Alice Gray Stites gives us an insight into curating exhibitions and commissions for 21c Museum Hotels: A multi-venue contemporary art museum with over 75,000 sq ft of exhibition space and is one of the largest museum settings for contemporary art in the United States.

In August this year, its newest location, 21c St. Louis, threw open the doors to welcome guests into the carefully restored 95-year-old Renaissance Revival-style, former YMCA building.

Featuring site-specific art installations ,rotating, curated exhibitions, and 173 artistically appointed rooms, over 14,000 square feet of new exhibition space was added to 21c’s footprint with this stunning property.

Outfitted with original artworks by artists from all over the world, as well as a number who have strong ties to Missouri, including Carmon Colangelo, Collin W. Elliott, Brandon Forrest Frederick, Bethanie Irons and La Vispera, 21c St Louis was expertly curated but the 21c’s in-house team of arts professionals led by Alice Gray Stites, Chief Curator and Museum Director at 21c Museum Hotels. She recently sat down with us to discuss historic buildings, the curation process, celebrating unsung cities, and empowering local artists.

Opening up the inaccessible – it’s an important pillar of the 21c brand. Open seven days per week, 24 hours per day and free of charge, 21c is on a mission to remove all barriers to make art and culture inclusive and accessible.

“At 21c, we believe that thought-provoking contemporary art can have a positive effect on everyone’s life. At times people may feel intimidated by art, especially by contemporary art,” says Alice (above), “By removing the barriers to access, starting with any kind of admissions fee, but extending to the perception of a velvet rope, of being intimidated to go into spaces that present contemporary art, we are making these artworks, and the ideas and experiences around them accessible to a really wide variety of people.”

“We know that our audience includes hotel guests – some of them who are coming because of the art, and some of whom have no idea what they are walking into,” she explains, “And I love that people’s lives can be touch either through a direct engagement or even in a kind of osmosis process because it’s there, and they come back over time and discover something different or something new or something they’ve never seen before.”

Art is infused into everything 21c does. You will find it around every corner – in guest rooms, dining rooms, elevators, on the floors you walk upon and suspended from the ceilings. So, whether you’re visiting to view an exhibition or simply starting your day with a cup of coffee in the Good Press café in St. Louis – 21c’s first coffee shop – you’ll find a beautiful, wood-panelled historic room. And installed on the domed ceiling, is Until We Meet Again, a kaleidoscopic artwork by Missouri native Nick Cave and partner Bob Faust – there is always an opportunity to view the art.

With over 75,000 sq ft of exhibition space across its properties, where does one even begin curating? Alice happily explains, “The site-specific installations – that is a very exciting and fun process. And that happens as soon as the design and renovation is underway. We’ll start looking at the space allocation – where is the restaurant going to go, what floors are the hotel rooms on, where are the meeting rooms, and where are the event spaces. And inevitably, especially in historical renovations, there are these extra spaces, or spaces that don’t immediately lend themselves to an obvious use. And I like to think of those as the interstitial spaces that otherwise could be overlooked but connect important spaces in the building. So we identify those spaces and see what kind of art could go in there that could draw people in or move people through in a way that creates an interesting experience.”