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St. Louis Art Museum Builds $5 Million Sculpture Garden

St. Louis Art Museum East Building
Jacob Sharp/Image courtesy of the Saint Louis Art Museum and Architectural Wall Systems

St. Louis Art Museum board member Barbara Taylor and her husband Andrew Taylor, executive chairman of Enterprise Holdings, Inc., recently donated $5 million dollars for a new sculpture garden at the museum. Carl Ham, head of development for the museum, praised the Taylors for their foresight and said the gift would fund both construction and an endowment for maintenance.

“It’s the rare exception and real benefit to organizations when people like the Taylors make a gift that makes possible both,” Ham said.

Garden construction has started that will create a space housing masterworks from the museum’s collections, including sculptures by artists Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Mathias Gasteiger and more.

The garden will display nine sculptures. It will be located on the south side of the museum behind the Andy Goldsworthy sculpture that was commissioned and opened with the museum's addition last year. The museum has been working with the Taylors on the gift for an unspecified amount of time.

“When the Taylor’s generous gift was made, we were able to move right into making it possible,” said Ham

Additionally, the park is expected to incorporate 450 new trees. The landscaping was designed by noted Paris-based architect Michel Desvigne, who has already worked with the museum for the expansion project.