BEGIN AGAIN: 50 YEARS AND COUNTING
February 7–December 13, 2026/ Aronson Fine Arts Center
Curated by Dana Turkovic
Begin Again: 50 Years and Counting marks Laumeier’s 50th anniversary by celebrating five decades of artist commissions and exhibitions. Featuring hundreds of artists and rarely seen works from Laumeier’s collection, the exhibition highlights the Park’s unique position at the intersection of public art, contemporary museum practice, and the natural world.
Centering on artworks that have come and gone and proposals that were never fully realized, the exhibition embraces change and impermanence, emphasizing sculpture and sculpture parks are dynamic and ephemeral rather than fixed and unchanging. It also honors the many artists and commissions Laumeier has supported, showcasing its long-standing and evolving relationship with artists and the natural environment, while also acknowledging the complexity of curating public artworks in an outdoor setting.
Featuring materials drawn from Laumeier’s collections and archives, Begin Again presents rarely seen drawings, sketches, studies, photographs, sculptural models, and maquettes that illuminate the creative processes. Audio and video elements further amplify artists’ voices and insights. Arranged chronologically by decade, the exhibition invites visitors to move metaphorically through time, wandering through the Park’s history.
Over 50 years, Laumeier has supported more than 1,000 artists, including many women and artists of color at various stages of their careers. This presentation celebrates the remarkably diverse group who have shaped Laumeier, reflecting a sustained commitment to a broad range of voices and perspectives.
Throughout the show, visitors are invited to reconsider and share their memories around what makes Laumeier a unique place that has inspired curiosity and wonder for more than 50 years. We invite you to share your memories through Laumeier Stories, our digital storytelling project.
EXHIBITION OPENING + ART & NATURE DAY
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7 / FREE
Celebrate the opening of Begin Again: 50 Years and Counting and the reopening of the Aronson Fine Arts Center. The day features a gallery talk with Curator Dana Turkovic, family-friendly puppet-making with members from the Puppet Guild of Greater St. Louis, and hands-on activities in the interactive Family Play Space.
OPENING DAY SCHEDULE:
10 a.m.–4 p.m. / Exhibition Opening / Aronson Fine Arts Center
Celebrate the opening of Begin Again: 50 Years and Counting.
11 a.m.–2 p.m. / Drop-In Puppet Making Workshop/ Kranzberg Education Lab
Create your own unique puppet alongside members from the Puppet Guild of Greater St. Louis! Families and friends can connect while learning about Laumeier’s history with puppetry arts.
11 a.m.–2 p.m. / Family Play Space / Kranzberg Education Lab
Come play with us! Stop by our Family Play Space to explore loose parts play activities, hop across colorful steppingstones, and enjoy open-ended creative play for all ages.
12–12:30 p.m. / Gallery Talk / Aronson Fine Ars Center
Join Curator Dana Turkovic at noon as she provides insight into Begin Again: 50 Years and Counting.
1–2 p.m. / Interactive Indoor Gallery Tour / Aronson Fine Ars Center
All ages are invited to investigate selected works from Begin Again: 50 Years and Counting through hands-on activities, alongside Laumeier’s education team.
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“This exhibition is filled with the wonderful world of Laumeier, packed with the history of the artists and their ideas that we have had the pleasure to work with in our 50 years. The Park has been a place to share creativity in all its forms with our community. In reviewing our five decades so closely, I see the cumulative impact that our exhibitions and programs have had to our visitors. While this particular exhibition dials into those pieces we can’t experience now, it does demonstrate that when sculpture and nature meet in this way it creates a bond with the organization, the people who come to the Park and the environment.“ Dana Turkovic, Curator”
Cildo Meireles, Proposal Drawing for Two Trees, 1995. Colored pencil on paper. Laumeier Sculpture Park Collection.
Alice Aycock, Hundred Small Rooms, 1984. Black and white photograph. Laumeier Sculpture Park Collection.
Meg Webster, Proposal Drawing for Pass, 1991. Graphite and colored pencil on tracing paper. Laumeier Sculpture Park Collection.
Meg Webster, Pass, 1991. Laumeier Sculpture Park Collection. / Ernest Trova. Photo of the artist in his studio, ca. 1977. Black and white photograph. Laumeier Sculpture Park Collection.
Bernard Williams, Empire Flight, 2013 (de-installed 2014). Color photograph. Laumeier Sculpture Park Commission, photo archive.
Andy Goldworthy installing Laumeier Cairn, 1994. Laumeier Sculpture Park Photo Archive.
Susan Crowder, Formal Garden, Study for Hedges, 1992. Charcoal on paper. Laumeier Sculpture Park Collection.
Laumeier Sculpture Park’s ongoing operations and programs are generously supported by St. Louis County Parks and Recreation; with support from the Regional Arts Commission; Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; this project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; among other corporations, foundations, individual donors and members.
2026 Exhibitions are supported by Whitaker Foundation, Ken and Nancy Kranzberg, Joan and Mitchell Markow and Two Sister’s Foundation, Emily Rauh Pulitzer, and Mary Ann and Andy Srenco.
Begin Again: 50 Years and Counting is supported by Terra Foundation for American Art and Henry Luce Foundation.
