Photography by Kate Munsch
In the 1970s, famed sculptor Ernest Trova donated 40 works to St. Louis County, a gift that helped create Laumeier Sculpture Park (laumeiersculpturepark.org). Over the years, as the park’s collection expanded to showcase other artists, many of the Trovas were lent out or put in storage. Some began to deteriorate. Last year, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch questioned the care of the rusting sculptures. In response, the county has promised to restore them, and all of the attention has created renewed interest. Trovas are now on public display across the region, from Webster Groves to Clayton to the Central West End. “This has had exactly the intended benefit that we had hoped for,” says Laumeier executive director Marilu Knode, “which is that new people, new parts of the city see the legacy of Ernest Trova.”
