Visit the Brick Mural

Tucker Theater's 15' x 45' brick mural facade is one of the most popular exhibits at Gateway Arch National Park. The sculpture commemorates the men and women who made the Gateway Arch a reality and compliments the theme of the 1967 Academy Award-nominated documentary showing in the theater, "Monument to the Dream." In the center of the mural, a thirteen-foot scale model of the Arch on the final day of construction was fabricated out of the same grade of steel as the arch itself. Clustered around the outer edge of the arch are scenes of the construction and craftsmen who risked their lives to make it a reality. One of these vignettes features LeRoy Brown and Harry Pfanz, in National Park Service uniforms, loooking at landscape plans for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. To each side of the arch are famous landmarks and memorials administered by the National Park Service in many regions of the United States, all carved to the same scale as the Arch model for height comparison. These include: Coast Redwoods (CA, 365'); Giant Sequoia (CA, 310'); Statue of Liberty (NY, 305'); Rainbow Bridge (UT, 290'); Mt. Rushmore (SD, 465'); U.S.S. Constitution (MA, 200'); and the Washington Monument (DC, 555'). Artist Jay Tschetter of Lincoln, Nebraska, began his career as a bricklayer, then moved into scrimshaw (carving on ivory). Then, inspired by a picture of a carved bas-relief on brick, he transitioned into brick murals. Tschetter started with fireplace mantles, but, eager to work in a larger format, soon produced murals for the City of Lincoln, Nebraska and other clients. For the Tucker Theater mural, Jay's brother Dean acted as principal designer. The craft of brick sculpting began in the days of the ancient Babylonians, but it is not frequently practiced today. Wet, unfired bricks are set up on a large easel, where they are sculpted and carved with highlights and relief. The bricks are kept wet during the carving and are carefully covered with plastic at night so they retain moisture. Once sculpting is complete, the bricks are numbered, then taken down and put on a drying rack for two weeks. Individual bricks are run through a dryer for one week at 200 degrees F, followed by a baking process in a tunnel kiln at 2,100 degrees F. After firing, the bricks are reassembled with mortar. The Tucker Theater mural took two months to carve and is composed of 2,500 total bricks. It was dedicated on June 26, 1998, before a gathering of friends, family, and descendants of the people depicted in it. Two of the four surviving figures attended, as did several of the workmen who used their skills to build this unique structure. This commissioned work of art has assisted in interpreting the importance, grandeur, and history of the Gateway Arch for millions of visitors. The following people are represented on the mural: Eero Saarinen, the world-renowned architect who designed the arch. Born in Finland in 1910, he grew up in a household where art was taken very seriously. In 1924 the Saarinens emigrated to Michigan. Eero graduated from the Yale School of Architecture in 1934 and worked as his father's partner at the Cranbook Institute of Art and Design. The arch design was the first of many triumphs. He also designed the TWA Terminal in New York City, Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Embassy in London, CBS Headquarters in New York, Ingalls Hockey Rink at Yale University, and the John Deere Headquarters in Moline, Illinois. Saarinen died of a brain tumor at the age of 51, in 1961. Luther Ely Smith, the lawyer and self-proclaimed "do-gooder" who first proposed the idea for a monument to St. Louis's role in westward expansion. Smith was born near Chicago and attended law school in Washington University in St. Louis, graduating in 1897. He served as a volunteer officer in both the Spanish-American War and World War I. He embarked on a lifelong campaign of public service to his community, working on the creation of Memorial Plaza, smoke elimination, slum clearance, conservation, and public arts (he created the Pageant-Masque performed on Art Hill in Forest Park. From this event the Municipal Opera of St. Louis [the MUNY] later emerged). In 1941, he won the St. Louis Award for his work in creating Missouri's non-partisan court plan. He strenuously backed the riverfront memorial project until his death in 1951. Bernard Dickman, mayor of the City of St. Louis from 1933 to 1941. Dickman enabled federal sponsorship of Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, later renamed Gateway Arch National Park. After his two terms as mayor, he served as postmaster for the city from 1943 to 1958, and later as the first Director of Public Welfare. He died in 1971. George B. Hartzog, Jr. was Superintendent of Jefferson National Expansion Memorial from 1958 to 1964, where he got the Arch project going again after years of stagnation. Hartzog was named Director of the National Park Service in 1964 and served during the largest expansion period in the organization's history. He resigned