The Laumeier Sculpture Park is an open-air art gallery in southwest St. Louis County. It has more than 70 contemporary sculptures by local and international artists. Artwork is arranged throughout 105 acres (42 hectares) of parkland, with walking trails, woods and open fields. An 1816 stone mansion also houses an indoor gallery and a museum shop.
This green space with a twist is divided into seven main outdoor galleries. Start at the Visitor’s Center on the northern end of the park to pick up a map and begin the audio guide. The Museum Shop and indoor gallery are here too. Exhibitions both inside and out change regularly. (Check the website for details.)
Browse through two small outdoor galleries, the Museum Circle and the Northern Grove, on your way in. The Museum Lawn, directly in front of the Visitor Center building, has 14 sculptures. Stop to admire artist Tony Tasset’s distinctive Eye and the massive, steel Bornibus sculpture by American artist Mark di Suvero.
The central gallery, The Way Field, houses Alexander Liberman’s popular sculpture The Way, a collection of steel oil tanks painted cadmium red. There are several woodland galleries where you can meander along clearly marked trails and search out sculptures hidden amongst the trees. Don’t miss the small Children’s Sculpture Garden at the south end of the park.
There are no eateries on the grounds, so pack a lunch or walk to nearby cafés and restaurants.
The outdoor gardens are open year-round from 8 a.m. until sunset. The indoor galleries and shop are open Tuesday through Sunday. Free, docent-led tours are run on the first and third Sundays of each month, spring through fall.
The Laumeier Sculpture Park is located about a half-mile (800-meters) from the Sunset Hills Shopping Mall. Two Metro buses run from downtown to the mall. Admission is free to the park, and there are plenty of parking spaces just inside the main entrance.