NEWS RELEASES

Laumeier Sculpture Park is pleased to share information about the Park with the media and the public. Please contact communications@laumeier.org with any and all media inquiries.

2024

Laumeier Sculpture Park Announces Spring 2024 exhibition, Hugh Hayden: American Vernacular.
Laumeier Sculpture Park is proud to announce American Vernacular, Hugh Hayden’s first Midwest solo presentation exploring a decade of his work in a variety of mediums including newly commissioned works. The exhibition will be on view Feb. 10 through May 12, 2024, in the Aronson Fine Arts Center’s Whitaker Foundation Gallery and in the Outdoor Galleries, near The Way Field. This exhibition was organized by deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in consultation with Laumeier and will debut at Laumeier before its presentation at any other U.S. venue.

2023

Laumeier Sculpture Park presents Brier Patch by artist Hugh Hayden
Laumeier Sculpture Park is proud to announce the first Midwest presentation of Brier Patch, a sculptural installation by artist Hugh Hayden. The work is on public view from Nov. 6, 2023 through May 12, 2024 in Laumeier’s Outdoor Galleries, near The Way Field.

This artwork is a prelude to Laumeier’s presentation of the exhibition Hugh Hayden: American Vernacular, to take place at Laumeier in the Whitaker Gallery inside the Aronson Fine Arts Center from Feb. 10 through May 12, 2024. This exhibition was organized by deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum and will debut at Laumeier before its presentation at any other U.S. venue. This exhibition is Hayden’s first museum survey exploring a decade of his work in a variety of mediums and includes newly commissioned works.

Laumeier presents first solo museum exhibition for local artist Vaughn Davis Jr.
Laumeier Sculpture Park will present the first solo museum exhibition for St. Louis-based artist Vaughn Davis Jr., titled The Fabric of Our Time. The exhibition will be on view August 26 - December 17, 2023 and will feature recent and newly commissioned paintings, ceramics, and flags. The indoor and outdoor works will be presented in the Aronson Fine Arts Center’s Whitaker Foundation Gallery and in the Park’s Northern Grove.

Vaughn Davis Jr. rips, tears, and drapes pigmented canvases to transcend traditional notions of painting and push them into the realm of shape-shifting objects. His distress of materials refers to daily struggles and social protest, especially for Black and Brown communities. The pieces featured in the exhibition explore Davis’ visual vocabulary of dismantling the picture plane, illustrating the performative nature of painting, and testing its boundaries as moments cross into sculpture. 

Laumeier Sculpture Park presents new sculptural commission of aluminum kites by Visiting Artists In Residence Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis
Pittsburgh-based artists Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis are Laumeier’s 2023 Visiting Artists In Residence, and this collaborative duo utilizes innovative approaches to conceptualism and minimalism to realize their work in sculpture, performance, and multi-media installation. With playfulness and humor, they explore interconnectivity and tension within the human-nature relationship, often with a focus on the balance between the individual and the collective.

For Laumeier, they will create a new work titled A Number of Tragedies (working title), a series of kite-shaped aluminum sculptures embedded in the branches of a grove of persimmon trees in Laumeier’s Way Field. The tangled web of color, shape and string imparts a sense of humor central to Clayton and Lewis’ practice and expresses amusement, creativity, and the intersection between us and the natural world. 

Laumeier’s Largest Sculpture to Undergo its Largest Conservation Ever
At a soaring 100 feet high and a hefty 55 tons, Alexander Liberman’s The Way was the first massive artwork purchased for Laumeier’s collection, and it remains the Park’s largest piece. Over the years, it has become Laumeier’s signature sculpture, a favorite of Park goers, and an icon for the entire region. Made of 18 salvaged steel oil tanks, The Way will undergo its largest restoration in its 40+ year history throughout the spring and summer of 2023.

Laumeier Invites Visitors to Reflect with Narcissus Garden by Celebrated Artist Yayoi Kusama
For the first time ever, a large-scale solo exhibition by world-renowned artist Yayoi Kusama will be presented in St. Louis during Laumeier Sculpture Park’s spring exhibition, Yayoi Kusama: Narcissus Garden. The exhibition will be on view February 11 - May 14, 2023 in the Aronson Fine Arts Center’s Whitaker Foundation Gallery.

Laumeier Announces Overview of 2023 Initiatives
Laumeier Sculpture Park is proud to present a full-slate of exhibitions, educational offerings, public programs, and events in 2023. These initiatives will support the Park’s mission of engaging the community through art and nature as well as their commitment to being a welcoming and inclusive space for creative self-expression, life-long learning, and social gathering. 

2022

Laumeier Explores the Importance of Trees with Fall Exhibition, Forest Through the Trees
Laumeier Sculpture Park will explore the beauty and power of trees as an alluring subject matter for artists through its fall exhibition Forest Through the Trees, on view August 27 – December 11, 2022. This group exhibition presents a selection of artists from St. Louis and around the world whose observations range from representation through landscape to conceptual experimentation where the tree is treated as both subject and object.

