Amazing Art Parks in Public Places
By Andrew Bender
Posted Nov 23, 2007, at 1 p.m.
All across America, art parks blend the beauty of nature with the creativity of mankind, incorporating sculptures, monuments and architecture that are perfectly placed in their natural settings.
Large red sculptures in the sculpture garden at the National Gallery of Art, National Mall.
© Richard Cummins Lonely Planet Images.
Outdoor Sculptures in Upstate New York
Dawn has just broken in New York’s Hudson Valley, and a soaring red elephant shimmers with dew. That is, Alexander Calder’s “Hats Off” looks like a red elephant placed among 45 other 20th-century masterworks in the Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Garden at the headquarters of PepsiCo — that’s right: the soda-pop company. The garden’s nearly 170 acres are also home to works by Miró, Giacometti, Henry Moore and the 19th century’s most famous sculptor, Rodin.
Nearby, Storm King Art Center is 500 acres of large-scale sculptures. Thirteen works by David Smith form its core, with other works including specially commissioned pieces by Isamu Noguchi, Richard Serra and Andy Goldsworthy, who created a 2278-foot stone wall.
Free Washington, D.C., Monuments
Sometimes it seems that monument-filled Washington, D.C., is a living, breathing art park, and many of the museums here have sculpture gardens of their own. On 6-plus acres at the National Gallery of Art, you’ll find works by Claes Oldenburg, Joan Miró and more — time your visit right and you can catch a concert, too. The Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum has six outdoor “rooms” to show off large and small works, such as Kenneth Snelson’s airy “Needle Tower.”
Triceratops sculpture, Museum of Natural History, Fair Park.
© Richard Cummins Lonely Planet Images.
Orlando's Artistic Side
In Florida, escape the theme parks and head to the tiny Orlando suburb of Winter Park. An intimate lakeside garden shows off the work of Albin Polasek. His signature sculpture, “Man Carving His Own Destiny” (depicting a figure hewing himself from a block of stone), was prescient; Polasek became partially paralyzed in 1950, yet he continued to draw and paint until his death in 1965. Down the coast, Miami Beach boasts block after block of hotels, shops and restaurants in glitzy 1930s art deco, the city’s signature style.
Chicago in the New Millennium
Chicago’s Millennium Park lives up to its futuristic name. For a smashing view of the city’s famous skyline, stroll architect Frank Gehry’s meandering 925-foot-long BP Bridge to the sculpture gardens of the Boeing Galleries. Gehry’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion is a future-is-now band shell with stainless-steel “ribbons” that seem to curl out from the stage, while Anish Kapoor’s “Cloud Gate” has earned the humble nickname “the bean” for its shape, though its gleaming, silvery finish is suitably bold for this City of Broad Shoulders.
Art Cars in the Heartland
The nation’s mid-section bursts with public art from Dallas’ Nasher Sculpture Center to the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, where 10 cars are each half-buried front-end-first in the dusty landscape. Another landmark of vehicular art is Carhenge: Pickups, Caddies, an AMC Gremlin and more are arranged in the style of the famous Stonehenge.
Arizona Landscapes and Architecture
Arizona’s deserts are a natural for outdoor art. The must-see in Scottsdale is Taliesin West, winter home and studio of architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959). The grounds, perched on a mountain abloom with desert flora, are dotted with the art that inspired him — bronzes and fountains, Japanese prints and Chinese statuary.
Near Prescott, Ariz., Arcosanti is the brainchild of Italian-born sculptor and architect Paolo Soleri, who envisioned a self-sustaining, environmentally harmonious community. Poured-in-place concrete arches and domes echo the eternal shapes of Rome and the gift shop sells acoustically marvelous bells and pottery made on site.
Gardens and Galleries in the City of Angels
Lastly, you could do an entire tour of outdoor art without ever leaving Los Angeles. The Getty Center has two locations with outdoor and indoor art and brilliant gardens. The Getty Center has more contemporary works, while the Getty Villa, in Malibu, concentrates on antiquities. In San Marino (next to Pasadena), the Huntington Library’s 207 acres burst with galleries and gardens in various styles such as Japanese, roses and so on. Or you could spend a half-day or more riding LA’s subway (yes, it has one) and looking at the custom-designed art in each station.
Bio: Andrew Bender writes about food, travel and the arts. He's written Lonely Planet guidebooks for Los Angeles and Southern California, Cape Cod and more.
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