Rarely do students meander through downtown St. Louis. Between the decrepit concrete, crumbling facades and the office buildings, it seems like there’s nothing to do.

But in a spacious loft on a third floor on Locust Street, there is a oasis of culture, emotion and serenity-an art gallery.

Art St. Louis is a not-for-profit visual arts co-op gallery, organization and advocate exhibiting work by established and emerging artists from the St. Louis region.

The current exhibit is entitled “Honor Awards 2002” which isn’t half as dry as it sounds.

A collection of sculpture and painting that ranges from bizarre to classically breathtaking, the exhibit includes artists who have received awards from Art St. Louis last year. Among the featured artists is current Saint Louis University faculty member Amy Bautz. Bautz teaches art and her digital prints are modern and innovative.

The gallery is an ideal spot to spend a lazy lunch hour (without the food, of course) or a free afternoon. The most captivating works of the exhibit include paintings by Edwardsville-based painter, Dennis DeToye.

His large portraits that focus on subjects’ faces are intricate in their coloring and expression.

From far away it is easy to see the comic-strip element of DeToye’s style (he is also an editorial cartoonist) but up close the color scheme exhibits a mastery of painting that leaves viewers in awe.

The sculpture in the gallery is particularly innovative.

One piece is an actual-sized depiction of a toothbrush.

Another, by Andy Van Der Tuin, is a piece of a plum tree plated with copper-Second Skin. It’s weirdly gorgeous.

The most classically beautiful paintings in the gallery are by Victor Wang, whose fetish with sunflowers within Michaelangelo-esque scenes draws the viewer in without depleting the humanity of his works.

Art St. Louis is located in the Saint Louis Design Center at 917 Locust Street (on Locust between 9th and 10th Streets).

The gallery is free and open to the public Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Meandering through downtown St. Louis may not be perennially entertaining. But a stroll into the city can be fruitful if you have the right destination, like the marvelous nook that is the gallery of Art St. Louis.