Art Meshes With Nature at Missouri`s Sculpture Parks and Gardens

Laumeier Sculpture Park: The Way, steel oil tanks, by Alexander Liberman – cropped from photo by David McSpadden / CC BY
MISSOURI ARTS COUNCIL ▪ AUGUST 2014
Art Meshes With Nature
at Missouri’s Sculpture Parks and Gardens
by Barbara MacRobie
In a grassy clearing in a St. Louis County park
are 18 salvaged steel oil tanks. They have
presided there since 1980, when sculptor
Alexander Liberman painted them red and
welded them into a massive and charismatic
structure. The Way is one of more than 50
artworks that live outdoors at Laumeier Sculpture
Park—a habitat where art and nature entwine in
ways both thought-provoking and fun.
Missouri enjoys many such parks. Most
sculpture parks and gardens include works by
several different artists. A few parks are devoted
to just one. There are also places whose main
Laumeier Sculpture Park: Face of the Earth #3,
natural concrete, gravel, reinforced rods, sod, and earth,
purpose is something other than art—a botanical
by Vito Acconci – photo by Christina Rutz / CC BY
garden, a historic cemetery—but which actively
engage people with their many splendid sculptures. Come wander with us through these galleries
whose walls are the sky, as we travel around Missouri down a statewide sculpture “trail.”
Sculpture Parks on Purpose
From sprawling acres to a skinny sliver, from blocks in the heart of town to the lawns of museums,
these seven parks and gardens have been created with the marriage of art and nature always in mind.
“A cultural landscape”
Laumeier Sculpture Park | St. Louis County
We start our trail with Missouri’s oldest and largest dedicated sculpture park. Laumeier covers 105 acres
in Sunset Hills about 15 miles southwest of downtown St. Louis. The park got its start in 1968 when Matilda
Laumeier bequeathed her 1917 house and surrounding 72 acres to the County in memory of her husband,
Henry. Laumeier was officially incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1977.
Laumeier Sculpture Park has a double
identity. “Laumeier is a County park—
the County owns and maintains the
grounds, and helps us out in many
ways,” said Marilu Knode, the park’s
executive director. “The nonprofit owns
most of the sculptures except for a few
that belong to the County, and we
manage all sculpture-related activities.”
Walking Roots, cast bronze, by Steve Tobin – photo by Dan Coulter / CC BY-NC-SA
Programs include special exhibitions,
tours both self-guided and docent-led,
year-round classes and summer art
camps, and the annual Harvest Festival
in October and Art Fair on Mother’s Day
weekend.
Matilda Laumeier’s Estate House is being renovated into the Family Education Laboratory for Art, and the
new Adam Aronson Fine Arts Center exhibition space is being constructed. Both are slated to open in 2015.
Laumeier’s collection of contemporary sculptures is as diverse as the majestic The Way that has become
an icon not only for the park but the entire region, Robert Chambers’ Sugabus that arranges six tons of
bronze globes into a giant balloon poodle, Niki de Saint Phalle’s
steel and ceramic tile Ricardo Cat, and Mary Miss’ site-specific
Pool Complex: Orchard Valley built in the grounds of an
abandoned 1929 pool. Laumeier commissioned Orchard Valley.
“Experimentation and commissioning new works have always been
at the heart of what we do,” said Marilu.
Placing experimental art in a swath of grass and trees “dismantles
fear,” said Marilu. “People are not at all intimidated at a place like
Laumeier. We’re rough around the edges—we’re a Missouri
woodland, not an imposing edifice. Museums today are grappling
with how to engage with people outside their doors. We don’t have
a problem with that—we are the outdoors!
“We have a very broad audience of about 300,000 visitors each
year. I like to call what we are a cultural landscape. That people
can picnic and walk their dogs here, that kids can run and scream
amid the artwork, is fantastic.”
More about Laumeier Sculpture Park
▪ Open every day except Christmas and the Thursday before the Art Fair,
8 AM–sunset. FREE.
▪ laumeiersculpturepark.org
Treetent, canvas, wood, powdered coated steel,
by Dré Wapenaar – photo by dishfunctional /
CC BY-NC-SA. This is one of the few works at
Laumeier that is meant to be climbed on. “It was
inspired by British activists living in trees to keep
them from being cut down,” said Marilu.
