Photograph by Virginia Harold; copyright Pulitzer Arts Foundation.

Urban Archaeology: Lost Buildings of St. Louis

  • Pulitzer Arts Foundation; St. Louis, Missouri / September 2023 – February 2024

Drawn from the rich collection of the National Building Arts Center (NBAC), Urban Archaeology brought together salvaged architectural elements from landmark buildings, residential homes, and neighborhood institutions built in St. Louis between 1840 and 1950. The artifacts on display represented important histories of material innovation, labor, and the everyday lives of the people who inhabit the city. The exhibition shed light on the city’s history, revealing complicated legacies of power, wealth, and neglect that shape our experience of the built environment and daily life. By studying St. Louis’s architectural past, Urban Archeology encouraged visitors to imagine new ways of building, keeping, knowing, and inhabiting places.

Urban Archaeology was supported by a produced video, eight oral histories comprising and audio guide, several special events and panel discussions, and a five-week course on issues raised by the exhibition.

Lead curator, with Stephanie Weissberg and Molly Moog.