in 1972 and tells his own story in the book Battling for the National Parks, published in 1988. He died in 2008. Raymond Tucker was the Mayor of St. Louis from 1952 to 1964. Tucker aggressively supported the Arch project and even used his engineering background to untangle the thorny problem of the railroad trestle along the levee. Tucker and Superintendent Hartzog worked closely in the 1960s to make the Arch a reality. He died in 1970. Leonor K. Sullivan was a congresswoman whose determination and foresight ensured funding for the arch. Sullivan was the first woman ever elected to congress from the state of Missouri. She went on to serve 12 terms (24 years) in the House. She retired in 1977 and died in 1988. John Dinkeloo was Saarinen's architectural partner, and he took over the Arch project when Saarinen died in 1961, seeing it to completion. He is remembered for his willingness to try new things. He died in 1981. Dan Kiley was a renowned landscape architect who collaborating with some of the most famous architects of the 1900s, including I.M. Pei, Philip Johnson, Kevin Roche, and of course Eero Saarinen. He attended the Harvard Graduate School of Design from 1936 to 1938 and worked for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. He helped plan the bombing of Japan and earned the Legion of Merit for designing the courtroom and support spaces for the Nuremburg Trials. In 1947, Saarinen invited Kiley to join the design team for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial design competition. Kiley continued to work with Saarinen through the 1950s and designed the final landscape plan in 1964. He also designed landscapes for the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, Dulles Airport, the third block of Independence Mall in Philadelphia, the Kennedy Library in Boston, and the fountain court at Lincoln Center in New York City. Kiley died in 2004. Richard (Dick) Bowser was the inventor of the tram system that gets visitors to the top of the arch. As a child he served as an apprentice to his elevator repairman father. Bowser left the University of Maryland in 1942 to join the Navy. After the war, Bowser worked on elevators, mostly in parking garages. In 1960, a friend told Bowser about Eero Saarinen's search for a "transporter" to get people to the top of the arch. Bowser's concept was approved, and in 1967, he was hired to supervise the installation and tests of the trams. After that, the National Park Service hired him to oversee maintenance. Dick Bowser was therefore involved in every part of tram invention, construction, installation, and early maintenance, which is very unusual for most government contracts. Bowser's successful design is still in use today. He passed away in 2003. Robert MacDonald was the son of a Scottish immigrant who founded MacDonald Construction Company in St. Louis in 1914. After attending Washington University in St. Louis, he became president of the MacDonald firm. The company built three Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile bases in Spokane, Washington, the B.F. Goodrich tire plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the McDonnell Douglas World Headquarters in St. Louis, and the Olin Library at his alma mater Washington University. MacDonald Construction was chosen as the contractor for building the Gateway Arch in 1961. The unique project had an incredible safety record with no major accidents or deaths. He passed away in Florida in 1984. Hannskarl Bandel was drafted into the German Navy at the outbreak of World War II and served on a torpedo boat. After the war, he earned a doctorate in engineering from the Technical University of Berlin. In 1956, he joined the firm of Severud, Elstad, and Kruger in New York, where he worked with several architects on structural engineering problems. Bandel and Fred Severud worked on the mathematical formulas used in the computation of the Arch's dimensions, as well as the pioneering orthotropic design of the structure. He became an American citizen in 1961. He died in a skiing accident in 1993. Leroy Brown came to St. Louis in 1963 as Assistant Superintendent for Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. He acted as a de-facto contracting manager for the Arch project and was appointed Superintendent on August 1, 1965, three months shy of the Arch's completion. His willpower and forcefulness ensured the successful completion of the project. Brown moved to the Regional Office in Omaha in 1968, but was later brought back to the arch for one year as Superintendent from 1974-1975, where he oversaw planning for the Museum of Westward Expansion and celebrated the 5 millionth visitor to the arch. He died in St. Louis in 1997. Dr. Harry Pfanz came to St. Louis in 1966 at Assistant Superintendent. He was named Superintendent in 1968 and served until 1971, when he transferred to Washington D.C. Pfanz served as Chief Historian for the National Park Service from 1974 to 1980. He wrote two books on military tactics at the Battle of Gettysburg. He died in 2015 at the age of 93.