Tour Secret Shopper at Laumeier

“Earthmover” by Marie Watt at Laumeier Sculpture Park

This article appeared in the GO! Supplement of the Saint Louis Post Dispatch on Friday August 17, 2018. The writer did not identify herself as a reporter. Needless to say, I felt like I passed the “secret shopper” test after reading it a couple of weeks after the tour I lead was featured in the story.

LAUMEIER SCULPTURE PARK TOURS WHEN 2 p.m. first Sunday of month – WHERE Laumeier Sculture Park, 12580 Rott Road – HOW MUCH $5 – MORE INFO 314-615-5278; laumeiersculpturepark.org

You can walk around Laumeier Sculpture Park for free any day of the week. So is it worth paying $5 for a one-hour tour? A friend and I went to find out. A regular outdoor tour is scheduled at 2 p.m. the first Sunday of every month. (See the park’s website for groups and other tours). Only five tour takers braved the muggy Summer day to walk around the 105-acre park and view many of its 60 pieces of artwork.

Docent Wes Morgan, wearing a Cardinal’s jerseys says he’s been giving tours for years, but he clearly still loves doing it, happily recalling things like who pursued the purchase of many sculptures and how long the pieces have been at the park. We started at the Aronson Fine Arts Center and soon rambled south, stoping at sculptures to learn more about their history, maker and material.

Sculpture Parks’ allure comes not just from how the art is placed in nature, but sheer size of many sculptures, Against a woody backdrop, a giant deer looks lifelike (if in a science fiction movie). A half- buried tire looks like something one might find on a vacant lot. But when Morgan explains how the artist alludes to both Cahokia Mounds and modern technology, the lowly tire acquires gravitas and its placement seems perfect.

A clockwise walk around the park allowed us to take in a great many of the artworks, and Morgan was still headed toward more after the hour was long spent.

Note that much of the walking was over uneven slightly hilly ground; people in wheelchairs might need to ask if the tour could be modified.

Laumeier has excellent signage for its collection so some of what the tour offered could be read on one’s own. What was extremely helpful, though were answers about previous sculptures (some had been on loan and were gone) and tales about how a few have been damaged by weather or vandalism. The tour not only offered more information and background on the artwork, but it also propelled us out of the air-conditioned indoors and to a captivating destination that caters to art-lovers, families, tourists, and even dog walkers. BY JANE HENDERSON