STNDRD and NON STNDRD are artist-run initiatives that present a program of exhibitions, interventions, and projects that are conceptually inspired and physically determined by alternative sites and the cultural, historical, and architectural significance of the communities and landscapes that surround the American Bottom near St. Louis.
Our mission is realized first through our flagship program, STNDRD, in Granite City, Illinois, where exhibitions examine the power and potential of flags, richly evidenced by history and within contemporary art as cultural objects that abstract, encapsulate, and canonize. STNDRD was originally supported and temporarily founded within The Luminary (St Louis) in 2016, then traveled to artist-run spaces and institutions for two years to support continued programing. Sites included Demo Project in Springfield, IL, Dalton Warehouse in Los Angeles, CA , ACRE Projects in Steuben, WI, and Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA. STNDRD returned to the St. Louis Metro Area in 2018 with support from Granite City Art and Design District and Chris Carl of New American Gardening. In 2022 our second initiative, NON STNDRD, launched when we began a partnership with the National Building Arts Center. Today, NON STNDRD centers around an innovative site-based curatorial and exhibition initiative within the vast, complex, and vacant sand-casting bunkers that are located on the campus of the National Building Arts Center in Sauget, Illinois.
Both sites are responsive to the changing needs of artists and our communities. Exhibitions feature a diverse group of emerging and established artists, and we are committed to providing access to contemporary art through community partnerships and collaborations. Our program is integrated within its surroundings and explores its relationship to individuals, neighbors, and communities.
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Bruce Burton is an artist, designer, and curator whose work is an exploration of the process of making it; gathering, sorting, collating, associating, and staging/displaying. He is a Co-Director at STNDRD, Co-founder of Monaco – an artist-owned cooperative in St. Louis, and served as a board member at White Flag Projects, St. Louis, until its closing in 2016. He has presented curatorial projects at Monaco and the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.
Sage Dawson is an artist and curator whose work examines the politics of housing and labor. Sage founded STNDRD, and co-founded Monaco (St. Louis). She has curated exhibitions a Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles), ACRE Projects (Stueben, Wisconsin), the Terrain Biennial (Springfield, IL), Dalton Warehouse (Los Angeles), and The Luminary (St. Louis). She has previously assisted curatorial and educational programs at the University of New Mexico Art Museum and the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History. Sage is a faculty member at the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University St Louis.
Allison Lacher is an artist and curator based in Springfield, Illinois. She co-founded the artist-run spaces Monaco (St. Louis) and DEMO Project (Springfield) and is a co-director at STNDRD (Granite City). She was a founding member of the Board of Directors for Terrain Exhibitions and co-curated the Terrain Biennial Outpost at Enos Park in 2017, 2019, and 2021. She was previously a HATCH Curator with the Chicago Artist Coalition, and she is currently developing a curatorial project as a Visiting Curator at the Illinois State Museum. She serves as an Instructor and Director of the Visual Arts Gallery at the University of Illinois Springfield.