On any given day, thousands of residents and visitors experience public art, see the Arch illuminated at night, enjoy a playground with their family, or attend a theater performance. Many of those experiences are supported or led by the Gateway Foundation. This year, the Foundation celebrates 40 years of enriching life and culture in the St. Louis area through supporting efforts to acquire, create, and improve tangible, durable, public art and urban design.
Read MoreRon Kitchens came home to lead Greater St. Louis, Inc. — and to reimagine what the region can become. As the newly appointed CEO of Greater St. Louis, Inc., he arrives with a national reputation as a builder of momentum, as someone who doesn’t just attract investment, but reshapes how communities see themselves. Clear-eyed about the scale of the challenge, he is leading by getting rid of the notion of St. Louis competing with where it has been — but with the fastest-growing regions in the country. Read here about his strategy to get us there.
Read MoreUtilizing a the concept is called holistic defense, for 15 years ArchCity Defenders has started with a simple but radical premise: poor people don't have one problem. They have overlapping problems, and you can't solve one without addressing the others. Lead by Executive Director Blake Stode, the firm has three legal teams — municipal defense, housing and civil rights litigation — along with a social services team, a partnerships and organizing team and a communications team. Learn more about what they do and how they do it here.
Read MoreThe 2026 ALTBALL was the third outing for the alternative music, fashion, drag, and eclectic performance event. Thirty designers created avant-garde, eye-and-soul catching garments that kept the audience mesmerized. The sold-out event packed the Sovereign in the Grand Arts Center District, and raised an impressive $100,000 for an event of its size. All proceeds go to Doorways, a non-profit which provides housing and supportive services for those in our community affected by HIV, illness and poverty.
Read More“On this 250th anniversary of our nation’s independence, we invite the community to come together in remembrance of those who lost their lives while serving our country,” said Mark Sundlov, Managing Director of Soldiers Memorial Military Museum. Soldiers Memorial Military Museum will hold its annual Memorial Day Observance on Monday, May 25 at 10:00 AM. This event is free and open to the public. This powerful event honors the memory of America’s fallen service members and includes a wreath-laying ceremony and musical tribute.
Read MoreOn April 26, inside the dignified halls of the Missouri History Museum, approximately 150 figures from the arts and cultural community gathered not simply to honor Joan Lipkin, but to affirm the scope of a career that has long extended beyond any single stage, city, or discipline. The occasion: her receipt of the 2026 Margo Jones Medal—an honor bestowed annually upon one citizen-of-the-theatre nationwide. In its 65-year history, it had never before been presented in St. Louis.
Read MoreEach day in America, 12 children die from gun violence. Local photographer Lou Bopp recently reverently entered the rooms of some of those children and took hundreds of photos that were made into an Academy Award winning documentary. The piece, “All the Empty Rooms” is now playing on Netflix. Here, we tell the story of how the documentary came to be.
Read MoreIf you are reading this, you are the FIRST to see our May/June 2026 issue. In it, we explore how St. Louis continues to leave its imprint on the world stage. Our cover story, “The Rooms That Speak: Lou Bopp and the Art of Photographing Absence,” is a deeply moving piece that will leave a lasting impression on you. It is a poignant look at the creation of a 2026 Oscar-winning documentary by a St. Louis photographer. It is, quite simply, unforgettable. We also take a deep dive into two other St. Louis institutions, the 101-year-old Al’s Restaurant, which was the very definition of fine dining in yesteryear and carries the torch today in St. Louis and beyond. Also read about how Stifel Financial Corporation Chairman and CEO Ronald J. Kruszewski ensures that their brand is carried throughout the nation and the world.
Read MoreHundreds of dog lovers will gather at Gateway Arch National Park on Saturday, April 18, 2026, for Gateway Arch Park Foundation’s annual Arch Bark presented by Purina to celebrate sustainability in action and the ongoing mission to nurture thriving spaces where pets and people flourish together. The annual event is the ideal place for St. Louis dog lovers to explore the Foundation’s mission to preserve 91 acres of parkland in the heart of downtown from 10am - 2pm.
Read MoreMissouri History Museum in Forest Park will host St. Louis’ largest celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of Route 66 with a four-day festival April 30 through May 3 featuring live music, classic car displays, family activities, film screenings and talks exploring the complex history of the Mother Road, which has multiple historic routes across the region. The festival reflects the Museum’s broader civic storytelling initiative, I Am St. Louis, which invites residents to explore the history that connects the region’s past with its present. The long weekend celebration kicks off on Thursday, April 30 - Sunday, May 3.
