Laumeier Sculpture Park is a 105-acre (0.42 km2) open-air museum and sculpture park located in Sunset Hills, Missouri, near St. Louis and is maintained by the St. Louis County Parks and Recreation Department. It houses over 70 outdoor sculptures and features a 1.4-mile (2.3 km) walking trail,[1] outdoor movies, and summer camps.[2] There is also an indoor gallery, an 1816 Tudor stone mansion,[3] which was the former residence of Henry and Matilda Laumeier.[4] Laumeier is accredited by the American Association of Museums. The park sees about 300,000 visitors each year and operates on a $1.5 million budget.[2]
[edit] History
The park was founded in 1968 by a property grant in the will of Matilda C. Laumeier, and was originally intended as a memorial to her deceased husband, Henry H. Laumeier. The will gave their land and country house to the county, and specified that would be used for passive purposes (e.g., no sport fields).[3] The park was 76 acres (0.31 km2) at its opening in 1975, but did not attract many visitors until a year later, when St. Louis sculptor Ernest Trova donated about 40 pieces[5] of his work to the park. It soon became a popular tourist attraction, and received an additional 20 acres (0.081 km2) from the Friends of Laumeier.[4] The additional land was mostly woods and is for sight-specific sculptures, including the Old Orchard Swimming Pool, now also transformed into a large sculpture.[3]
In July 2009, it was announced that Marilu Knode would replace Glen Gentele, who had accepted a position at another museum, as the executive director of the park. She began her tenure in September 2009. Knode was the former head of research at Future Arts Research at Arizona State University.[6] Gentele, who had been the park's director since 2001, replaced Beej Nierengarten-Smith, who had resigned due to a longtime controversy about her management of the park.[7]
[edit] Future
The park has raised $13 million for improvements and a new fine arts center. Pugh + Scarpa Architects, which won the 2010 AIA Architecture Firm Award, will design the building. Construction is expected to begin around 2011–2013.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Jackson, Harry (22 April 2009). "TRAIL OF THE WEEK • LAUMEIER SCULPTURE PARK". St. Louis Post-Dispatch L.L.C. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SL&p_theme=sl&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=127BE248036F6500&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 2010-01-01.
- ^ a b c Keaggy, Diane Toroian (13 December 2009). "New Laumeier director plans to bring new life to sculpture park". St. Louis Post-Dispatch L.L.C. http://m.stltoday.com/STL/db_10958/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=yPNq977N&storycount=39&detailindex=1&pn=1&ps=10&full=true. Retrieved 2010-01-01.
- ^ a b c Nofziger, Fred (20 March 1988). "Laumeier Sculpture Park Is A 'Different' Place To Visit, Enjoy". Toledo Blade, p. E7.
- ^ a b See, Ingram (22 March 1987). "St. Louis Sculpture Park". The New York Times Company. http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/22/travel/st-louis-sculpture-park.html. Retrieved 2010-01-01.
- ^ Bonetti, David (9 March 2009). "Ernest Trova dies at age 82". St. Louis Post-Dispatch L.L.C. http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/culture-club/culture-club/visual-arts/2009/03/ernest-trova-dies/. Retrieved 2010-01-01. [dead link]
- ^ Bonetti, David (13 July 2009). "Laumeier Sculpture Park Appoints New Director". St. Louis Post-Dispatch L.L.C. http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/culture-club/culture-club/2009/07/laumeier-sculpture-park-appoints-new-director/. Retrieved 2010-01-01. [dead link]
- ^ Manning, Margie (27 July 2001). "Gentele named director of Laumeier Sculpture Park". American City Business Journals, Inc. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-77151563/gentele-named-director-laumeier.html. Retrieved 2010-01-01.
[edit] External links
|
|
|
| National |
|
|
| State |
|
|
| Municipal |
|
|
| Private |
|
|
|
|
|
St. Louis
City parks |
Maintained
by city |
|
|
Maintained
by others |
|
|
|
St. Louis
County parks |
| North area |
|
|
| West area |
|
|
| South area |
|
|
|