Robert Morris, American, b. 1931. Glass Labyrinth, 2013. Glass, steel, bronze and stone. 50 x 50 x 50 feet
Purchase: acquired through the generosity of the Hall Family Foundation – image by Mark McDonald
“A place of comfort”
Donald J. Hall Sculpture Park
at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art | Kansas City
When William Rockhill Nelson and Mary McAfee Atkins bequeathed their estates to benefit art in Kansas
City, they created a green space so large that “when you fly over the city, it just pops,” said Jan Schall,
Sanders Sosland durator of modern and contemporary art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. In 1989, the
museum developed its 22-acre grounds into a sculpture park.
Landscape architect Dan Kiley and his associate Jacquelin Robertson transformed what had been “just
a lawn with some trees” into a central mall that sweeps from the building’s limestone steps down grassy
terraces. The mall is flanked by shaded groves. “It’s a combination of a classical formal garden in the center
and an English garden on the sides, with undulating pathways, lots of trees and flowering shrubs,” said Jan.
“So there’s room and space, but also a sense
of being nestled within nature.”
Tucked into the landscape are the artworks
that started the park, monumental bronzes by
English sculptor Henry Moore. The bronzes
reigned alone until 1994, when Claes
Oldenburg and Coojse van Bruggen’s
irreverent Shuttlecocks landed on the lawn.
Over the years, other artworks joined in.
In 1999 the Hall Family Foundation made
a major bequest, and in 2013 the park was
named in Donald J. Hall’s honor.
The park’s 36th sculpture, the walk-through
Glass Labyrinth by Kansas City native Robert
Morris, opened on May 22 this year to kick
off the park’s 25th anniversary.
Tony Cragg, English, b. 1949, b. Liverpool, England. Ferryman, 1997.
Bronze, 4 feet 6/18 inches x 5 feet 4 15/16 inches x 8 feet 2 7/16 inches.
Purchase: acquired through the generosity of the Hall Family Foundation.
– image by Bob Greenspan
The museum uses the park for many programs. “For instance, I love the sky, so I initiated stargazing,” Jan
said. “I start the program indoors by talking about the year’s astronomical events and highlighting related
works in our collection. Then we move out on the lawn where the Astronomical Society of Kansas City has
their mega telescope set up. We get great crowds for this event. Families bring their children.”
On the museum’s website, Jan calls the park “a destination for art and cultural activities, the perfect setting
for picnics and photographers, a spot for family fun and pick-up games of football, and an inspiring place to
practice yoga, take a walk, or lie in the sun.” “Our park is two things—a fine arts sculpture park and a place
for people to gather,” she said. “It’s a respite in a busy community. It’s a place of comfort.”
More about the Donald J. Hall Sculpture Park
▪ Open every day during daylight hours. FREE.
▪ nelson-atkins.org
▪ Sculpture Park’s front page including interactive and audio guides to the park’s sculpture, plants, design and more
▪ Family Guides: printable guides to the museum including one for the park
▪ The Shuttlecocks take the starring role in our July 2013 story, Everyday Objects on a Giant Scale Make Playful Art.
Rural retreat
Henry Lay Sculpture Park | Louisiana
In northeast Missouri about five miles
from the Mississippi River town of
Louisiana is a 350-acre nature
preserve maintained by Saint Louis
University. Within the preserve are
the Lay Center for Education & the
Arts, a meeting space, and the
20-acre Henry Lay Sculpture Park.
The rural location makes Henry Lay
unique among Missouri’s sculpture
parks. Louisiana is a small town that
boasts, according to the Department
of Natural Resources, “the most
intact Victorian streetscape in the
state.” With Clarksville and Hannibal,
it forms 50 Miles of Art on Route 79.
To Dance as One, bronze, by Bob Wilfong – photo by Missouri Division of Tourism
The nature preserve was once home to Osage Indians and was resettled in the 1830s by the McElwee
family. A five-mile trail takes visitors through the preserve’s oak/hickory forest, open fields, and lakes. Saint
Louis University School of Law alumnus Henry Lay bought the property that now honors him with its name
in 1996, and his Lay Family Foundation co-funds the Sculpture Park with the University. The Lay Center
and the Sculpture Park opened in 2003.
There is no website about the park, but the Lay Center’s homepage encourages visitors to walk a selfguided tour past the Story Woods children’s sculpture area and more than 20 sculptures by contemporary
artists such as Wendy Klemperer of New York, Bob Wilfong of Nevada, and Bing Cheng of Beijing, China.
More about the Henry Lay Sculpture Park
▪ Open Thursday through Sunday, April–December except during deer season mid-November, 10 a.m.–dusk. Closes for
special events; call 573-754-4726 in advance to ensure the park is open for your visit. FREE.
