Love art? Love gardens? Combine the best of both and travel to a lush outdoor sculpture garden. We’ve rounded up our top picks for sculpture gardens for all the art lovers.
If you’ve ever wanted to walk into your favorite painting, Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey will give you that opportunity. Many sculptures are inspired by famous works of art, like “La Danse” by Henri Matisse, reimagined by Seward Johnson as “Daydream” or “American Gothic” by Susan Stamberg, also reimagined by Seward Johnson as “God Bless America.” With over 400 contemporary sculptures plus 42 rich acres of gardens, you’ll be wondering the grounds in a wonderland.
Book your stay at Inn at Fox Chase, BW Premier Collection.
Wander around Downtown Sioux Falls and you will stumble upon one of 67 sculptures brightening the downtown area on the SculptureWalk. Welcoming its 19th year, this annual exhibit is not one to be missed. Cap off your art exploration by visiting The Arc of Dreams, created by Dale Claude Lamphere. As the exhibition describes it, “the sculpture is a tribute to the dreamers of the past, present and an inspiration to the dreamers of the future.” About the length of a football field, the stainless-steel sculpture spans the Big Sioux River and is now an icon in Sioux Falls.
Book your stay at GLō Best Western Dawley Farms In Sioux Falls.
The marriage of art, architecture and nature takes place at the Glenstone Museum in Potomac, Maryland. A palette of mixed materials structures the minimalist architecture of Glenstone, and there is art everywhere. Don’t miss the notable Jeff Koons’ “Split-Rocker,” a massive sculpture that towers almost 40 feet high and features over 50,000 flowering plants. The inspiration for “Split-Rocker” came when, “[Koons] decided to split and combine two similar, but different, toy rockers, a pony belonging to his son and a dinosaur,” according to Public Art Fund. The result is a seemingly cubist, modern sculpture that will take your breath away.
Book your stay at Best Western Plus Rockville Hotel & Suites.
Boasting 72 acres of outdoor artwork, Laumeier Sculpture Park in Sappington, Missouri will quench your thirst for art. Choose to stroll or hike on the Art Hike Trail. Everywhere you will find inspiration. For instance, Tony Tasset’s notable “Eye” is large and omniscient. Modeled after his own eye, this huge eyeball will stare you right in the face, but remember, you can look, but don’t touch.
Book your stay Aviator Hotel & Suites, BW Signature Collection.
Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, possesses a sculpture collection that is simply impressive with more than 2,000 pieces by almost 500 artists. They host the largest collection of American figurative sculpture in the nation – all outside, surrounded by the gardens. One favorite sculpture is Adolph Alexander Weinman’s 1942 limestone “Riders of the Dawn,” an archer on a horse that plunges forward with the sun and water rising beneath them.
Book your stay Best Western Plus Myrtle Beach @ Intracoastal.
