March 27, 2025 

This week Art Saint Louis announced that it was furloughing its employees and indefinitely suspending its operations.  You deserve a more comprehensive report from the Board regarding this devastating decision and what precipitated it.  ASL has, for years, been a lean organization that didn’t generate a great deal of revenue.  With relatively low operating costs, and a dedicated staff of employees and volunteers who always gave more than they received in time and effort, we were often able to make this work.  However, over the past year or so, a number of factors conspired to squeeze the organization’s already precarious financial situation until ASL was no longer able to bear the strain.  

Over the past few years, a number of episodes at ASL’s old home at the Park Pacific Building downtown convinced the Board that this location was no longer safe for our employees, volunteers, and visitors.  These included numerous armed confrontations with individuals at our coffee bar threatening our staff and patrons, and in one instance, the theft of an employee’s car.  The Board made the decision to look elsewhere for a new location that, while remaining true to ASL’s commitment to staying in the City, would provide an opportunity for our staff and guests to feel safe.  This led to the negotiation and ultimate execution of a new lease for ASL’s current location at 2801 Locust St. in Midtown.  The lease specified that the landlord would build out and deliver the premises to ASL turn-key by May 1, 2024, with an absolute outside date of July 1, 2024.  Almost immediately after execution, the landlord began experiencing construction delays, and we eventually completed our move to the new premises on July 27, 2024, well after the outside date but still with assurances that the premises would be ready for the opening of Catalyst Coffee Bar shortly thereafter.  Due to continued failures by the landlord’s construction team to complete the buildout, and delays by the City in issuing an occupancy permit, it wouldn’t be until November of 2024 that Catalyst was finally able to open again.   

This was devastating to the organization both because we had lost the revenue typically generated by Catalyst for many months longer than anticipated, but also because customers had drifted away to other coffee habits during the lucrative summer and fall months, and we were trying to regain them during the winter months when foot traffic was almost non-existent.  In addition to the loss of Catalyst revenue, the severe cutback in federal grant funding to local and regional grant organizations led to a corresponding decrease in the grant funding that ASL has traditionally relied upon for much of its operating budget, cutting the organization’s grant funding by approximately 50%.  

Fundraising efforts led by our executive director Francesca Passanise, including a cocktail event in early 2025 and the solicitation of personal and corporate donations were ultimately not enough to make up for the lost revenue.  ASL applied for a business line of credit from our bank in order to provide a bridge for the organization’s expenses and to cover employee payroll, but after an initially promising response from the bank, the application was ultimately rejected in early March.  A larger and more ambitious fundraising event, La Vie en Rouge, was in the process of being planned and executed for mid-April, but the unexpected resignation of Francesca as ASL’s executive director on March 13th put the execution of such an event beyond the limited resources of the organization.  It was at this point that it became clear to the Board that the organization would continue to be unable to meet its payroll obligations to its employees, which led to the emergency furlough of all five of ASL’s employees and the suspension of activities announced earlier this week. 

This has had an extremely detrimental effect on many people involved with ASL, first and foremost our artist and members, and our extremely hard-working employees, all of whom deserved a better outcome.  The Board has formed a transition committee to evaluate the current situation and determine how, and if, the organization has a path forward.  The committee will prioritize making final payroll payments to our employees and providing refunds of entry fees to artists affected by the cancellation of the “SideShow” exhibit.

We will also continue to provide details about this evolving situation as they become available.  We understand the huge impact Art St. Louis has had in the community and the important role it plays in many people’s lives. The Board is doing everything it can to continue Art St. Louis in the future, whether that be in tandem with another organization or with alternative operating parameters. It hurts us to have to take this step, but we are hopeful it is in the best interests for the future of Art St. Louis.  Thank you all for your support of ASL over the years. 

Sincerely,

Art Saint Louis Board of Directors