We often
have places that we want to visit that tend to linger on “the list.” When the weather starts to get nice in April
we declare,
“We really
should get to such-and-such this year,” then inevitably the chilly winds of
November blow in and we say, “We never got around to going to such-and-such.”
The Grounds
for Sculpture has been one of those places that has lingered on “the list” for
far too long.
Located in
Hamilton New Jersey, the Grounds for Sculpture is part gardens, and part
outdoor (and some indoor) art museum.
After
parking, we headed to the main building where we paid our $15 per person
entrance fee, received our neon colored wrist bands that had to be worn to
prove that we paid our entrance fee, and collected our maps.
A note here,
the map provided was a bit confusing to decipher.
 |
| Where are we? |
We wanted to make sure that
we didn't missed anything, but it isn't always clear where you are and what is where. I thought that they should have had some pictures of some of the more
recognizable sculptures on the map to make it easier. Kind of more like an
amusement park map where there is a picture of a big roller coaster or the
carousel.
The
sculptures at Grounds for Sculpture are amazing! Before we went I was worried there would be
an overflowing amount of modern sculptures like one we saw that looked like a
bunch of rocks smooshed together. My
husband named that one, guitar pick and pork chop, per the shape of the rocks.
Happily, the types of sculptures vary greatly. There is a little something
for everyone.
Back
to the naming, we did have fun guessing the names of the sculptures before we
looked at the name plates. We called
this one, Abraham Lincoln travels through time to bludgeon you with his hat.
It was
surprisingly close to the actual title.
At a distance
some sculptures looked like people. There were some people that until they
moved, blended in a little too well with the sculptures.
The grounds
were as impressive as the sculptures, and at times evoked the feeling of being
in a Monet painting.
There were
secret doors,
shady tunnels,
and tree lined paths that when explored,
led to new
discoveries.
If you like
taking pictures, it’s a great place for some fun and/or silly photo ops.
One of the
best parts of Grounds for Sculpture is the size. It’s not so large that you walk and walk and
walk until you feel like your legs are falling off, nor is it so small that you
see everything too quickly and think, wait
is that it? It is the perfect size to wander around during the day, and
still have enough time to catch an early dinner, which is exactly what we did.
If you love
gardens, love art, love taking pictures, or just want to do something fun,
interesting, and different, I highly recommend checking out the Grounds for
Sculpture.