▪ Homepage of the Lay Center for Education & the Arts
▪ 50 Miles of Art
Downtown playground
Citygarden | St. Louis
“Elegant, unpretentious, friendly, inviting,
whimsical, stunning, and democratic
with a small ‘d’!”
That’s Citygarden, two blocks of lush
plantings, interactive water features, and
24 sculptures in the center of downtown
St. Louis. The joyous string of adjectives
comes from Paul Wagman, a partner
at FleishmanHillard and a Citygarden
spokesperson. “Citygarden is meant to
appeal to everybody,” he said, “and it’s
really succeeded in doing just that.”
Door of Return by Kan Yasuda – photo by MBK (Marjie) / CC BY-NC-SA
A collaboration between the City of St. Louis
and the Gateway Foundation, Citygarden opened in 2009 to raves. Paul said it hasn’t let up. “The park’s
appeal has proved to be so powerful that it still pulls in crowds—even when the Cardinals are not in town!”
Citygarden calls itself not a sculpture park but an “urban oasis.” “For many people I think the sculpture is
a surprise—hopefully a delightful one,” Paul said. “The art is just one of the assets that draw people in.”
Some of the assets that make the
3-acre park “a happening place,”
Paul said, are a restaurant with a floorto-ceiling view, free lunchtime concerts,
the 14-foot video wall whose broadcasts range from activities live in the
garden to the World Cup, and the
Fabulous Flamingo Festival every year
in early September (on the 6th in 2014).
Untitled, painted bronze, by Tom Claasen – photo by Gateway Foundation
Not only gentle touching of the artworks
is allowed, but climbing—on everything.
People splash in the bubblers and
paddle in the reflecting pools. Signs
urge sensible caution, but the only
“do not” sign is “do not feed the birds.”
“We don’t want the garden to feel like a museum,” said Paul. “So much of the art invites being touched.”
Two giant white rabbits have been so popular that they had to be repainted last year. “The kids seem to
think the rabbits are hobby horses,” said Paul. “But who can blame them?”
The park’s playful personality causes people to connect with more than the art. “A line often forms at
sculptures of people who want to have their pictures taken with those pieces, and they start talking with
each other,” Paul said. “People who wouldn’t ordinarily meet. Seniors, children, tourists, St. Louisans.
Citygarden is a natural way for people to interact.”
More about Citygarden
▪ Open every day, sunrise to 10 p.m. FREE. Call 314-241-3337 to arrange for free tours by Gateway Foundation docents.
▪ citygardenstl.org
“At home with art”
Friends’ Sculpture Garden
at the Margaret Harwell Art Museum | Poplar Bluff
The lawns and gardens of a white frame turn-of-the century house in Missouri’s southeastern corner have
been a gracious setting for the city of Poplar Bluff’s art museum since the house was transformed into the
museum in 1981. Now, thanks to grass-roots generosity and grit, the land is a sculpture garden as well.
“Five years ago our Friends support group said,
‘Let’s do it!’ and raised the money,’” said Tina Magill,
Margaret Harwell Art Museum director.
“Sean Shrum, a gentleman who had taken art classes
here as a child, did the plans. We tore down our old
money-pit classroom building. We put in a serpentine
sidewalk to make the garden accessible. We got it all
planted with the help of students from the Sears Youth
Center.” Neighborhood children helped install the first
sculpture, Picasso’s Prodigy by Jim Davidson. “I guess
it was child labor!” said Tina. “But we were a little
scared of putting him out, so we had a pizza party for
the kids and they dug the hole. They thought that was
the coolest thing! We made them the guardians. And
nothing’s ever happened to any of the statues here.”
Poplar Bluff Mule, Osage orange wood, by Rachel Wilson, Avila
.
The Friends’ Sculpture Garden opened in 2010 and now also
includes the bright metal Yellow Guitar by St. Louisan Brother
Mel Meyers; Abstract Variation #73 by St. Louisan Ernst Trova,
donated by Universal Sewing Supply; and a butterfly bench
donated in memory of Georgiabelle Heaton by her husband, Leroy.
The fifth sculpture is also Poplar Bluff Mule, which the museum
commissioned from Rachel Wilson of Avila. Not only is the mule
Missouri’s state animal, it is the Poplar Bluff High School’s mascot.
Wilson sculpts with scavenged branches of hedge wood—Osage
orange, one of the most durable of native trees. “Every other year,
I spray the mule with marine varnish so it keeps its orange-y color,
but that’s about it,” said Tina. “We let the kids ride it.”
The museum has just commissioned its sixth sculpture. “The plans
call for 12 ‘rooms’ so we’ll eventually have 12 works,” said Tina.
