Expansion Column - St. Louis, MO - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

Expansion Column is a 22 foot tall welded bronze cor-ten steel sculpture. It depicts just that. It looks like a regular column at the base with the top half going off in all directions. The plaque at the base of the column reads:

EXPANSION COLUMN 1991

Richard Hunt (b. 1935) American

welded bronze


The Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis website (visit link) relates the following about the column at it's creator:

"Expansion Column, a massive bronze tower, got off to a bad start by falling off the crane as it was being loaded onto the truck in Chicago for its move to the plaza at United Missouri Bank in downtown St. Louis. The work arrived, unharmed, the next day. The sculpture symbolizes the growth and unity within the community that refers to the bank's increasing presence in St. Louis.

Hunt, who took his first drawing class at age 10, was more interested in sculpture from the very beginning. His first sculpture, done while he was still a student, was bought by the Museum of Modern Art. The purchase made the young African-American artist famous. By the time he was 36, the New York museum mounted a retrospective of his work."

The sculpture dimensions are 22 feet high and 2 feet in diameter; The base is approximately 1 ft. 7 in. x 3 ft. 9 in. x 3 ft. 9 in.; and it weighs 3,000 lbs. It is situated in the United Missouri Bank Plaza, located at Market Street at 4th Street.

TITLE: Expansion Column ARTIST(S): Richard Hunt DATE: 1/15/1991 MEDIUM: Welded Bronze and Cor-Ten Steel CONTROL NUMBER: IAS MO000005 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: Market St at 4th St Saint Louis, MO 63101 DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: None

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Date Logged Log   10/06/2018 The Snowdog wrote comment for it 04/28/2012 Chasing Blue Sky visited it

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