THURSDAY ON CHEROKEE ✨

Supporting artists, independent businesses, musicians, makers, weirdos, dreamers, and the people who keep Cherokee Street interesting.

Join us for September First Thursday and spend an evening exploring galleries, artist studios, shops, creative spaces, exhibitions, food, drinks, and more, all within walking distance.

Cherokee Street
Thursday, September 3, 5–8 PM

Thanks to everyone who joined us this season for To Avoid Drowning, Become the Ocean with Sam Tam Ham! 🌊Our galleries ar...
08/20/2026

Thanks to everyone who joined us this season for To Avoid Drowning, Become the Ocean with Sam Tam Ham! 🌊

Our galleries are closed through the end of the month as we prepare for our forthcoming exhibition. We’ll see you soon.

Coming to St. Louis for Counterpublic? Stay with us.Throughout October, The Luminary’s three-bedroom artist residency ap...
08/18/2026

Coming to St. Louis for Counterpublic? Stay with us.

Throughout October, The Luminary’s three-bedroom artist residency apartment is available for stays of three nights or more, with 30% bundled savings. Three-night stays start at $535 (an $800+ value).

Located directly above The Luminary on Cherokee Street, it’s an easy home base for experiencing Counterpublic and the city beyond.

Email [email protected] to reserve.

Last day to spend time with To Avoid Drowning, Become the Ocean by Sam Hamilton.Pictured: Mid-Revolution. Originally cre...
08/15/2026

Last day to spend time with To Avoid Drowning, Become the Ocean by Sam Hamilton.

Pictured: Mid-Revolution. Originally created as a lighting element for Hamilton’s opera Te Moana Meridian, the work is recontextualized here as a slowly rotating sculpture, drawing attention to subtle shifts and imperceptible change across its two-hour rotation.

Final viewing hours today, 12–4 PM. Free + open to all.

Photos by Mario Gallucci

Final days to see To Avoid Drowning, Become the Ocean.Revisiting opening weekend, when Sam Hamilton’s exhibition extende...
08/12/2026

Final days to see To Avoid Drowning, Become the Ocean.

Revisiting opening weekend, when Sam Hamilton’s exhibition extended beyond the gallery through a performance collaboration with Sarah Cameron Sunde.

See the exhibition one last time:

Thursday, August 13, 5–8pm
Friday, August 14, 12–4pm
Saturday, August 15, 12–6pm

Saturday at 10am, families with children ages 1–6 are invited to experience the exhibition together through looking, listening, movement, and play. Free and open to all.

To Avoid Drowning, Become the Ocean
Sam Hamilton, curated by Kalaija Mallery
Through August 15
Photos by Justin Solomon

It’s the final week to view To Avoid Drowning, Become the Ocean by Sam Hamilton, curated by Kalaija Mallery.On view thro...
08/10/2026

It’s the final week to view To Avoid Drowning, Become the Ocean by Sam Hamilton, curated by Kalaija Mallery.

On view through Saturday, August 15.

Gallery hours:
Thursday, 5–8pm
Friday, 12–4pm
Saturday, 12–6pm

On Saturday, join us for a family program designed especially for children ages 1–6 and their caregivers. Led by a museum-trained educator, the morning will offer a playful way for young visitors to encounter the sounds, images, and ideas of the exhibition together. 🖍️ 🌊

Saturday, August 15, 10–11am
Free and open to all.

photos by Mario Gallucci

Address

2701 Cherokee Street
St. Louis, MO
63118

Opening Hours

Wednesday 12pm - 5pm
Thursday 11am - 5pm
Friday 11am - 5pm
Saturday 11am - 5pm

Telephone

+13147731533

Website

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