Begin Again: 50 Years and Counting

Laumeier Sculpture Park is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and the center of it all is Begin Again: 50 Years and Counting, which runs from February 7 through December 13 at the Aronson Fine Arts Center. The whole anniversary year is running under the theme 'Where Wander Turns to Wonder,' a nod to the five decades the park has spent bringing art and nature together.

Curator Dana Turkovic put the show together after looking back through the park's history. She found herself drawn to the temporary, ephemeral works that aren't on view anymore, and she's arranged them chronologically by decade. That means you'll see rarely seen drawings, sketches, studies, photographs, and maquettes alongside audio and video. Over its 50 years, the park has supported more than 1,000 artists, including many women and artists of color, and the exhibition leans into that legacy.

Outside the Aronson, the anniversary brings three new outdoor commissions by Juan William Chávez, Ursula von Rydingsvard, and Alison Saar, with Kiersten Torrez as the 2026 Kranzberg Artist. A commemorative publication is due late in the year.

For a bit of context, Laumeier was founded in 1976 on land bequeathed by Matilda Laumeier in memory of her husband, Henry. It was one of the first and largest dedicated sculpture parks in the country, and it's grown into a major St. Louis County destination. Today it spreads more than 70 large-scale outdoor sculptures across 94 acres and draws around 360,000 visitors a year. Begin Again runs through December 13 at the Aronson Fine Arts Center.