On Friday, April 3, the community gathered for the official opening of Everything Under the Sun, a public art project supported by the Sam Fox School, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, and Kranzberg Arts Foundation through the Design Opening initiative, which supports art and design projects and installations in the Covenant Blu/Grand Center neighborhood.
The evening celebrating creativity, collaboration, and community included a talk by designer Jonathan Stitelman; MIDI: A Live Beats experience by K Kudda Muzic, curated by Mvstermind in collaboration with local producers; hands-on art making with the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis Resident Teaching Artist and more.
Everything Under the Sun is a large-scale steel sculpture installed in a KAF-owned lot at the intersection of Delmar Boulevard and Leonard Avenue, at the northeastern edge of the Grand Center Arts District. St. Louis has a distinctive street grid: a patchwork of orientations leading to the Mississippi River that bends around us. The resultant east-to-west-ish orientation is very much like the path of the sun.
This new sculpture and space invites visitors to observe and enjoy the relationship of the sun to the city and the relationship of the city to itself. It provides an opportunity to slow down, take a moment to orient oneself to something bigger, and watch the city change as the sun moves across the sky. At sunset on April 18 and August 24, the sun will align with the narrow gaps between the tines of the sculpture. The same will be true at sunrise on February 16 and October 25.
The project was conceived by Jonathan Stitelman, senior lecturer in architecture and urban design, who led a team including Becca Leffell Koren, senior lecturer in communication design; Max Bemberg, project architect; RJ Hartbeck, photographer and storyteller; Josh Levi, sound design lead; and Chris McCrossan of Trocofab.
“KAF was pleased to offer this piece of land to the Design Openings initiative and we are thrilled to have this new public art installation that can be enjoyed by all in the district,” said KAF Executive Director Chris Hansen. “This project is a testament to the spirit of collaboration that elevates our entire community.”
Photo Credit: R.J. Hartbeck
