By Julie Tristan
In July 2019 the Citygarden turned 10 years young! To celebrate, the Gateway Foundation installed three new sculptures.
The Citygarden is known for it’s art, it’s plantings, it’s design and of course as a wonderful place to play and relax! It was created by non-profit group the Gateway Foundation after the then Mayor Francis Slay and St. Louis City approached them with the idea. The city officially owns the land but the Gateway Foundation takes care of everything on it.
“The Citygarden spans 2 blocks from 8th Street to 10th Street and Market to Chestnut” says Paul Wagman, Citygarden Spokesman.
The sculptures in the Citygarden are by world renown artists! Some of the artists that are featured in the Citygarden have also been featured in the biggest art museums around the world.
“You know where else you can find castings like this? The Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Tuileries in Paris,” Wagman explains.
In honor of the 10th anniversary one of the newly installed sculptures is called “Love vs. Money” and it can be found on top of Kaldi’s Coffee in Citygarden. This sculpture is a whimsical figure holding a bag of money in one hand and a heart balloon pulling him up to the sky in the other.
Another new sculpture in the park is called “Moonrise.east.may” by an artist out of New York. This is a smiling figure that is one mask in a series of twelve representing the month of May. Many visitors like to sit on the corner of this sculpture and read!
Finally, the last new sculpture is called “Unzip the Earth” it is right on the ground and it looks like a giant zipper! Visitors have fun pretending to try and pull open the life-sized zipper. It makes for a great picture!
The Citygarden is a fun place for kids and adults alike as there is a pool you are invited to swim in or a water fountain the is a popular place to play.
There are also lunchtime concerts at 11:45am-12:45pm. Along with Free Yoga on special days & more!
There are 24 sculptures to enjoy and many of them you are invited to climb on or climb in. There is even an audio tour you can take via the Citygarden App in the app store, available for free. This app is interactive and has many familiar voices involved talking about each sculpture.
While you are at the garden don’t forget to enjoy the plantings. The plants that were chosen were to help emphasize the four distinct seasons. This beautiful botanical space includes 235 trees representing 20 different species. There’s also 1,170 shrubs, 4,194 perennials, 8,000 bulbs all on 32,000 square feet of lawn.
It’s a place known as a hybrid between a sculpture garden, a botanic garden and a city park. The Citygarden shares the same hours as all parks in the St. Louis Departments of Parks, Recreation and Forestry: Sunrise to 10pm.
If you’d like to visit, the price is easy to pay.
“It actually costs absolutely zero, there is no charge, there are no gates, there are no fences, there are no doors” Wagman says.
So come and enjoy the Citygarden, a jewel in the heart of the city. It’s a gift to all visitors even if you’re not the one having the birthday!
Happy Birthday Citygarden!
