Art St. Louis' board blames downtown crime and revenue issues for nonprofit's closure

Art St. Louis’ board is pointing to crime in downtown St. Louis as the reason behind the nonprofit’s shuttering and firing of all its staff.

The nonprofit’s gallery and coffee shop were based in the Park Pacific Building downtown for more than a decade, but a series of armed confrontations and an employee’s car being stolen preceded the organization’s move to the city’s Midtown neighborhood.

“This location was no longer safe for our employees, volunteers, and visitors,” the board wrote in a Thursday release. The move brought financial repercussions, and ultimately, “ASL was no longer able to bear the strain.”

Data from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department shows crime in the neighborhood continues to decrease.

"However, we understand that stats don’t mean much to someone who has directly been a victim of crime," said Conner Kerrigan, a city spokesperson. "We will keep working day in and day out with the brave men and women of SLMPD, our Office of Violence Prevention, and our community partners to reduce crime in our City."

The board had hoped their move would bring more stability, but problems continued to unfold.

Art St. Louis’ board initially was told that it would receive the keys to the new home at 2801 Locust St. by July 1, 2024. By that time, the building was supposed to be fully constructed to meet the specific needs of both the gallery and the coffee shop.

However, construction delays from the landlord’s team, combined with several city setbacks in issuing occupancy permits, pushed the timeline to November 2024.

“This was devastating to the organization, both because we had lost the revenue typically generated by Catalyst for many months longer than anticipated,” the board writes. “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.”

The issues appear to have continued compounding. Art St. Louis’ board said the organization faced “severe cutbacks” in grant support after federal grant funding to regional and local arts groups was recently rolled back, reducing Art St. Louis’ grant funding by roughly 50%.

The nonprofit received a $20,000 organizational grant from the Regional Arts Commission in 2024 — a drop from the nearly $40,000 in RAC grants it received in 2019. While Art St. Louis reported breaking even in 2022, according to tax documents filed with the Internal Revenue Service, the organization’s deficit grew to nearly $35,000 in its fiscal year ending in June 2023.

The letter said Francesca Passanise, Art St. Louis’ executive director, attempted to quell the financial issues through fundraising but wasn’t successful. She resigned on March 13.

Passanise did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

According to Art St. Louis’ board, it tried to apply for a business line of credit to cover operations and payroll, but the request was rejected in early March. At that point, the board determined that the best course of action was to lay off the nonprofit's five employees and suspend operations.

The board has formed a transition committee to explore potential paths forward for the organization, including partnerships or alternative operating models. This committee will also be responsible for making final payroll payments and refunding any artist entry fees for the now-canceled "SideShow" exhibition.

“This has had an extremely detrimental effect on many people involved with ASL, first and foremost our artists and members, and our extremely hard-working employees, all of whom deserved a better outcome,” the board writes. “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.”

Andrew J. Williams, Art St. Louis’ board president, declined to be interviewed for this story.

This story has been updated.