The Insider: 6.27.18

Congratulations to Washington University School of Medicine professor Dr. Jeffrey Gordon, recently awarded the 2018 Copley Medal by the Royal Society in London. He received the honor for his work in understanding microbes in the human gut and how they affect obesity and malnutrition. He is director of the Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology.

Local firms KAI Design & Build and Kwame Building Group recently completed the $8.5 million Deaconess Center for Child Well-Being, a 21,000-square-foot facility with meeting and office space for groups that work to improve public policy on children’s issues. The building is located on North Vandeventer Avenue in Grand Center and is expected to host about 250 gatherings a year. It also is a new home for the Deaconess Foundation, Vision for Children at Risk and Neighborhood Houses.

The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM) announced that artist Sanford Biggers (top) and architect Brad Cloepfil each received $10,000 American Academy of Arts and Letters Awards for 2018. Biggers, who will exhibit at CAM this fall, accepted his award for exceptional accomplishment and creative work, and Cloepfil is the designer of CAM’s building in Grand Center.

Drumroll, please! Following a major renovation and expansion, the Museum at the Gateway Arch reopens to the public July 3 with a ribbon cutting, live music, food trucks, a scavenger hunt and more. The thoroughly modern museum features a new entrance plaza and interactive exhibits about Arch history and the roles of explorers, pioneers and Native Americans. It’s part of a $380 million effort to  revamp the 91-acre park. (Add your own monumental memories to a photo montage at yourarch.org, or use #yourarch on Twitter and Instagram.)

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the main events 

Write this down—the inaugural St. Louis Pen Show is set for June 29 through July 1 at the Sheraton Westport Plaza Hotel. The show features sellers and artisans from all over the U.S., an auction, classes, evening networking and more.

Explore an iconic actor’s connections to our area at Vincent Price in St. Louis: A Day with Victoria Price. Led by Vincent’s daughter, the June 30 tour includes important local landmarks from his life, viewing of museum exhibits and a special screening of The Pit and the Pendulum at Schlafly Bottleworks.

Still 630’s annual 630 Day, a food and beverage tasting event, is planned—not surprisingly—for June 30 at the distillery at 1000 S. 4th St. O’Fallon Brewery, Serendipity Ice Cream, Kaldi’s Coffee and other local makers will take part as well.