City Garden- October 18

The city of St.Louis is finally getting some sparkle to its downtown. In our touring around John and I have found cities with downtown areas which are pleasant to visit. By that I mean city centers with shops,restaurants,gardens and museums all within an easy stroll of each other.These city centers are always bustling with people;its own citizens as well as tourists. The streets of downtown St.Louis have for many years been very bleak-looking and devoid of people(except for the Arch and the grounds surrounding it). This year St.Louis built the City Garden,which is in the heart of its downtown. Once we heard of its existence we had to see it. The park is described as "an urban oasis featuring modern and contemporary sculptures,lush landscape, reflecting pools,a cafe and a playful spray plaza". I have posted here some pictures which I took while there. Looking east from the garden is a wonderful view of the Arch and courthouse. We enjoyed viewing the sculptures;I have posted a couple of them here. The one of the rabbits is an attempt of the artist(Tom Classen)to bring sculptures down to earth,so they have been placed directly on the ground. The other sculpture has the title "Eros Bound". With this sculpture the artist Igor Mitoraj used as his inspiration the ancient relics of Greek and Roman mythology. Eros is the Greek god of love and desire. The bandages which cover his eyes and mouth suggest that desires and ideas have been imprisoned- the bandages also symbolize two opposing views of the world;either civilization is broken beyond repair or that it is being held together despite destructive forces. No,I am not all that erudite to figure that out on my own,there is a container of brochures in the park which explains the art work of the garden. Anyway,if you live near the St.Louis area,come on downtown and check this jewel out. What also thrilled me about this park was that there were quite a few folk strolling through it,despite the chilly weather.