The Saint Louis Art Museum. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The Saint Louis Art Museum has received a $5 million gift from Barbara Taylor, president of the museum’s Board of Commissioners, and her husband Andy Taylor, chairman of the Missouri-based company Enterprise Holdings. The generous donation will fund a new sculpture garden, marking the end of a phased landscape plan created by Michel Desvigne. Desvigne, a Paris-based landscape architect, crafted the plan as part of a major expansion project at the museum, which included an addition by the British architect David Chipperfield. The Saint Louis Art Museum’s East Building opened to the public in June 2013 and a number of Desvigne’s landscape improvements have already been completed.

Construction is currently underway on the sculpture garden, which is located immediately south of the museum. The garden will feature works from the institution’s collection, including sculptures by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Aristide Maillol, and Mathias Gasteiger, and will complement “Stone Sea,” a massive site-specific commission by British sculptor Andy Goldsworthy. “Stone Sea,” which comprises twenty-five limestone arches densely arranged in the Courtyard adjoining the museum’s Main and East Buildings, was installed in 2012.

In addition to the installation of works from the museum’s holdings, the sculpture garden project will include the planting of 450 new trees and outfitting the outdoor space with lighting, walkways, seating, and water features. the Taylors’ gift will cover the cost of construction, establish an endowment to support future maintenance of the garden, and fund additional outdoor improvements to be determined after the project is completed. Barbara Taylor said, “Andy and I take great pleasure in supporting the Saint Louis Art Museum’s vision of connecting visitors with world-class sculpture in a distinctive way. This new sculpture garden will be a beautiful and significant addition to the Museum.”

Located in the city’s sprawling Forest Park, the Saint Louis Art Museum is one of the country’s most popular cultural institutions, welcoming approximately half a million visitors each year. The museum’s director, Brent R. Benjamin, said, “Barbara and Andy’s generosity will allow the Museum to take works from its collection outside its walls and create a unique and enriching experience of art in nature for our visitors. We are grateful for this generous gift that will connect the Museum with its spectacular Forest Park setting and benefit generations to come.”

The Saint Louis Art Museum’s sculpture garden is slated to open in spring 2015.