BEGIN AGAIN: 50 YEARS AND COUNTING
February 7 - December 13, 2026 / Aronson Fine Arts Center
Curated by Dana Turkovic, Laumeier Curator
Begin Again: 50 Years and Counting is an indoor exhibition marking five decades of artist commissions and exhibitions at Laumeier Sculpture Park. On view February 7–December 13, 2026, the exhibition features hundreds of artists and rarely seen works from Laumeier’s collection. It revisits artworks from the Park’s past that have come and gone, while reflecting on Laumeier’s long-standing and evolving relationship with artists and the natural environment.
Rather than presenting a comprehensive retrospective, the exhibition embraces change as a guiding curatorial principle. Drawing on the idea of “hidden histories,” Begin Again unfolds as a series of “ghost stories” that recall now-lost works and reveal how, since its founding, Laumeier has approached sculpture as dynamic and sometimes impermanent - challenging the common perception of sculpture parks as fixed and unchanging.
Drawn from Laumeier’s archives, the exhibition features rarely seen drawings, sketches, studies, photographs, sculptural models, and maquettes that illuminate the creative processes behind temporary, ephemeral, and decommissioned works. Together, these materials present a selection of projects from Laumeier’s 50-year history (1976–2026) that are no longer present in the Park, as well as proposals that were never fully realized.
Begin Again celebrates the remarkably diverse group of artists who have shaped Laumeier over the past half-century. Through its exhibition program, Laumeier has supported more than 1,000 artists, including many women and artists of color at various stages of their careers, reflecting a sustained commitment to a broad range of voices and perspectives.
Arranged chronologically by decade, the exhibition invites visitors to move metaphorically through time, wandering through the Park’s history. Through archival materials, audio and video elements, and artist insights, Begin Again highlights Laumeier’s unique position at the intersection of public art, contemporary museum practice, and nature.
While celebrating this milestone, the exhibition also reveals the complexity of curating public artworks in a park setting. Throughout the show, visitors are invited to reconsider and share their memories around what makes Laumeier a unique place that has inspired curiosity and wonder for more than 50 years.
Join us on February 7 for the Exhibition Opening + Art & Nature Day
Celebrate the opening of Begin Again: 50 Years and Counting and the reopening of the Aronson Fine Arts Center. The day features a gallery talk with Curator Dana Turkovic, family-friendly puppet-making with members from the Puppet Guild of Greater St. Louis, and hands-on activities in the interactive Family Play Space.
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Cildo Meireles, Proposal Drawing for Two Trees, 1995. Colored pencil on paper. Laumeier Sculpture Park Collection. / Alice Aycock, Hundred Small Rooms, 1984. Black and white photograph. Laumeier Sculpture Park Collection. / Meg Webster, Proposal Drawing for Pass, 1991. Graphite and colored pencil on tracing paper. Laumeier Sculpture Park Collection. / Bernard Williams, Empire Flight, 2013 (de-installed 2014). Color photograph. Laumeier Sculpture Park Commission, photo archive. / Ernest Trova. Photo of the artist in his studio, ca. 1977. Black and white photograph. Laumeier Sculpture Park Collection.
Laumeier Sculpture Park’s ongoing operations and programs are generously supported by St. Louis County Parks and Recreation; with support from the Regional Arts Commission; Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; this project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; among other corporations, foundations, individual donors and members.
2026 Exhibitions are supported by Whitaker Foundation, Ken and Nancy Kranzberg, Joan and Mitchell Markow and Two Sister’s Foundation, Emily Rauh Pulitzer, and Mary Ann and Andy Srenco.
Begin Again: 50 Years and Counting is supported by Terra Foundation for American Art and Henry Luce Foundation.