A Rave Review of the Arts-and-Culture Scene in St. Louis

For the 2025 Visitors Guide, Explore St. Louis spoke with four leaders at the helm of the St. Louis arts-and-culture scene. Here, Kirven Douthit-Boyd, artistic director of Saint Louis Dance Theatre, shares his favorite ways to experience the arts in the Gateway City. See all the content in the official Visitors Guide here.

I’m always ready to talk about the arts – that’s my thing! I have to start with the upcoming productions by Saint Louis Dance Theatre, including two world premieres, as they’re wonderful opportunities for anyone in St. Louis to see a high caliber of contemporary dance. Last year, we partnered with Jazz St. Louis to put an exciting spin on Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite, so I also encourage folks to get tickets to Jazz at the Bistro where they can hear good music and eat good food.

For more performing arts, look to The St. Louis Black Repertory Company. Founder and producing director Ron Himes produces, commissions and reimagines work written by Black playwrights, and every year, he stages incredible theater productions that provide a moving cultural experience to a diverse audience. The Muny, a massive outdoor theater in Forest Park, presents a magnificent lineup of musicals every summer, too. I always have a good time when I go there.

The Saint Louis Art Museum has planned some incredible exhibitions for the 2025 season, as well. Min Jung Kim, the Barbara B. Taylor Director of the Saint Louis Art Museum, has done a phenomenal job of curating beautiful, cultural artwork that will be on display right here. Consider planning a weekend trip to St. Louis during Roaring, which runs from April 12 to July 27. The noteworthy exhibition will explore the role of the automobile as both subject and object from 1918 to 1939, untangling the impact of fashion, interiors, architecture, aviation and the avant-garde on French automobile design and production.

As you explore the region, I can almost guarantee that you’ll come across some of our public art. One of my favorite pieces is at Energizer Park, where St. Louis CITY SC plays. It’s called Pillars of the Valley, and it’s inspired by the people who lived in Mill Creek Valley, one of whom was Josephine Baker.

If you love art, music, dance, theater – or all of the above – St. Louis is an ideal destination. I moved from New York City to St. Louis because of the vastness of the arts here, and along with my counterparts at other organizations, I’m committed to our arts-and-culture ecosystem. Every day, we find new ways to expand our offerings and remove barriers so that everyone can experience them.