“We try to get one a year and to use Missouri artists.”
One of the ways the Friends raise funds is selling bricks, engraved
with the buyer’s message, to outline the serpentine walk. “We get
the bricks from Poplar Bluff Monument Works,” Tina said. “When
we were ready to install the Trova, the guys not only donated a big
piece of granite to put it on but installed it for us. Their kids take art
classes here.”
TOP: The team from Poplar Bluff Monument Works installs Abstract Variation #73,
corten steel by Ernst Trova, St. Louis. BOTTOM: The sculpture in place.
The museum is named for civic leader Margaret Harwell, who left part of her estate to the city to establish
an art center. It is funded half by the City of Poplar Bluff and half by grants and the Friends’ fundraising.
The garden is an ideal site for fundraising parties, Tina said, as well as special events such as the annual
Fall Arts Festival in October. But most important, “we’ll see people just sitting out in the garden on the
benches and enjoying it,” she said. “It’s another way to bring the community here and get them involved
in what we are. We want them to feel at home with art.”
More about the Friends’ Sculpture Garden and the Margaret Harwell Art Museum
▪ The garden is open every day, sunrise to sunset. FREE.
▪ mham.org
▪ We profile the museum’s annual summer Pictures by the People photo competition and exhibit in our July 2012 story,
A Quirky Summer Smorgasbord of Missouri Arts.
Eastern side of the Webster Groves Sculpture Garden: Left, Abstract Variation No. 1 by Ernst Trova, St. Louis; Center, Inflorescence
by Catharine Magel, Webster Groves – photo by Violett Jaeger
Civic gateway
Webster Groves Sculpture Garden | Webster Groves
Along the Pacific Railroad line to the west of St. Louis are towns that grew up in the 19th century and
despite urban sprawl still maintain their rich individual heritage. One of these suburbs, Webster Groves,
is so awash with visual and performing arts that in 2013 the city was the Creative Community of our annual
Missouri Arts Awards. The city’s latest coup, dedicated on May 8, is Missouri’s newest sculpture garden.
The half-acre garden marks the entrance
to the Old Webster commercial district.
The raw material was two long, skinny
triangles flanking the district’s main street.
“When the city’s Arts Commission was
looking at different places where sculptures
could go,” said Parks Manager Shawnell
Faber, “I suggested this little piece.”
The eastern triangle before construction of the garden began
The City Council budgeted funds and hired the local landscape architecture firm SWT Design. The Arts
Commission worked with the designers and sought sculptures. The City established a public art fund, and
the sculptures were acquired through the generosity of several donors (no public funds were used for
purchasing sculptures). Two works by Ernst Trova were loaned long-term by Laumeier Sculpture Park.
Parks & Recreation worked with the construction company Landesign to get the garden built.
“We have a strong horticulture department
and were very involved in the planting
selections to be sure there was interest for
all four seasons,” said Shawnell. “We kept
a lot of the mature trees, protecting them so
they wouldn’t die four years down the road.
The trees give the park a feeling that it’s
been there for a while, not brand-new.”
Jeremiah Wallace of Webster Parks and Recreation helps Inflorescence fly
to her perch in the sculpture garden. To make the work, Sculptor Catharine
Magel covered a welded armature in wire mesh, sprayed it with foam that
she then carved and coated with fiberglass, and imbued the surface with a
sparkling mosaic of ceramic, glass, and mirrored tiles.
Along with the two Trovas, there is
Inflorescence, a people-sized iridescent
bird by Webster resident Catharine Magel.
Other pieces are Beginnings, large clay
eggs by St. Louisan Carol Fleming, and the
wind-powered kinetic Old School by former
St. Louisan Evan Lewis. At least one more
work will be added. “There are lots of
seating walls and benches so people can
come and have their lunch,” said Shawnell.
The garden is sure to play a role in the district’s special events such as the annual Old Webster Jazz &
Blues Festival in September (the 20th in 2014). There are not as yet any plans for events specifically in the
garden, Shawnell said, “but we’d love to do that in future. We see the potential there.”
More about the Webster Groves Sculpture Garden
▪ Open every day. FREE.
▪ Webster Groves welcomes opening of new, whimsical half-acre public park, May 16, 2014, Webster-Kirkwood Times
▪ SWT Design’s garden plan
Path to learning
Above Beyond Sculpture Garden
at James Walker Elementary | Blue Springs
From Laumeier Sculpture Park’s hundred acres, our trail
now reaches a 120-by-14-foot “sliver of land with a world of
potential”—how Greta Hoener describes the Above Beyond
Sculpture Garden that has sprouted at her school.
