Sculptor Bob Cassilly Creates Part Playground, Part Interactive Sculpture, Part Funhouse, And Part Architectural Wonder
To say that American artist and sculptor Bob Cassilly was a unique man would be a bit of an understatement. In the 1970s he made a name for himself in the world of architectural restorations that led to a long career of public commissions but it was an incident that took place on his honeymoon in 1972 that garnered him the most fame. While viewing Michelangelo’s statue, Pietà, in St. Peter’s Basilica, Cassilly witnessed a crazed man rush forward screaming “I am Jesus Christ” as he began to smash the priceless sculpture with a hammer. Cassilly sprang into action, pummeling the man into submission until the authorities arrived to arrest the vandal, later determined to be Laszlo Toth, an Australian geologist with mental health issues. After returning home to the US, Cassilly’s career as a sculptor began to take off in part because of the attention he received as a result of the incident.
By the early 90s Cassilly had grown weary of creating material for other people and began to focus most of his time and energy into an old vacant building in St. Louis he and his wife had purchased a decade before as both a renovation project and as an escape. Constructing in and around what was once the International Shoe Company factory became his hobby and his obsession. Sculptures, installations, and architectural designs were positioned everywhere, with no apparent rhyme or reason, using salvaged and recovered materials all sourced locally. Cassilly was literally building an enormous piece of art out of the scraps of the city of St. Louis.
By 1995 he had given up all other work and spent his waking moments inside this enormous building in the Washington Avenue Loft District, a decrepit area in Downtown West area filled with mostly abandoned industrial buildings. Money was becoming an issue and some sort of income was necessary to keep his obsession alive. In 1997 the Cassillys opened their concrete and steel wonderland to the public and called it the City Museum.
According to Rick Erwin, the Executive Director and resident artist of the City Museum, it all made sense at the time. “Bob was sick of working for other people. He didn’t want to do commissions anymore. He never wanted another boss again.” Erwin claims the seeds for this unique project were sown years before when Bob was a small child growing up in Missouri. “Bob used to sit under the front porch of his parents’ house and listen to the grown-ups talk about their jobs, their mortgages, and things like that,” Erwin says. “Bob knew then that he wanted nothing to do with any of it. He wanted to do something different. While he was under there eavesdropping, he built a tiny city out of sticks, rocks, and scraps. That’s where the original concept came from.”
Today the City Museum hosts nearly one million visitors annually and has been described as part playground, part interactive sculpture, part funhouse, and part architectural wonder. The entire building is a complex of artwork and installations that can be touched, climbed on, walked through, or even slid down. Bits and pieces of airplanes, carnival rides, and bridges snake throughout the complex forming a massive “jungle gym” of salvaged metal, stone, and wood. A series of tunnels leads to a 10-story long slide. A recovered log cabin sits beside the lobby and serves as a café. A small replica train winds throughout the second floor. A circus ring features daily acts and routines. An entire yellow school bus is mounted precariously over the roof’s edge for those bold enough to climb into it. A toddler’s space, restaurants, bars, and even an aquarium are part of the fun. Local beer giant, Anheuser-Busch donated a massive stainless steel coil that used to sit in the tanks to keep the beer cold. Visitors can climb inside it to get from floor to floor.
City Museum has also sparked an amazing resurgence of the Washington Avenue Loft District, which has become home to luxury loft and condominium living spaces, all surrounding Cassilly’s landmark. According to Tony Paraino, Director of Communications for Explore St. Louis, the Visitors and Convention Commission, City Museum is one of the its prized features. “People come back to St. Louis just to visit the museum again and their team of artists are constantly adding things.” Erwin agrees, “We are constantly tinkering. It’s [always] changing”.
In 2000, Bob Cassilly began working on a second art exhibit, Cementland, a 54-acre cement factory he was building into another exhibit. In 2011 he was killed at the site when a bulldozer he was driving rolled down a hill. The visionary artist may be gone but his legacy lives on, not just in the museum itself, but also in the philosophy and aesthetic of its ongoing development.
As Erwin relates, “The beauty of what Bob created is that it has always been an artist driven space. If you have an idea you can take a sledgehammer to it immediately. Wanna knock down a wall? Go ahead. We can always put it back later.” When asked how difficult it is to maintain Bob’s aesthetic now that he’s gone Erwin laughs, “Bob’s aesthetic was ‘Just do what you want to do. If you try to do it the way I want, you’re just going to screw it up.’ We live by that philosophy here.”
Michael Quinn
A graduate of St. Louis University in Communications with a focus in Advertising & Promotions, Michael has worked for Blue Man Group, Oito Zero Oito and Counts Media among others. His interests include DJing and Lawn Mower Disrepair.
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