The Luminary

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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.

HEAVY DELAY is a visual and sonic talk where Ximena Garrido-Lecca’s Signal Interludes becomes a relay for writer and res...
10/15/2026

HEAVY DELAY is a visual and sonic talk where Ximena Garrido-Lecca’s Signal Interludes becomes a relay for writer and researcher Sean J Patrick Carney to track extractive material economies across the Andes and the Midwest. 

Sean J Patrick Carney is a writer, composer, and researcher in Portland, Oregon. His essays, criticism, and interviews have appeared in Aperture, frieze, High Country News, Artforum, Vice, Southwest Contemporary, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and elsewhere. He is the host and producer of Time Zero, a podcast about the nuclearized world.

HEAVY DELAY is free and open to the public. Reserve your spot by visiting the link in our bio.

Date: Thursday, October 22  
Time: 6:30 PM - 8 PM
Location: The Luminary 

Photo credit: Sydney

In Signal Interludes, an LED display records the movement of raw materials via pulley systems over the course of the exh...
10/14/2026

In Signal Interludes, an LED display records the movement of raw materials via pulley systems over the course of the exhibition, creating a cumulative archive of transmission, disruption, and exchange.

“Signal Interludes is ultimately about the tension between connection and disconnection, the infrastructures that make circulation possible, whether what is circulating is a physical commodity, a natural resource or a piece of information.” - Ximena Garrido-Lecca

Ximena Garrido-Lecca’s Signal Interludes, curated by Stefanie Hessler and commissioned in partnership with Counterpublic, is on view at The Luminary through December 12.

GALLERY HOURS:
Thurs: 5-8 PM
Fri: 12-6 PM
Sat: 12-4 PM

Photo credit: Tyler Small, courtesy of Counterpublic.

Planning a gathering this fall or winter?The Luminary offers flexible spaces on Cherokee Street for meetings, workshops,...
10/13/2026

Planning a gathering this fall or winter?

The Luminary offers flexible spaces on Cherokee Street for meetings, workshops, weddings, dinners, celebrations, performances, and other events. 

The building offers 3,000 square feet of high ceilings, a built-in bar, and raw-space feel.
 
Renting our spaces directly supports our exhibitions, residencies, and artist programs.

Fall and holiday dates are now available. Learn more and inquire at the link in our bio.

Photo credit: Marina May Schleicher and Nick Schleicher’s wedding, photographed by Reuben Hemmer Reuben Hemmer

The Luminary presents HOUSE PARTY: an anti-gala benefit for non-commodifiable art practice ;)After years of tired pomp a...
10/08/2026

The Luminary presents HOUSE PARTY: an anti-gala benefit for non-commodifiable art practice ;)

After years of tired pomp and circumstance, it’s time to get real. The old guard is changing. And we’re here for it.

NO DINNER. NO TABLES. NO AUCTION. NO VIP. Just artists, friends, drinks, dancing, and a really good party in support of The Luminary.

We’re taking over Tschüss for the night. 🖤

HOUSE PARTY
Thursday, November 12
7 PM–midnight
Tschüss, 2847 Cherokee St.

Featuring a live performance by the Dhoruba Collective and a late-night set by DJ Limewire Prime.

$25 gets you in. Giving more keeps artists paid, exhibitions free, and The Luminary doing what it does best. All drink profits benefit The Luminary.

The Luminary doesn’t need a gala. We need a house party.

Tickets are live now, link in bio. 21+.

STLEvents SupportArtists

The Luminary invited award-winning photographer Mario Gallucci to lead a three-day Art Documentation Photography Intensi...
10/06/2026

The Luminary invited award-winning photographer Mario Gallucci to lead a three-day Art Documentation Photography Intensive from November 21–23. 

Designed for artists and photographers, the intensive moves through photographing difficult objects and installations, lighting, post-production, portfolio development, pricing, and working with artists and institutions, culminating in an on-site session at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation. 

November 21–23, 2026 
The Luminary + Pulitzer Arts Foundation 
Led by Mario Gallucci Mario Gallucci 

You can either register for classes individually or sign up for the entire intensive. 

Limited to 8 participants 

Swipe to learn more about the specific classes.

10:00 AM - 01:00 PM 
Sat, Nov 21: Photographing the Exhibition: The Luminary Arts 

Hands-on documentation in the gallery with Mario. Installation and exhibition views Individual artworks and details Site-specific and large-scale work Perspective and architectural distortion Mixed natural and artificial light Building an effective shot list Working efficiently on location.

02:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Saturday, November 21: Lighting the Difficult Object

A technical workshop focused on challenging documentation scenarios. Setup in Luminary black box space. With wall and seamless paper setups. Topics: Paintings and two-dimensional work Glass, glare, and reflective surfaces Sculpture and dimensional work Supplemental lighting for a space with bad existing lighting Color accuracy and white balance Large-scale artworks Reproduction photography vs. installation documentation Essential equipment and lighting setups

10:00 AM - 01:00 PM
Sunday, November 22: From Capture to Delivery

Participants meet offsite for a quick session of image capture. Then regroup at The Luminary for a session on editing those files and other files shot on Saturday. Topics: Ingest and file organization Lightroom workflow Selection and editing Perspective correction Color correction and consistency Masking techniques for smoothing difficult lighting Simple compositing Export settings File naming and archiving Client delivery Creating a faster capture-to-delivery workflow

02:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Sunday, Novem

Did you know that becoming a member at The Luminary gives you discounts at The Luminary and ticketed partner events?Beco...
10/02/2026

Did you know that becoming a member at The Luminary gives you discounts at The Luminary and ticketed partner events?

Become a member at The Luminary to gain access to:

📕15% off The Luminary’s bookstore, merch and bar purchases
🎨 Special access to exhibitions and programs
🚪Behind-the-scenes looks at what we’re working on
đź’ˇMore opportunities to connect with artists and ideas shaping The Luminary

Members of the Luminary who register for Mario Gallucci’s Art Documentation Photography Intensive form November 21–23 will receive a 30% discount when they enroll.

Membership helps us support ambitious new work by artists, pay artists for their labor, and keep contemporary art accessible to everyone who walks through our doors.

Memberships start at $5 a month and are tax-deductible. Learn more by visiting the link in our bio.

In this visual and sonic talk, Ximena Garrido-Lecca’s Signal Interludes becomes a relay for writer and researcher Sean J...
10/01/2026

In this visual and sonic talk, Ximena Garrido-Lecca’s Signal Interludes becomes a relay for writer and researcher Sean J Patrick Carney to track extractive material economies across the Andes and the Midwest.
 
Moving from copper, silver, and zinc to Peruvian heavy metal and St. Louis’s role in the Manhattan Project, Carney links mining, industry, labor, and environmental harm across generations. For decades, Indigenous communities, artists, and environmental activists have identified and warned against the dangers of extraction, long before governments and institutions formally acknowledged them. 

Carney loops this gap between community experience and official recognition into Counterpublic’s theme of “coyote time,” when the consequences of profit are already unfolding but have yet to fully register. 

Date: Thursday, October 22  
Time: 6:30 PM - 8 PM
Location: The Luminary 

Free and open to the public. Reserve your spot by visiting the link in our bio.

Sean J Patrick Carney is a writer, composer, and researcher in Portland, Oregon. His essays, criticism, and interviews have appeared in Aperture, frieze, High Country News, Artforum, Vice, Southwest Contemporary, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and elsewhere. He is the host and producer of Time Zero, a podcast about the nuclearized world.

Second photo credit: Sydney

In Signal Interludes, Ximena Garrido-Lecca brings together copper cables, industrial pulleys, rope, and electronic circu...
09/26/2026

In Signal Interludes, Ximena Garrido-Lecca brings together copper cables, industrial pulleys, rope, and electronic circuits to trace the infrastructures through which materials, energy, and information move.

Using rope as both a historical technology and conceptual framework, Garrido-Lecca considers its role in maritime trade, colonial extraction, industrial production, and contemporary communications infrastructure. 

Rope becomes cable; the mechanics of moving goods become the mechanics of moving data. The work asks how systems designed to facilitate movement and connection are equally implicated in exploitation, disconnection, and uneven distributions of power. 

Ximena Garrido-Lecca’s Signal Interludes, curated by Stefanie Hessler and commissioned in partnership with Counterpublic, is on view at The Luminary through December 12.

GALLERY HOURS:
Thurs: 5-8 PM
Fri: 12-6 PM
Sat: 12-4 PM

Photo credit: Tyler Small, courtesy of Counterpublic.

One of the clearest needs we’ve heard from artists is also one we encounter constantly in our own work: good art documen...
09/25/2026

One of the clearest needs we’ve heard from artists is also one we encounter constantly in our own work: good art documentation is hard to find, hard to afford, and difficult to learn.

In direct response to that feedback, The Luminary invited award-winning photographer Mario Gallucci to lead a three-day Art Documentation Photography Intensive, November 21–23.

Designed for artists and photographers, the intensive moves through photographing difficult objects and installations, lighting, post-production, portfolio development, pricing, and working with artists and institutions, culminating in an on-site session at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation.

This is part of our larger commitment to building Artist Resources around the actual conditions artists are working within. We want more of this knowledge in the hands of artists and photographers in St. Louis.

November 21–23, 2026
The Luminary + Pulitzer Arts Foundation
Led by Mario Gallucci

Full intensive: $500 (over $1200 value)
Luminary members: 30% off
Select sessions available Ă  la carte
Two scholarships + Green Bottle sliding-scale support available
Limited to 8 participants

Applications now open. Visit the link in our bio.

Image credits: Srijon Chowdhury, Hoffman Gallery; Marcus Fischer, PCC; Amy Ruhl, Ox; Trisha Baga, PICA; Isabelle Albuquerque; Katarina Gaspar; Acosia Red Elk, JSMA; Ido Radon, PNCA;  Chorus, Lumber Room; Peter Simensky; Jacob Hashimoto, PDX. Photography: 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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