Check out these seven spectacular sculpture gardens from around the world.
Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center—Dowell, Maryland
Photo: courtesy of Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center
At the Annmarie Sculpture Garden in Dowell, Maryland, visitors can ride bikes or walk (even with their dogs) through 30 acres alongside St. John’s Creek while enjoying magnificent works of art. The attractions include tree art, permanent sculptures, temporary spotlight pieces—over 30 currently on loan from the Smithsonian Institution and National Gallery of Art—and even the "Women’s Walk," featuring bronze statues celebrating the female form.
Cass Sculpture Foundation—West Sussex, United Kingdom
Photo: courtesy of Cass Sculpture Foundation
The Cass Sculpture Estate, a 26-acre garden at the Cass Sculpture Foundation in Goodwood, West Sussex, has commissioned 160 monumental works from over 120 artists, which have been placed in public and private collections all over the world. The works on display, which can total as many as 80 statues at one time, currently include artist Judith Cowan's “Touching Earth and Sky."
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park—Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan prides itself on the more than 40 sculptures found in its Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. The gardens feature artists including Aristide Maillol, Jacques Lipchitz, George Rickey and Nina Akamu, who created one of the most famous structures on the grounds, a 24' and 15,000-lb bronze piece called “The American Horse."
Minneapolis Sculpture Garden—Minneapolis, Minnesota
Photo: courtesy of Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen.
A popular Minneapolis tourist attraction, the most recognizable piece at this garden is the iconic "Spoonbridge and Cherry" by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Originally called the Armory Gardens, the art park has expanded to 11 acres, and has attracted more than 7.2 million visitors over the 22-year period it’s been open.
Nek Chand Rock Garden—Chandigarh, India
Photo: courtesy of Nek Chand Rock Garden
Artist Nek Chand started erecting sculptures illegally 36 years ago on public land he cleared in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh. Luckily, when local officials found out, they decided to pay him for his work instead of destroying it. Expanded to over 25 acres of mosaic courtyards, linked by walled paths and deep gorges with several thousand sculptures, the garden has attracted 12 million visitors since its creation.
Olympic Sculpture Park—Seattle, Washington
Photo: courtesy of Olympic Sculpture Park, aerial view with Richard Serra’s Wake / Photo: © Benjamin Benschneider Photography
The Olympic Sculpture Park, opened in 2007 in an effort to preserve the downtown area of Seattle, is known for such sculptures as "Eagle" by Alexander Calder, "Eye Benches I, II, III" by Louise Bourgeois and "Bunyon's Chess" by Mark di Suvero. Laid out in a Z-shape, and broken into four separate landscapes, the park mixes art, landscape, architecture and infrastructure.
Sculpture Garden at Burghley—Stamford, England
Photo: courtesy of Sculpture Garden at Burghley
Situated on an Elizabethan-era estate north of London, the garden at Burghley was designed by Lancelot Brown in 1754. After being handed down through the generations, the grounds have since been turned into an attraction, which includes "Garden of Surprises," a modern take on traditional water gardens that uses mirrors, mazes and water jets, as well as an annual exhibition in the Sculpture Garden, currently featuring works by the artist Julian Wild.