As a sculpture park focused on the conversation between art and nature, the works on view operate in harmony with and in reference to Laumeier’s natural landscape, both organic and manicured. Rather than viewed as a backdrop, the tree as a symbol of nature is respected and revered. Each of the artists in the exhibition approach this philosophy with wildly different interpretations. Whether literally carved from a tree trunk, laser cut in miniature, abstracted through painting or recreated with computer data, the artwork celebrates and, in some cases, further complicates our relationship to nature. 

Forest Through the Trees explores themes and topics from the tragedy of massive deforestation to the admiration of a tree’s individual power and magnificence. The exhibition will include sculpture, photography, video, drawings, and performance. It will also incorporate works from Laumeier’s permanent collection. 

Laumeier Honors Missouri Lives Lost Due to COVID-19 with Rose River Memorial Installation
Laumeier Sculpture Park is hosting an opening reception and dedication on Sunday, March 6 for its installation of Rose River Memorial, a grassroots, community art movement led by artist Marcos Lutyens that uses hand-crafted red roses to honor and grieve the many lives lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Laumeier’s installation of the memorial will be located on the outside of the Aronson Fine Arts Center and will reflect on the tens of thousands of lives lost specifically in Missouri. This is the final piece to come on view for Laumeier’s spring exhibition, Salutary Sculpture.

Rose River Memorial was initiated in August 2020 and has since been displayed in cities across the country from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. For an installation in Kansas City during the fall of 2021, Lutyens worked with the Girl Scouts of NE Kansas NW Missouri to create 10,000 roses in partnership with Scraps KC, utilizing upcycled and recycled felt when possible. At the time, this number was an approximate representation of the COVID-19 deaths in Missouri. For Laumeier’s installation, the Park will use the 10,000 roses created in Kansas City and is working with the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri, Perennial STL, and Park visitors to make at least another 6,000 roses out of eco felt, a product made from 100% recycled plastic bottles.

Three St. Louis Arts Organizations to Share Unexpected Multi-Million Dollar Estate Gift 
Three St. Louis nonprofit arts organizations announce that a generous and unexpected gift close to $3 million has been bequeathed by the estate trust of Louetta A. Buechler, a long-time area resident and local artist. 

The three organizations, Craft Alliance, Laumeier Sculpture Park, and St. Louis Artists’ Guild, are the recipients of the bequest and will share the proceeds equally. This is one of the largest individual gifts that each of these organizations has ever received, and it will be distributed in several installments throughout 2022. Buechler, a resident of Manchester, MO passed away December 20, 2020. While she had been a loyal member and supporter of each organization for more than a decade, her generous gift came as an incredible surprise to all three. 

Laumeier Announces 2022 Initiatives, Including a Year-Long Exploration of Health and Wellness
Laumeier Sculpture Park is proud to present a full-slate of exhibitions, public programs, classes, workshops, summer camps, and events in 2022. Many of these initiatives will support the Park’s year-long commitment to promoting health and wellness through art and nature. Recent studies have shown that time spent outdoors and time spent making art can reduce stress and anxiety, improve mood, and have positive impacts on healing and cognitive function. Now two years into a global pandemic, human beings arguably are experiencing heightened need for coping and recovery. This timely and urgent topic will be examined in a myriad of ways and through multiple perspectives.

Laumeier Sculpture Park Explores Art’s Role in Healing with Spring Exhibition, Salutary Sculpture
In the Spring of 2022, Laumeier Sculpture Park will explore themes of healing and wellness through its exhibition Salutary Sculpture, on view February 12 - May 15, 2022 in the Aronson Fine Arts Center’s Whitaker Foundation Gallery. This group exhibition presents a selection of eight artists who explore art’s capacity as a therapeutic tool for adaptation, recovery, and rehabilitation. 

It is well established that art has salutary (“producing a beneficial effect” or “promoting health”) effects, both for makers and for viewers/audiences/participants. The healing of mind, body and spirit permeates this work, not only as subject matter, but as actual practice. Many of the artists gathered came to their current work through a process of their own physical and/or psychic recovery. The exhibition will feature sculpture, photography, video, drawings, and performance. 

2021

Artist Kim Beck Launches New Annual Flag Project at Laumeier Sculpture Park
In August 2021, Laumeier Sculpture Park will debut a new series of flags titled Here, 2021 by Pittsburgh-based artist Kim Beck. The three flags will feature patterns and textures captured from Laumeier’s landscape through the process of rubbings, a technique used to transfer surface texture onto paper. By literally and metaphorically elevating traces of the Park’s organic and built surfaces, Beck’s work will foreground aspects of the Park’s landscape that are often ignored or overlooked. The flags will be on view in Laumeier’s Northern Grove from August 7 – December 19, 2021. 

Laumeier Sculpture Park Announces 2021 Board Changes
New Executive leaders and board members bring national and international thought leadership in building diverse community connections, technology and innovation, and art education
Laumeier Sculpture Park is excited to announce recent changes to its board of directors. This spring, a new board President–Travis Sheridan–and Treasurer–Stephanie Copp Martinez–were elected. They join current Vice President Alison Ferring and Secretary Kerrin Kowach, who were elected in 2016 and 2020 respectively, to create a refreshed Executive Committee for the sculpture park located in St. Louis County. In addition to changes at the Executive Committee level, Laumeier has elected three new members to the board: Amy Hauft, Kelley McCarthy, and Carlos Zamora.