Greta is the art teacher at James Walker Elementary in the
Kansas City suburb of Blue Springs and the garden’s project
coordinator. “I have always loved public art and am fortunate
to be a member of the Blue Springs Public Art Commission,” she
said. “On the south side of the school there’s a little strip of land
enclosed by a chain link fence. In 2011 when the final paper of
my master’s thesis had to be on something that would impact
kids, I realized this space was perfect for a sculpture garden.”
When Greta proposed her idea, enthusiastic support was
immediate. Students, parents, officials from James Walker
and the Blue Springs School District, and community members
joined in. A construction company donated a winding path.
Sculpture on loan from a former Lexington high
school student, Seth Ritter. “He was very happy to
put one of his first sculptures on public display!”
The District poured pads for sculptures. Parents worked tirelessly on
fundraisers. “It’s been a work in progress, but we have developed a very
cool garden!” Greta said.
Above Beyond now includes five sculptures by regional artists and James
Walker students, perennial plantings, benches, and a donors’ circle for the
engraved bricks that, like at the Margaret Harwell Art Museum, help raise
funds.
Children choose how they arrange
the items at the interactive sculpture.
The garden is divided into six sections so each grade has their own area
to tend and experiment with. “We take the kids out here and they love it so
much,” said Greta. “And it works so well with the curriculum. It’s great for
book reading, math, and science.”
The garden emphasizes sustainability. “Three of our sculptures were made from found or reused items.
We want to put in solar energy for lights and a wind turbine for the water area.”
Money from fundraisers goes to even more than the garden.
In summer 2014, Greta said, “we gave six second-graders
scholarships to go to art classes, kids who would not
normally do this.”
Right now the garden is open only during school hours, but the
ultimate plan is for it to become a truly public garden for everyone
in the city. “We have many dreams,” said Greta. “The sky’s the
limit. We are revved up and ready to go!”
More about the Above Beyond Sculpture Garden
▪ Open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. FREE.
▪ Website to come: The Blue Springs School District website is currently
being revamped, so there is not yet a new link to the Sculpture Garden.
We will post the link as soon as it goes live.
▪ Candy canes for environmentally friendly technology, December 20, 2013,
The Examiner – This article about James Walker students selling candy
canes to raise money for green power to light the garden focuses on the
garden’s eco-friendliness.
A community volunteer tends the garden.
“Our volunteers donate so much time and love.”
One Artist, One Park
A wild man…a construction worker…a monk. Three unconventional Missouri artists are celebrated
in two unusual small sculpture parks and on the grounds of a university.
Reptile rapture
Turtle Playground | St. Louis
Across Highway I-64 from the St. Louis Zoo is a nest of giant concrete reptiles: seven turtles from 7 to 40
feet long, a snake curled around turtle eggs, and a serpent who takes a bite out of the highway overpass.
In 1996, in the words of arts writer Eddie Silva, “artist Bob Cassilly and architect Richard Claybour took
what was little more than unused green space and transformed it into a place where families meet, where
kids play, where people walk, sit, think and admire those grand sculptures.” This metamorphosis of the tiny
City of St. Louis park was made possible by philanthropist Sonya “Sunny” Glassberg, who commissioned
Cassilly and Claybour and
then donated the work to the
City. The turtle play area is
gently complemented by
ordinary jungle gyms and
swings nearby.
Bob Cassilly was a wildly
creative force who until his
death in 2011 made dozens
of sculptures for Missouri,
plus his magical, surreal City
Museum in St. Louis.
More about Bob Cassilly
and Turtle Playground
Snapping turtle by Bob Cassilly – “Evening Turtle Play” photo by Todd Jordan / CC BY-NC-ND
▪ Turtle Playground is open every day, sunrise to 10 p.m. FREE.
▪ We highlight Cassilly’s work in our July 2013 story, Everyday Objects on a Giant Scale Make Playful Art.
▪ Deconstructing Bob Cassilly, January 25, 2012, St. Louis Magazine.
Canine bliss
Ellen Clark Sculpture Park
at Saint Louis University
| St. Louis
Since 2002, a corner lot that bridges the campus of
Saint Louis University and the Grand Center performing
arts district has changed from a hodgepodge of
dilapidated buildings into a park crammed with abstract
metal sculptures in brilliant primary colors. All are the
work of Brother Mel Meyer.
