Two of Laumeier Sculpture Park's best-known lost works are back on the Art Hike Trail this fall. Both artists first made them from wood they expected to break down. Ursula von Rydingsvard's carved cedar Untitled came down after the material decomposed. Alison Saar's Leelinau was a figure perched high in a tree, and it was deaccessioned after storm damage in 2015. Both have now returned, one in bronze and one in stainless steel. Until December 13, the park's Aronson Fine Arts Center is also running an archival exhibition about five decades of commissions that are no longer on view.
That overlap lasts about nine more weeks. After it ends, the remakes stay on the trail and the exhibition about lost work closes.
Two works that were meant to disappear
Von Rydingsvard installed Untitled in 1988 and 1989. It was 45 carved cedar chambers shaped like tubs and set out in a grid. Laumeier's page for the new work says she chose materials with a limited shelf life on purpose, because she found beauty in gradual decay. The piece was a longtime public favorite, but decomposition and limited conservation resources finally forced the park to take it off view for good.
Saar's history with the park starts in 1997 with Leelinau. The wooden figure was drawn from the legend of a girl destined to live forever in a sacred wood, and it sat high in a tree. Saar meant for it to decay slowly. A 2015 storm damaged it badly, and Laumeier deaccessioned it.
| Von Rydingsvard | Saar | |
|---|---|---|
| Original work | Untitled, 1988–89 | Leelinau, 1997 |
| Original material | Carved cedar, 45 chambers | Wood, set in a tree |
| What ended it | Decomposition and limited conservation resources | Storm damage in 2015 |
| 2026 version | Begin Again: Untitled, 1989, cast 2026 | Begin Again: Honey Chile' |
| New material | Bronze | Stainless steel with a dark green and brown patina |
| On view | Since August 29 | Opened October 3 |
Each artist built the first version expecting it to wear away over time. This time Laumeier commissioned the replacements in metal.
What stands on the trail now
The two works don't replace the originals one for one. Von Rydingsvard cut her 45 chambers down to a single one, cast it in bronze, and set it in a quiet clearing. Laumeier describes the bronze as carrying "a density and intended permanence," and says the patina was colored carefully to keep the detail of her original wood carving. The park lists it as a permanent addition to its collection.
Saar's new work changes the subject along with the material. Honey Chile' is eight feet tall. It shows a feral child with a honeybee hive tucked into one of the branches growing from her hair, and she holds honey in her hair and hands. She stands on a large stone above the Art Hike Trail and looks toward the creek. Laumeier's page says the patina is meant to blend her into the woods around her.
The Art Hike Trail is 0.77 miles long. It starts from the Lower Entrance parking lots and runs through the Eastern Woodland. Laumeier estimates 45 minutes to walk it. The park is open from 7 a.m. until 30 minutes after sunset. Admission is free all year except for special events, and leashed dogs are allowed in the outdoor galleries. With the October sunsets, the trail closes earlier each week.
Why the curator chose to rebuild
Laumeier calls this 50th-anniversary program the Begin Again series. On its series page, the park says the idea came from curator Dana Turkovic's review of five decades of commissions, many of them "temporary, ephemeral, and no longer on view." Each invited artist had worked with Laumeier before and was asked to revisit a project that had since been decommissioned or no longer existed. The result could be a reinterpretation, a rebuild, or a new work inspired by the original. On the same page, Turkovic explains the thinking:
"This reflection led to a desire to bring some of these projects back to life. Conceptually, Begin Again explores the ephemerality of sculpture, despite its traditional associations with permanence and heavy physical presence."
So the series is about impermanence, and its two outdoor finales are cast in the most permanent materials it uses. In St. Louis Magazine's anniversary arts feature, Turkovic described "hidden histories" and lost works, and sculpture as something dynamic and impermanent. The new bronze and steel keep the memory of what was lost without promising to fade the way the originals did.
The park lists PNC Foundation as the supporter of the von Rydingsvard commission. Saar's commission was made possible by John and Susan Horseman, with support from PNC Foundation. Honey Chile' is the fourth and final piece in the series.
The archive is the half with a closing date
The trail works are permanent. The indoor exhibition is not. Begin Again: 50 Years and Counting has been on view in the Aronson Fine Arts Center since February 7. It covers commissions that are no longer at the park, along with proposals that were never built. It closes on December 13.
The series' other outdoor piece fits the same theme in its own way. Begin Again: Wak'a Garden, by Juan William Chávez and Kiersten Torrez, opened on the South Lawn on April 18. Laumeier describes it as a habitat and teaching garden built from materials reclaimed from the park itself. On St. Louis Public Radio, Turkovic said the garden condenses the park's mission into one small environment. It stays on view through April 15, 2029.
The Aronson's hours change partway through the exhibition's last stretch. Through November 1, it's open Thursday and Friday from noon to 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. From November 5, weekday hours shorten to 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and weekends stay at 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A Thursday or Friday visit late in the day, with time to see both the exhibition and the trail, only works until the end of October.
The fall dates that frame the window
As of October 11, these are the dates that affect a visit to the trail and the archive:
- October 20. Last day for $15 early-bird tickets to Laumeier After Dark. Starting October 21, tickets cost $20 until they sell out. Tickets are sold online only and are required for everyone 2 and older.
- October 24. SunCrest Fest at Kitun Park, 12343 Eddie & Park Road. Sunset Hills and Crestwood have hosted it together since its first year in 2018, with no festival in 2020. The tentative schedule starts with a 10:15 a.m. parade, followed by a car show and trunk-or-treat from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tailgators play from noon to 2 p.m., The Wild HouseKats play from 4 to 6 p.m., and DJ Shaggy Sounds is on all day. Free shuttles run about every 15 minutes from remote lots, including Watson Trail Park and the Sunset Hills Community Center. Details are on suncrestfest.org.
- November 1. Last day of the Aronson Fine Arts Center's longer Thursday and Friday hours.
- November 7. Laumeier After Dark runs from 4 to 10 p.m. with light installations, a local-maker market, food and drink, and The Grooveliner, Lizzie Weber, The Hamilton Band, and Me Like Bees on the main stage. The park is closed to the public from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day for setup. Event parking is free at 3636 South Geyer Road, with ADA-accessible parking at the Lower Entrance. Pets are not allowed, but service dogs are.
- December 13. Last day of Begin Again: 50 Years and Counting.
After Dark on November 7 is a ticketed evening, so it doesn't fit a quiet trail walk. That makes the weekends before it, and the weekends from mid-November to December 13, the best times to see the bronze chamber in its clearing, the steel figure above the creek, and the anniversary exhibition all in one visit.
At Patton Properties, we often help clients decide what to restore, what to rebuild in a more durable form, and what to let go. Laumeier's choices on the Art Hike Trail are a good example of how one place answered that question. If you're weighing the same question about a house in Sunset Hills, Contact Us and we'll talk through it with you.
