Landscape Information
When Matilda Laumeier bequeathed her 72-acre estate, situated in the southwestern St. Louis suburb of Sunset Hills, to St. Louis County in 1968, she hoped not only to honor the memory of her late husband, Henry Laumeier, but to preserve the general character of the property. She was adamant that the grounds would remain intact, and not be converted to playfields. In 1975 local artist Ernest Trova donated 40 sculptures to the county and the property was chosen as the ideal site to display the works. Trova, along with the county’s landscape architect, Armand Brunet, installed the sculptures and the park was dedicated in 1976. Now encompassing 105 acres, the sculpture park presents approximately 70 pieces of large-scale modern and contemporary work. Expansive lawns dotted with specimen trees and sculptures extend south past a group of buildings (both historic and contemporary) clustered near the main entrance. Pedestrians circulate through mowed fields either by following a central, paved, curvilinear path or by wandering across expanses of grass, freely moving from one sculpture to another. To the east, a patch of second growth forest helps screen the curated fields not just from the suburban residences beyond, but from two major highways that converge less than a mile away. A winding, unpaved path traverses the woodland, showcasing sculptures intermittently placed along its edge, while bringing visitors to room-like clearings, each respectively populated with artwork. In the easternmost clearing, visitors come upon a site-specific sculpture by the land art pioneer, Mary Miss. The sculpture, intended to be walked upon, consists of wooden pavilions, platforms, and staircases that both reference and incorporate the historical ruins of a former estate found on site. Other notable site-specific sculptures that blend the boundaries between landscape and sculpture include Beverly Pepper’s earthwork, Cromlech Glen; Frances Whitehead’s Hortus Obscurus (The Dark Garden); Dan Graham’s Triangular Bridge Over Water; and Jessica Stockholder’s Flooded Chambers Maid, among others.