Brother Mel was a member of the Society of Mary from
1947 until he died in 2013 at age 85. From his studio at
suburban St. John Vianney High School, he created
thousands of works in a host of media from metal and
stone to watercolor and fresco. His art is found
throughout Missouri, including the Margaret Harwell
Art Museum Friends’ Sculpture Garden.
Saint Louis University began filling the grassed-over,
fenced-in lot with Brother Mel’s sculptures in 2010.
– © photo courtesy of procrast8
By that time the lot had become a popular spot for
dog lovers to bring their pets to play. Named in honor of the late wife of University trustee Bob Clark,
who herself loved dogs, the park continues to be pet-friendly to this day.
More about Brother Mel Meyer and the Ellen Clark Sculpture Park
▪ SLU sculpture park named one of world’s most amazing, May 8, 2014, SLU news release
▪ Brother Mel Meyer dies, October 15, 2013, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
▪ Dogs commingle with sculptures at St. Louis University dog park, November 9, 2011, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Roadside attraction
Ralph Lanning Sculptures
at Missouri State University | Springfield
In the 1970s a personal sculpture garden
began to unfold along Highway 60 in the
small city of Republic west of Springfield.
Ralph Lanning had spent his working life
in construction. After he retired, he began
making statues of concrete, limestone, or
granite. Over the years he filled the 8-acre
grounds of his home with more than 100
religious images, animals, birds, and
mythical creatures.
Lanning hoped the works would stay
together as a museum, but when he died
in 2009 at age 93 without a will, his
sculptures were auctioned off. However,
with the help of Lanning’s friend, St. Louis
preservationist John Foster, 44 of
Lanning’s sculptures were bought by the
Kohler Foundation, a Wisconsin-based
organization especially dedicated to saving
“outsider” art. The Foundation gave the
sculptures to Missouri State University.
The University has now installed several
works outside its Juanita K. Hammons
Hall for the Performing Arts and in the
butterfly garden by the Meyer Library.
More about Ralph Lanning and his
sculptures at Missouri State University
TOP: Ralph Lanning’s two-headed dragon in Lanning’s yard in Republic –
photo by John Foster
BOTTOM: The dragon and being installed in November 2013 at its new home
in front of the Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts at Missouri
State University. Behind the dragon is another Lanning sculpture.
▪ Lanning Art Installation photo album, MSU Office
of Planning, Design & Construction on Facebook
▪ Saving Lanning Garden, April 21, 2010 – from
John Foster’s blog Accidental Mysteries
▪ TV coverage of the April 9, 2010 auction at
Ralph Lanning’s home sculpture garden
▪ Photographs of Lanning’s home sculpture
garden in a gallery by Grant Groberg
The Others
In September 2012, a surprising series of billboards popped up around the St. Louis area. Each one
featured a single striking photograph, the name “Bellefontaine Cemetery,” and the words “the other”
followed by a reference to a well-known local landmark. “The other” history museum. “The other” walk
of fame. “The other” forest park, botanical garden—and sculpture garden. The wildly successful
campaign masterminded by TOKY to emphasize that the vast and venerable cemetery in the northern
part of the city was one of the region’s great outdoor destinations was the best kind of advertising,
because it was true. Bellefontaine is not the only
outdoor spot in Missouri where sculpture has become
important to the place’s mission even though
sculpture for its own sake is not the place’s reason for
being. We end our trail with visits to four such spots:
Bellefontaine, two botanical gardens, and a city park
that sculpture has altered from empty to attractive.
Billboard by TOKY for Bellefontaine rebranding campaign
Soulful stones
Bellefontaine Cemetery | St. Louis
“Cemeteries are made to be visited—that’s the purpose. That’s why people write beautiful poetry and make
beautiful sculptures, so another human being can come along the next week, or 100 years later, and
experience them,” says Laura Moore, a writer and photographer in Liberty who loves to capture the beauty
of cemeteries. “It’s like being in a gallery. There’s a purpose to the artifacts. A hand-carved rock, a
sculpture, whatever the loved ones put there to communicate with—so to speak—the audience.”
Laura’s reflections perfectly fit
the reawakening that is going
on at Bellefontaine. “We are still
an active cemetery,” said Nancy
Ylvisaker, president of the
Bellefontaine Cemetery
Association, “but we’re also
a wonderful free place where
people can learn about history,
explore an accredited
arboretum, and experience
great architecture and
sculpture.”
The cemetery dates to 1849
and covers 314 acres with
more than 4,000 trees.
– photo by Annie Chartrand / CC BY-NC-ND
Many historically significant
Missourians are buried there, such as explorer William Clark, poet Sara Teasdale, and beer baron
Adolphus Busch. From famous to obscure, they are memorialized with exquisite art in metal and stone.