Read MoreThe STL Jewish Light presents the 3rd Annual Passover Project at City Winery St. Louis on Wednesday, April 8th at 7pm. The Passover Project is an annual interactive, musical alternative seder. It features the Brothers Lazaroff and various local artists. Created by St. Louis Jewish Light Editor-in-Chief Ellen Futterman, it blends traditional seder elements with music, poetry, and special menu items, acting as a "friend raiser" for Jewish journalism.
Read MoreBill Edwards — a civil engineer turned teacher — and his students have been constructing a tiny home since last year. It is a two-year project funded by the Ladue Education Foundation. Students from the Ladue Horton Watkins High School expect to complete the micro-home this May. The goal of the program is not just building, and performing tasks that in bygone years would have been called “shop class,” but to also teach teenagers critical thinking skills, peer, collaboration, and facilitate social and emotional development.
Read MoreJust in time for Passover season, which starts on April 1st, The 31st Annual St. Louis Jewish Film Festival returns March 15–26, 2026. The thought provoking films will be shown at B&B Theatres in Creve Coeur and one at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema City Foundry in St. Louis. For six days, audiences will be brought together to experience powerful storytelling, conversation, and community through international cinema. The festival will present twelve films from around the world, including documentaries, dramas, and comedies that explore Jewish identity, resilience, memory, and the universal human experience.
Read MoreOn the cover of our 2026 Spring issue is Chaim Bloom, the new President of Baseball Operations for the St. Louis Cardinals. He replaces John Mozeliak and is tasked with breathing new life into to the once mighty St. Louis Cardinals. Craig Kaminer sits down with him in a revelatory interview found ONLY on Sophisticated TV St. Louis, which underscores the story Craig authored. Like our entire March/April issue, we continue the long-established custom of bringing you the exclusive, the new, the now — things that affect you in the ever-changing landscape that is St. Louis. Read the article for excerpts from the issue, as well as ways to “play ball” with ways to rediscover St. Louis old and new.
Read MoreIt’s February – the month where romance brings couples closer, cupid’s arrow strikes for lucky singles, gal pals play Galentine’s games, and winter fun abounds. Padel, the new craze on the courts is taking the world by storm, much like pickleball did. With many similarities, padel is faster. It's a mix between tennis and squash with the competitive energy of a 100-meter dash. And it’s the perfect sport to bring people together during these frigid winter days in St. Louis and beyond for Valentine’s Day. Find out how.
Read MorePreviously scheduled for January 24, the free, family-friendly event will instead take place on January 31, 2026, featuring a day of fun with more than 40 ice sculptures, live performances and a drone show in the heart of the Delmar Loop.
Read MoreEven if you’re not Catholic, perhaps you have driven down Lindell and seen one of St. Louis’ most unique edifices, The Cathedral Baslica. Also known as the Saint Louis Cathedral or the New Cathedral, it is a Catholic cathedral in the Central West End that was completed in 1914. In his new book published by Reedy Press, author John Gunther explores this glorious addition to the landscape of St. Louis — its history, architecture, and significance.
Read MoreOperation Food Search is fighting an uphill battle to resolve food insecurity. The statistic is staggering: Nearly one in three children in the city of St. Louis doesn't know where their next meal is coming from. Leading the charge to make a dent in the hunger crisis, Operation Food Search is pushing beyond the traditional food bank model to tackle hunger with both urgency and innovation.
Read MoreA development called Container on Vessel could dramatically change the volume of the area’s river traffic. Instead of shipping products from Asia to Los Angeles or New York and trucking them across the country, products can be unloaded at Gulf ports and put on specially designed vessels and bring them up the Mississippi to St. Louis. The project could take an already thriving port system to the next level. The all-water north-south trade lane that connects the Midwest to the lower Mississippi River from there goes to worldwide destinations.
Read MoreAs 2026 dawns, 5,280 circular Waterford crystal discs will fall from the sky on the ball in Times Square. Like fine Waterford crystal, 2026 rings in the fourteenth year that Sophisticated Living St. Louis has brought you the finest. Get a sampling here of what 2026 has to offer in the pages of the January/February issue of St. Louis’ leading luxury lifestyle magazine.
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