Each of these board leaders brings unique expertise and commitment to supporting Laumeier’s short and long-term goals as outlined in its new 2021-22 strategic plan. Laumeier has launched efforts to make the Park more equitable and inclusive, improve messaging and outreach, and enhance operations for both board and staff. All board members help Laumeier excel at programs and community engagement, and ensure the sustainability of overall organizational health.

Laumeier Sculpture Park Explores Remembrance, Connection, and Strength of Community with Aida Šehović: ŠTO TE NEMA
In the Fall of 2021, Laumeier Sculpture Park will explore themes of collective remembrance, community resilience and healing through its exhibition Aida Šehović: ŠTO TE NEMA, on view September 25 - December 19, 2021 in the Aronson Fine Arts Center’s Whitaker Foundation Gallery. The exhibition is an archive of Bosnian-born artist Aida Šehović’s nomadic monument titled ŠTO TE NEMA (“where have you been” in Bosnian) that honors the victims of the Srebrenica genocide, during which more than 8,372 Muslim men and boys were systematically executed. The exhibition at Laumeier will feature a collection of more than 8,372 fildžani (small porcelain coffee cups) donated by Bosnian families from the diaspora, posters from the project, and a photo installation of the related body of work titled Family Album, 2018.

Meet Laumeier Sculpture Park’s 2021 Visiting Artist, Cultural Thinker, and Community Artists
Laumeier Sculpture Park is thrilled to announce its 2021 In Residence participants: Visiting Artist In Residence Aida Šehović, Cultural Thinker In Residence Elvir Mandžukić, and Community Artists In Residence Alejandro Franco & Kelly Jimenez and Mark Pagano. In Residence programs support Laumeier’s goal of serving as a gathering place for diverse social engagement by bringing other forms of artistic and intellectual practice into the public spaces of the Park.

Laumeier Sculpture Park to Launch Discover Laumeier in April 2021
Discover--or re-discover!--Laumeier Sculpture Park through a new series of day-long celebrations of art and nature called Discover Laumeier. These free, public programs are scheduled to take place in spring, summer and fall, on April 17, June 6, and September 25. Discover Laumeier will feature opportunities for visitors of all ages to create, explore, and discover through art activities, demonstrations, and self-guided scavenger hunts. Discover Laumeier is supported by a grant from the Windgate Foundation.

The first Discover Laumeier program is April 17 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. and will focus on Art and Global Change, a thematic initiative that Laumeier began in 2020 to explore the global impacts of climatic and environmental changes through the lens of contemporary art. Visitors will be encouraged to rethink their habits and help reshape the world by participating in activities that range from upcycled art making to learning about invasive species and the benefits of trees. 

Laumeier Sculpture Park Examines Art and Global Climate Change Through Its 2021 Spring Exhibition 
Laumeier Sculpture Park’s newest exhibition titled The Future is Present: Art and Global Change will examine the intersections between art and some of the world’s most pressing issues: climate change, environmental crisis and the related global repercussions. The Future is Present explores the innovation of artists and their commitment to understanding humankind’s material impact on nature and technology’s role in understanding this global emergency. The exhibition will be on view February 6 - May 9, 2021. 

2020

Keeping Our Artwork Safe, Too: Laumeier Sculpture Park Announces Conservation Projects on Three Major Works
Laumeier Sculpture Park proudly announces conservation projects on three of its outdoor artworks: The Way by Alexander Liberman, Pool Complex: Orchard Valley by Mary Miss and Intricate Wall by Sol LeWitt. Care and conservation are ongoing needs for any art collection, but arguably the most pressing for those that are located in outdoor settings like Laumeier, where works are exposed daily to extremes of temperature and precipitation. 

Newly commissioned project from St. Louis artist brings Augmented Reality to Laumeier Sculpture Park
Van McElwee: Time Fork, a new project made using Augmented and Virtual Reality technology, explores a new dimension at Laumeier via a free, interactive app. Using a phone or tablet, visitors can navigate the natural, physical space of the Park while simultaneously experiencing a digital world of the artist’s imagination. Time Fork runs October 11, 2020 - May 9, 2021 and is one component of Laumeier’s thematic exploration of Art & Global Change.

Laumeier Sculpture Park presents newly commissioned work from Odili Donald Odita
Nigerian-born, Philadelphia-based artist Odita is best known for his use of color in hard-edged, abstract paintings and public art projects. From Periphery to Center will run August 9 - December 20, 2020. This new outdoor exhibition will take the form of colorful flags displayed at two locations – Laumeier Sculpture Park in Sunset Hills, MO and Jeske Sculpture Park in Ferguson, MO.

FOLLIES COME TO LAUMEIER
Laumeier Sculpture Park presents Mark Dion: Follies, an exhibition of five sculptures and one dozen works on paper that present the artist’s fantastical, architectural worlds. Related public programs help visitors explore the artwork’s themes.

The exhibition will be on view from February 15–May 24, 2020. Laumeier Sculpture Park is free and open daily from 8 a.m. until 30 minutes past sunset.