Museum of Contemporary Religious Art
Saint Louis University's Museum of Contemporary Religious Art has closed; it shut its doors for good on May 31, 2026. Known as MOCRA, it stood in St. Louis, MO, and opened in 1993 as the first museum in the world to bring an interfaith lens to contemporary art on religious and spiritual themes. It is included here for its history, and two working art museums stand only a few blocks away.
What is Museum of Contemporary Religious Art?
MOCRA was a university art museum with an unusual focus. It showed contemporary work by artists who dealt with faith, spirit and belief, drawn from many traditions rather than one.
The museum's aim was to keep a conversation going between today's artists and the world's religions, and to use visual art as a way to help people of different faiths understand one another. It was part of Saint Louis University.
History of Museum of Contemporary Religious Art
The museum opened in 1993. It was the first museum anywhere to combine contemporary art with an interfaith approach to religious and spiritual subjects, and it kept that mission until it closed.
Its doors shut for the last time on May 31, 2026. The building is part of a university campus, so there is no longer a public museum to visit here.
Visiting Museum of Contemporary Religious Art: tips
Plan your art stop around the neighboring museums instead. The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis and the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts stand side by side about 0.3 miles away in the Grand Center Arts District, and both show modern and contemporary work. The Pulitzer occupies a building by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando, while its neighbor rotates its shows through the year, so each offers something different.
For a change of subject, the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site is about 1.3 miles off, where the ragtime composer lived at the start of the 20th century. The whole cluster sits about 1.6 miles from the old road, which makes a compact art-and-music afternoon in midtown St. Louis.
Practical info
- Address
- 3700 W Pine Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63108
- Phone
- +1 314-977-7170
- Website
- slu.edu/mocra.xml
- Hours
- Closed permanently
- On site & nearby
Sources: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Wikidata · official site — may be outdated. Suggest a fix
Where to eat near Museum of Contemporary Religious Art
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On the map
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Stops near Museum of Contemporary Religious Art
All of Missouri
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1.9 mi from Museum of Contemporary Religious Art
1.9 mi from Museum of Contemporary Religious Art
Questions about Museum of Contemporary Religious Art
Is MOCRA still open?
No. MOCRA shut for good on May 31, 2026.
What was special about MOCRA?
When it opened in 1993, it was the first museum anywhere to take an interfaith approach to contemporary art about religious and spiritual themes.
Own or run Museum of Contemporary Religious Art? Send us a photo or a correction.