Building Overview

With its perfect acoustics, The Sheldon Concert Hall is recognized among the nation’s finest performing facilities. Called “The Carnegie Hall of the Midwest,” The Sheldon Concert Hall has hosted everyone from Tony Bennett and B.B. King to Renée Fleming and Mavis Staples.

The hall is the cornerstone of our 1912 footprint, featuring original curved wood theatre seating on two levels, with unrestricted views from all 712 seats.

The adjacent Greenroom, originally the Ethical Society Library, provides a cozy backstage and small kitchen for visiting performers and staff.

Take a 360-degree tour of our perfectly acoustic hall and Greenroom..

A part of the early-2000s expansion to The Sheldon’s footprint, this uniquely elegant room situated on the third floor of the Emerson Galleries Building provides room for up to 700 guests.

Boasting a spectacular view of the city’s Central West End and Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, the spacious room hosts many receptions, annual meetings, seminars and dinners each year.

The walls of the Spiering Room are adorned with a variety of artwork and incorporated into the brickwork is a permanent collection of architectural terra cotta pieces rescued from the historic Title Guaranty Building, built in 1898 by architects Earnes + Young and demolished in 1983.

Overlooking the city’s Central West End, The Sheldon Ballroom features golden hardwood flooring, a full stage and dramatic beamed ceilings with large skylights. The Ballroom is an original fixture of our 1912 footprint.

When the The Sheldon was still the home of the Ethical Society, the Ballroom was a staple of learning at the organization. You can still see the original room separators that pull down from the ceilings, which the Ethical Society used to create classrooms in the larger Ballroom.

Nowadays, this intimate setting accommodates dinners, cocktail receptions and special performances year-round.

A glass walkway links The Sheldon’s historic facilities with the contemporary elegance of the Atrium Lobby and Art Galleries.

In the early 2000s, we added onto our footprint, converting the old parking garage next door into the Sheldon Art Galleries and additional event spaces. These additions create a unique juxtaposition of historical and modern, and rooms that double as exhibition spaces as well as venues available for rent.

Our gallery spaces include the Bellwether Gallery of St. Louis Artists, Gallery of Music, Gallery of Photography, Bernoudy Gallery of Architecture, AT&T Gallery of Children’s Art, Nancy Spirtas Kranzberg Gallery and the Ann Lee and Wilfred Konneker Gallery.

Designed by internationally acclaimed architect Benjamin Gilmartin, Steward Family Plaza connects The Sheldon with the Jack Galmiche Public Media Commons to the south and Washington Boulevard to the north, and serves to welcome Sheldon attendees coming for concerts, art exhibits, education programs and community events. Planning for the structure began in 2013.

The plaza opened in October 2019 and makes a strong artistic, architectural and environmental statement with a large vertical garden, and communicates the vitality of Sheldon programs and The Sheldon’s place in St. Louis’ cultural landscape.