We knock Grounds for Sculpture off "the list"

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. 

Having a sculpture there of Monet painting helped.

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.