Since Nancy came on board in 2009, she has been spearheading a master plan to dust off the cemetery’s
assets and make them shine. “We have introduced a whole series of free tours with themes—women’s
historythe Civil War,” she said. “We’ve put together a program of docents and master guides. We’ve
published booklets on various aspects and are working on one about architecture and sculpture. We have
free maps you can pick up at the front office that cover all the notables. We’re doing more and more events,
like concerts at the Hotchkiss Chapel and our very popular ‘Sips, Strolls and Souls’ cocktail evening.”
Nancy finds Bellefontaine to be endlessly inspiring. “All this beauty,” she said. “All these people reaching
down the generations by honoring their families with art.”
More about Bellefontaine Cemetery
▪ Open every day, 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Extended hours for special events. FREE.
▪ bellefontainecemetery.org
Sculpture to the rescue
Sculpture Walk @ Jubilee Park | Springfield
Temporary sculpture walks with artworks loaned by
their creators and installed along urban streets are
popping up around Missouri from Cape Girardeau to
St. Joseph. The twist in Springfield is that the walk is
in a downtown park—a park that before the sculptures
arrived in fall 2013 was having an identity crisis.
“Jubilee Park was an artifact of 1970s urban
redevelopment gone bad,” said Jonathan Gano,
interim co-director of the Springfield Public Works
Department and board president of the Springfield
Regional Art Council.
“Over the years it’s been modified and modified, even
with a road punched right through the middle. It’s not
officially in our park system so it’s an open public
space that doesn’t fit into any category, and it’s
suffered from a lack of attention,” he said. Yet the
park is in a key location, only a block east of the hub
of downtown at Park Central Square. “We knew we
had to do something with it.”
Emmett, metal, by Will Vannerson, Kansas City
A community surge of interest in creating a sculpture
– © photo courtesy of Elizabeth Pruett
walk program provided the answer. “Also, our former
Public Works director, Phil Broyles, was a patron of the arts in what I like to call behind the scenes,”
Jonathan said. Before Broyles died in March, Jonathan said, “he really created a lot of the conditions
that have allowed the flourishing of public art in the Springfield area over the past two years.”
Public Works forged a partnership with the Springfield Art Museum, which is also run by the City, and the
Springfield Regional Arts Council. The six sculptures by local, regional, and Kansas sculptors will stay up at
least through October. “They must go down by April because we’re recruiting a new round,” said Jonathan,
“but if they linger over the winter, I’m not concerned!”
Jonathan is excited about planning for the next installations in
spring 2015. “We have funding set aside and we’re expanding our
partnership to include the Parks Department. We also now have
some grants, so the next round will be supported by more than
public funding,” he said.
The Jubilee Park Sculpture Walk “was mostly a demonstration to
show people what was possible, and the feedback has been
overwhelmingly positive. We’ve had plenty of good press in the
newspapers and websites around Springfield, and lots of
comments from people. The number of pictures geotagged in
Flickr and Facebook has spiked. And that’s in a place where
before, there was nothing there.”
More about the Sculpture Walk @ Jubilee Park
Laminations I, fiberglass, by Jacob Burmond,
Springfield – photo courtesy of the Springfield
Regional Arts Council
▪ Open every day, sunrise to sunset. FREE.
▪ Springfield Regional Arts Council, Sculpture Walk
“To preserve and enrich life”
Missouri Botanical Garden | St. Louis
When in 1851 St. Louis business mogul Henry Shaw began developing the 79 acres around his home into
a botanical garden for all, it was out in the countryside. Now the Missouri Botanical Garden is within the City
limits, surrounded by 1920s bungalows. But walk into the Garden under the vaulted ceiling of the Ridgway
Visitors Center and you still enter the natural world—many worlds, from the Japanese Garden to the
geodesic dome of the Climatron. Sculpture, said Jennifer L. Wolff, manager for interpretation in the
education division, has been part of these worlds from the start.
“Henry Shaw was a sculpture
fan, so our collection began with
him,” Jennifer said. “Juno was
the first.” Shaw commissioned
the marble goddess from Italian
sculptor Carlo Nicoli and set her
up in 1887. “She’s moved
around a lot, but now she is in
the center of the Victorian
Garden at Tower Grove House,
Henry’s country home here.”
