Lost in Transcreation: An inquiry into belonging with Ria Unson and Hope Ainsworth

Curated Gallery

September 4 - October 10, 2026

Opening Reception: September 4 | 6:30-8 pm

Artist Talk: September 4 | 6-6:30 pm

Through a “call and response” process, two multidisciplinary artists create a collection of work based on a series of prompts around the themes of identity and perception and how these concepts shape their lived experiences as Filipina-Americans. Through 2D and 3D work with paint, glue, found objects, and textiles, Hope and Ria explore what it means to be translated, mediated, or just be confusing. What kind of material remains when two women engage in an excavation of third culture? How does their ongoing conversation mirror a broader one as it relates to meaningful connection across cultural collision?

River Life By Rita Chu

Ramp Gallery

September 4 - October 10, 2026

Opening Reception: September 4 | 6:30-8 pm

Artist Talk: September 4 | 6-6:30 pm

River Life explores the Missouri, Mississippi, and Current Rivers through flow, perception, and place. Created while paddling these waterways, the photographs begin as quiet encounters with shifting light, weather, water, and the built landscape. Over time, these moments become outward reflections on my own inner landscape.

The river reveals both tenderness and tension. Sunrise, fog, wind, and sand speak to impermanence, uncertainty, and renewal, while towboats, locks, and dams trace the enduring relationship between people, industry, and the natural world. Moving between the visible and the unseen, River Life invites viewers to consider the river as both a physical place and a space where observation, reflection, and change unfold.

St. Louis Artists’ Guild Members Exhibition

Juried Gallery

September 4 - October 10, 2026

Opening Reception: September 4 | 6:30-8 pm

The St. Louis Artists' Guild is proud to present our annual members exhibition, an all media and theme exhibit. 

Juror: Dana Ostrander - Assistant Curator of Modern Art at the Kemper Museum

Dana Ostrander is an art historian specializing in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with research interests in art of the Americas, global modernism, and art by historically marginalized makers. Her upcoming projects include a major reinstallation of the museum’s nineteenth century galleries, as well as an exhibition on artist networks in Buenos Aires circa 1945. Prior to her arrival at the Kemper Art Museum in 2023, she helped organize exhibitions on a range of topics, among them Brazilian modernism, art of the Machine Age, and photography by women artists. Her publications include a chapter in the forthcoming edited volume, Modernism, Art, Therapy (2024), and a set of essays in Our Selves: Photographs by Women Artists from Helen Kornblum (2022). Ostrander completed her PhD in art history at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Juried Artists:

Damon Andrew, Lisa Asmus, Erica Balestreri, Pat Barton, Rick Battram, Priya Bazzani, Eldon Benz, Margo Brault, Yvonne Nagy Brazel, Karen Buckey, Tom Carlson, MaryJo Clark, Stephen Da Lay, Alienor De Smedt, Jo Jasper Dean, Gabe Drueke, Jane Flanders, John Freise, Marcia Gay, Brenda Gilliam, Julie Glossenger, Nancy Grimes, Megan Groves, Michael Halbert, Claire Hasemeier, Barb Jost, Gary Karasek, Gary Kodner, Robert Kokenyesi, Piotr Kulikowski, Terry Lay, Laura Lloyd, Michael Lucas, Lynn Mackenzie, Alfia Maha, Alexis Marie, Jane Maxfield, Joann McCredie, George Michaels, Amy Miller, Kenya Mitchell, James Moog, Jennifer Morgan, Eavan O’Neil, Adrienne Patel, Bill Perry, Krisi Ponder, Byron Rogers, Annie Scheumbauer, Steve Springmeyer, Jane Steinhauer, Bob Thomas, John Urso, Norma Vangent, Linghui (Lynn) Wang, Susan Wehrman, Amy Wetterlin, Dylan Wilson, David Yates, Evelina Yulianova.

And I Will Not Stop Searching When the Rain Does Not Stop… By Joseph Ovalle

Curated Gallery

November 20, 2026 - January 2, 2027

Joseph Jesse Ovalle is a multimedia artist who investigates the meaning of an object through material use, process and symbolism. He received his BFA from Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville and MFA from Indiana University Bloomington. Joseph references historical and contemporary in his work to speak about topics such as: religion, race, politics, culture and American society. He has shown across the United States at various galleries, museums and educational institutions. He currently has public sculptural work up for view at Kellogg Community College, Scovill Sculpture Park, and Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville. Joseph was also the co-founder of the ‘In Art Gallery’ which is an online venue for artists to exhibit their work. He Currently teaches at Jefferson College and Owensboro Technical and Community College. Recently he has attended residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, Jentel Artist Residency and The Farwell House. 

Small Wonders

Ramp Gallery

November 20, 2026 - January 2, 2027

The St. Louis Artists' Guild invites artists to submit work for Small Wonders, a juried exhibition celebrating the power of art on an intimate scale. Open to all media and subject matter, this exhibition embraces the diversity of contemporary artistic practice while challenging artists to work within a compact format.

All submitted artwork must measure 11" x 14" or smaller (frame included), encouraging thoughtful composition, experimentation, and creative problem-solving. From bold statements to quiet observations, this exhibition highlights how compelling ideas can thrive within limited dimensions.

Jurors: Kathryn Nahorski & Zackary Petot

Kathryn Nahorski is the former Executive Director of the St. Louis Artists' Guild and currently serves as the Development Director. She has been with the 140-year-old arts organization for fourteen years. She worked with a talented Board of Governors to transition the organization into its current contemporary gallery and education space at Jackson and Forsyth in Clayton, MO.

Over the years, Kathryn Nahorski has developed her expertise and cultivated her passion for providing exhibition opportunities for artists. As an artist and arts advocate, she has staged hundreds of exhibitions in professional galleries and alternative spaces. At present, she is enjoying the revitalization of her studio practice.

Zackary Petot is a multidisciplinary artist working in printmaking, photography, and mixed media. In addition to his studio practice, Petot is deeply engaged in the St. Louis arts community, serving as the Executive & Artistic Director at the St. Louis Artists’ Guild to support exhibitions, education, and collaborative community programming.

Place and Memory

Juried Gallery

November 20, 2026 - January 2, 2027

Place and Memory invites viewers to reflect on the spaces that shaped them, the homes left behind, the streets renamed, and the landscapes altered, and to consider how memory functions as both preservation and transformation. In the tension between fragility and endurance, the exhibition suggests that place lives not only in geography but also in the shifting architecture of remembrance.

Juror: Chris Wubbena

Chris Wubbena holds an MFA in Art with a Sculpture Emphasis from San Francisco State University and a BFA in Art with a Sculpture Emphasis and a Creative Writing Minor from the University of Northern Iowa. He is currently a tenured Full Professor of Sculpture at Southeast Missouri State University.