Bob Cassilly is a St. Louis native sculptor and entrepreneur whose work can be found built into the foundation of the city, from the climbable sculptures at Turtle Playground in Forest Park to the iconic City Museum. Though many residents and visitors have seen Cassily’s work, not everyone knows his story.
But that is about to change.
After three years of interviewing, editing, and filming, St. Louis native documentary filmmakers Mike Gualdoni and Zach White recently finished “Concrete Jungle Gym,” highlighting Cassilly’s life and his journey in creating the City Museum.
Mike Gualdoni and Zach White at Rootwad Park, a hidden gem where some of Bob Cassilly’s work can be found.
“Handmade is something I think a lot about with this project. When you look around at a city, it is truly handmade, and what Bob did was handmade,” said White. “He took pieces of buildings slated for demolition and recreated them into his own kind of city –– City Museum. I think that could only happen in a place like St. Louis because of the rich architecture and history.”
One of Gualdoni’s earliest memories of the City Museum was visiting with his fifth-grade class. Before that, both Gualdoni and White remember seeing Cassilly’s work outside of the Saint Louis Zoo.
“I have a memory of going to the zoo and climbing on all those little critters outside of the entrance,” said Gualdoni. “I played there a lot as a kid, and I had no idea until way later in life, that was all [created by] Bob Cassilly. He has been a part of our lives forever. We just never knew it.”
“Concrete Jungle Gym” was the opportunity to make Bob Cassilly a household name. Using old newspaper articles, St. Louis Post Dispatch records, and Google, they set to work researching the best people to interview for the documentary.
“When interviewing someone, they would mention someone else we needed to talk to, and then that person would mention someone,” said White. “Everyone we spoke with had stories that made it into this project that we wouldn’t have otherwise known from just strictly research.”
Through researching Cassilly and interviewing those close to him, Gualdoni and White say they felt his spirit take over the project and even different aspects of their lives.
“After almost two years of editing, we started to feel like he was helping us. His frantic work pace was showing up in the flow of the documentary,” said Gualdoni.
“Sometimes in my everyday life, I see parallels to stories we heard during filming,” White added. “I bought a house during this project and worked on it and found myself asking ‘Well, what would Bob do?’”
One of the most incredible memories they uncovered was a first-hand account of Cassilly preventing the destruction of Michelangelo’s Pieta during his honeymoon in Rome.
The Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis (RACSTL) proudly supported “Concrete Jungle Gym” with a grant in 2023.
“It takes a lot of money and investment to produce something like this, and the RACSTL grant was great for getting license fees covered, travel expenses for Zach and additional crew,” said Gualdoni. “It was nice to have the freedom to be able to do what we needed to do without having to sweat or worry.”
“Having the [RACSTL] grant and being able to go as far as we did with the documentary is really special,” White added. “Hopefully [the documentary] has a great impact for the city, showing the broader appeal of what is going on in St. Louis, not just with City Museum but with all that Bob was doing with his work.”
“Concrete Jungle Gym” makes its world premiere at the St. Louis International Film Festival on Nov. 10 at 4:00 PM. Tickets can be bought here. Though St. Louis is a big part of this documentary, Gualdoni and White want to share Cassilly’s story with the world.
“It is a very St. Louis story, but it’s also got a broader appeal. The world is so worried about getting permits and signing documents, just to put up a shed. There is a place and time for that kind of thinking, but it hinders a lot of necessary progress the world needs,” said Gualdoni. “I think the world could benefit from Bob’s way of thinking and that is what makes [the documentary] have that universal appeal.”
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