After Shaw died in 1889,
sculpture at the Garden “went
into hibernation.” That changed
in 1965 with a temporary
exhibition from the Saint Louis
Art Museum, Washington
Reflecting pool with bronze Angels by Carle Milles, glass Walla Walla Onions by Dale Chihuly,
and the Climatron. The Garden bought the onions during the 2006 Chilhuly exhibit.
University Gallery of Art, and
private collectors. The Garden
now boasts now more than 50 works throughout the grounds and conservatories, from naturalistic to
abstract, small to monumental. Visitors can print out a sculpture mini-tour at the Ridgway Visitors Center.
Over the past several years, the Garden has also had special installations. For instance, in 2006, the
Garden glittered with glass by Dale Chihuly—in 2008, with pop art by Niki de Saint Phalle. In 2012, artisans
from China built giant silk lanterns on site for Lantern Festival: Art by Day, Magic by Night. This summer
through September 7, the Climatron houses the touring LEGO® art that inhabited Kansas City’s botanical
garden, Powell Gardens, last year. The Garden has commissioned an all-new lantern festival for 2015.
“We are not only a garden rich with history but a
cultural destination,” said Jennifer. “So it’s important
for us to connect people with culture and bring them
into the Garden to educate them about our mission:
‘to discover and share knowledge about plants and
their environment in order to preserve and enrich life.’”
More about the Missouri Botanical Garden
▪ Open every day, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Some early morning and
evening walking hours for grounds. General admission,
free–$8. Hours and rates vary during special events.
▪ missouribotanicalgarden.org
▪ Media Fact Page: Sculpture – The website’s press room is
packed with information about the grounds and plants.
Raccoons by Robert Lee Walker. His many small bronze animals
at the Garden are favorites, said Jennifer, with children.
Summertime specials
Powell Gardens | Kingsville
Kansas City’s botanical garden blossoms about 40 miles southeast of downtown. In 2001, Powell added a
new bloom: an annual summer-into-fall exhibit, different every year, of artworks planted all around the 915
acres of display gardens, meadows, and hills.
The art project grew organically, said
Callen Fairchild Zind, director of marketing
and events. “We didn’t set out to make each
year’s exhibit sculpture-related, but that
seems to be the most natural fit,” she said.
The first show in 2001 was David Rogers’
Big Bugs. Recent shows were Fairy Houses
and Forts in 2012 and Nature Connects:
LEGO® Brick Sculptures in 2013.
This year’s exhibit is Gardens Gone Wild:
An Animal Art Adventure, 26 bronze animal
sculptures by Dan Ostermiller. The Powell
Gardens event is a first for the renowned
57-year-old Colorado artist. “He’s never
Bear Pause, bronze, by Dan Ostermiller, at Gardens Gone Wild
before had a chance to display so much of
his work in a public setting,” Callen said. “He told us Powell is a great place to show his work. We are able
to display the animals in their different habitats like wetlands, woodlands, prairie, and savannah”—even
a kitchen garden for Priscilla, a 5-foot-tall hen.
Powell Gardens already had an affectionate connection with Ostermiller. Since the early ‘90s, a pair
of his rabbits, a gift from Marjorie Powell Allen, has snuggled near the entrance to the Island Garden.
Powell always creates special events and educational programs
to tie into the exhibit’s theme. “We like to offer something new
every year that encourages people to come back and experience
the gardens in a different way,” Callen said. “The sculptures are
all different takes, but they all tie back with our own messages:
helping people interact with nature and learn about the
importance of plants in our lives.”
More about Powell Gardens
▪ Open every day except Thanksgiving, Xmas, and New Year’s. May–Sept.
9 a.m.–6 p.m. Oct.–April, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. General admission $4-$10.
▪ powellgardens.org
Close Quarters, bronze, by Dan Ostermiller
▪ Gardens Gone Wild programs and events. The exhibit runs May 31–Oct. 5.
▪ Animal attraction: Giant wildlife sculptures come to Powell Gardens, June 13, 2014, Kansas City Star
▪ We visit the 2012 exhibit, Fairy Houses and Forts, in our July 2012 story, A Quirky Summer Smorgasbord of Missouri Arts.
Photos are courtesy of the organizations featured unless otherwise indicated.
Art Meshes With Nature at Missouri’s Sculpture Parks and Gardens was created in August 2014 for the Missouri Arts Council,
a state agency and division of the Department of Economic Development. The Missouri Arts Council provides grants to
nonprofit organizations that meet our strategic goals of increasing participation in the arts in Missouri, growing Missouri’s
economy using the arts, and strengthening Missouri education through the arts. Contact [email protected].
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Please feel free to share and distribute. Attribution: Courtesy of the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.