The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM) was founded in 1980 by a group of civic, cultural, and educational leaders to introduce visual arts programming and cultural activities into downtown St. Louis. In 2003, the organization transformed from a small gallery into a major arts institution, opening the doors to its new 27,000-square-foot building designed by Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works, conceived as a complement and contrast to the Pulitzer Arts Foundation (designed by Tadao Ando) next door—a courtyard connects the two museums. CAM is the only museum in the St. Louis region solely dedicated to contemporary art and one of the preeminent non-collecting institutions of its kind in the United States.

On the twentieth anniversary of CAM’s building, a Catalyst Grant will support the sealing of the building envelope to increase energy efficiency at the museum. CAM will work with Western Specialty Contractors of St. Louis to reseal the museum’s curtain walls and large window bays in the lobby, classroom, and performance space to stop existing water and air leakage. Not only will these measures take a burden off the HVAC system during rainfall and temperature extremes, helping us better regulate the environment to AAM temperature and humidity standards, waste less energy, and lower heating and cooling costs, but provide a dry and welcoming space for our visitors and program attendees. This is the first phase of repairs for the envelope following the Museum’s initial carbon footprint benchmarking efforts in ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager and recommendations from a Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) study the Museum embarked upon in 2023.