downtown | Restoration work has begun on “Twain,” the ever-controversial Richard Serra sculpture that has had us all hot and bothered since it was installed in 1982 in a grassy area at 11th and Market, just east of the Carnahan Courthouse. Serra intended it as a piece to be ‘experienced’ by walking through the eight vertical, rectangular steel panels several times to get different views of downtown and the Gateway Arch. But it’s been a magnet for hooligans who fashion themselves as graffiti artists. Graffiti goes up; city workers try to take it down. It’s not easy to eliminate such paint from the surface, however, because Cor-Ten steel is designed to rust, and evidence of previous spot cleaning attempts are obvious from the squiggles of older graffiti that remain. A fence has been erected surrounding “Twain” to keep it secure as restoration proceeds, and the city has not said when the process is expected to be complete. It’s been said by pundits of all stripes that part of our civic pride is loving to hate the challenging work of abstract art, and many criticize it for not being their sense of what a ‘monument’ should look like. It hasn’t settled into public acceptance more than four decades later. Some people see it as bold, thoughtful art, others see it as confusing, ugly or impractical, and a lot of us fall somewhere in between. One thing for certain, we’re afraid: As soon as the protective fence is dismantled, would-be artists will stop shaking their spray-paint cans and get busy defacing—or enhancing—“Twain,” depending on their viewpoint. And yours.
the metro
A month remains to enter the county library’s ‘Design a Bookmark’ contest. Keeping the theme ‘Out of This World’ in mind, original designs from younger patrons, 6 to 17 years of age, will be accepted through July 11. Each entrant or parent/guardian must have a county library card. Entrants are limited to one entry or they will be disqualified. Winners will be chosen in four age brackets: 6-8, 9-11, 12-14, and 15-17. The three bookmarks pictured are samples of last year’s winners from different age groups. This year’s winners will be notified by Aug. 7. Then, it really gets exciting! The winning bookmarks will be professionally printed and distributed to all branches in the fall. No electronic entries will be accepted. All branches have the templates and entry forms on hand, or they may be downloaded at slcl.org/events-classes. So, entrants must visit a branch at least once, to drop off their entry form and fabulous, creatively designed bookmark. Of course, you need to visit your convenient library branch more often, to see all the neat stuff that’s there nowadays—maybe even pick up a few bookmarks!
frontenac
Abigail Adams was a feminist long before that was even a thing. First Lady of John Adams, our second president, and mother of our sixth, John Quincy Adams, Abigail was indeed a force of nature, perhaps before that was even written down as a literary concept. She was a nation-builder as much as John and John Quincy were, keeping the home fire burning while John was away signing declarations and seeking help from the French against our British oppressors, among other things critical to the difficult birth of our nation. Much has been written and produced recently that gives Abigail her props, notably the David McCullough biography and Tom Hanks miniseries. But a historical novel by Laura Jamoie, co-written with Stephanie Dray, adds even more detail to those amazing portrayals featuring Abigail as a prime mover and chief confidante to our second president, famously encouraging him to “remember the ladies” during his administration, and beyond, when he was minister to Great Britain. Jamoie will present her book A Founding Mother: A Novel of Abigail Adams at the Clark Family Branch of St. Louis County Library at 7 p.m. on June 22. The event, sponsored in part by the Missouri Historical Society as part of an America 250 Celebration, is free. Jamoie apparently shares many of Abigail’s key characteristics, such as being unafraid to speak her mind: She holds a doctorate in early American history and with Dray has written two other historical novels (America’s First Daughter, about Thomas Jefferson’s eldest daughter, Patsy, and My Dear Hamilton), as well as two nonfiction books about early America. Abigail Adams seems at least as consequential as Eleanor Roosevelt, who, despite his infidelity, helped FDR navigate the Great Depression and World War II. The Clark Family Branch of SLCL is directly across Lindbergh Boulevard from Plaza Frontenac.
notable neighbors
webster groves
It has been said, “Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” Sam Zeller wished he’d known what to say and how to say it when he last saw his twin brother, Jake. It was Thanksgiving 2013, just days before ‘Jakey’ killed himself on Dec. 8. He and their parents had traveled to Oklahoma City because they could sense something was amiss, but Jake seemed like his old self over the holiday weekend, even inviting Sam to accompany him on his rounds as a rep for Anheuser-Busch. They had no idea he was despondent over the stress of his first big job after college, living in a new town away from his family and circle of friends, especially his twin brother. “I could sense his mood Friday,” says Sam, figuring it had something to do with separation anxiety. “Yeah, there was culture shock. But I just got mad, which was absolutely the opposite way I should have reacted.” Sam had no way of knowing Jake’s depths of despair between then and Dec. 8—the longest day of Sam’s life. It took forever to find out from the police what had happened, after acquaintances at the apartment complex first notified Sam that something was amiss. When the police detective did finally reach Sam in St. Louis, he asked to speak to his father, who helped with what to say when anyone asked what happened: “Tell them. Talk about it.” That laid the foundation for the Team Jakey Foundation. On the back of Sam’s business card and that of the foundation’s executive director, Logan Janis, are the words “End the Stigma: Your Mental Health Matters” along with the three-digit national emergency suicide hotline, 988. With all this heavy stuff in mind, Team Jakey gets the word out by having fun and by producing casual get-togethers. Sam and the extended Zeller family channeled their grief into action, action and more action. It all started with a simple cornhole tournament. At this, Janis rolls his eyes. “I was tricked!” says the veteran podcaster. “What got me involved was cornhole—and beer.” A fan of superheroes, brews and maker of friends, Janis would surely label Sam a superhero, and vice-versa. Not insignificantly, laughter soothes the souls of both these young men and their growing circle of supporters. And if you can’t laugh at cornhole, my goodness, you have no sense of humor. Sam works as a CPA for a metro construction company. Before that, he had just started with Rubin Brown when tragedy struck. The big firm allowed him all the time he needed to get back on his feet. He will be forever grateful. But a CPA with a sense of humor? A friend of Team Jakey put it this way, Sam admits: “You used to not be funny, but now you’re funny, like Jake.” The seriousness of their cause, however, is reflected by the $500,000 raised so far to prevent suicide, much of it donated to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and the lion’s share to Provident Counseling, a mental-health provider that Team Jakey is proud to have as partners because of their emphasis on accessibility and affordability. Pitch in at teamjakey.org.
