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Visually Appealing: Climb A Water Tower Or Learn Salsa

Compton Hill Water Tower
Wikipedia

Some of the art in St. Louis is available all day every day but may not be open to explore, This Friday night, however, by the light of a full moon, you can climb the 198 steps to the top of the Compton Hill Water Tower.

This is the youngest (built in 1898) of the city’s three historic and distinctive standpipe water towers. The others are the Corinthian column (1871) at 20th Street and Grand Avenue and the Bissell Water Tower (1885) at Bissell Street and Blair Avenue.

The festivities won’t wait for moonrise. The water tower will be open from 5:30 p.m.-midnight. Once at the top, climbers will find a 360-degree view of the city and musician Lizzie Weber.

Food trucks will be on firm ground in Reservoir Park. And a relaxing stroll there will give visitors a chance to check out the once-controversial statue “The Naked Truth.” As discussed on St. Louis on the Air, the nakedness was a bit of a surprise. But the sculptor persuaded “city leaders that the monument was actually quite chaste and the statue was completed in 1914.” A two-year restoration effort was recently finished. 

When: 5:30-midnight, June 13

Where: Reservoir Park, South Grand Russell boulevards

Cost: $5, children 5& under free

Information: www.facebook.com/events/1620523114839896/

And if heading out on Friday the 13th isn’t your style, the Compton Hill Water Tower will be open two more times this summer.

Other new things to check out:

COCA

What: Breathe - Maria Ojascastro and Rudy Zapf

When: 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday and Wednesday; 7:30-6 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. Opening reception: 6 p.m. June 13 (artists’ remarks at 6:30 p.m.)

Where: Center of Creative Arts, 524 Trinity Ave. 63130

Information: www.cocastl.org/subpage.cfm?vSection=exhibitions&vPage=millstone_gallery

KARAMU: FIESTA OF LATIN AND AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSIC

What: Music (Bosman Twins, Denise Thimes and Latin Fire Ensemble) + “Salsa con Salsa,” which combines dance – including lessons and salsa tasting + African drumming + art exhibit on Latin culture

When: Doors open 6 p.m. June 14; concert starts at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union Blvd.

Cost: $20; $18 for seniors and students

Information: www.gitana-inc.org

ST. LOUIS ART MUSEUM

Of course, there’s art, and the French Impressionist exhibit is extended to Bastille Day. But on Friday, when the exhibition is free,  there is also:

Elsie Parker & The Poor People of Paris

When: 7 p.m. June 13

With: St. Louis International Film Festival presentation of the 1921 silent film ”Be My Wife”  and “Max Wants a Divorce”

KODNER GALLERY

What: “Modernism: Art + Design”

When: June 14-Aug. 30, opening reception 6-9 p.m. June 14

Where: 9650 Clayton Rd.63124

Information: www.kodnergallery.com

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Donna Korando started work in journalism at SIU’s Daily Egyptian in 1968. In between Carbondale and St. Louis Public Radio, she taught high school in Manitowoc, Wis., and worked at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She was the copy editor and letters editor for the editorial page from 1973-77. As an editorial writer from 1977-87, she covered Illinois and city politics, education, agriculture, family issues and sub-Saharan Africa. When she was editor of the Commentary Page from 1987-2003, the page won several awards from the Association of Opinion Page Editors. From 2003-07, she headed the features copy desk.