To kick off 2019 and jump start my commitment to share my photography on a broader scale, I joined a photography group for a New Years Day walk through parts of Forest Park. The park opened in 1878 and today is one of the largest urban parks in the country---its 1,300 acres make it bigger than New York City's Central Park.

 

The walk started at the top of Art Hill overlooking Emerson Grand Basin, the former scenic center of the 1904 World's Fair and then surrounded with plaster palaces, the only of which remain is the Saint Louis Art Museum building.

 

The iconic Apotheosis of St. Louis is a bronze replica of the plaster statue displayed at the World's Fair and was a gift from the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company presented to the city of St. Louis. Until the Gateway Arch was completed and dedicated as the symbol of St. Louis, this statue held that honor from 1906-1965.

 

Behind the Art Museum is the 60-acre John F. Kennedy Memorial Forest, crisscrossed with paved and dirt paths and home to hundreds of year-round and migratory bird species. Nearby, a native plant restoration area provides visitors with a glimpse into the historic savanna that once covered the St. Louis region.