Serra Sculpture Park

Serra Sculpture Park is a 1.14-acre urban park located in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. The park occupies a single city block bounded by 10th, 11th, Market, and Chestnut Streets along the Gateway Mall. It was established in 1981 and is named after the artist Richard Serra.

The park's main feature is Serra's site-specific sculpture titled "Twain." Completed in 1982, this large-scale minimalist artwork consists of eight separate Cor-Ten steel panels. Seven of these panels are 40 feet long, while one measures 50 feet in length. The steel plates are arranged to form an irregular, four-sided space that, when viewed from above, resembles a warped triangle pointing towards the Gateway Arch.

The ground within the park subtly slopes towards the southeast, mirroring the natural grade of the Missouri Plateau as it descends towards the Mississippi River. Despite this slope, the tops of the steel panels are uniformly level, resulting in varying heights above ground - from nine feet at the northwest end to five and a half feet at the eastern edge.

Visitors can walk through two-foot gaps between the steel panels, which frame views of the surrounding urban landscape and the park's trees. The park features several species of trees, including pin oaks, scarlet oaks, red maples, and sycamores, planted to the north and south of the sculpture.

Serra Sculpture Park was designed without designated pathways, encouraging visitors to freely explore the space. This design choice reflects Serra's intention for the public to interact with the artwork and its environment in an unstructured manner.