Grounds for Sculpture: The Garden State’s Garden of Art

Anyone reading this blog -- whether long-time followers or new readers -- knows that I am a big fan of art and can surmise that I also like gardens. But it’s rare that I get to combine these two interests. However, one place that can always be done is the magnificent Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey. This place is a large sculpture park built on the former New Jersey Fairgrounds, which were bought and converted into this artistic space by Seward Johnson. Grounds for Sculpture was officially opened to the public as a sculpture park in 1992.

Although I’ve only been to Grounds for Sculpture only a handful of times in my life, it just so happens that three of those visits were between 2011 and 2012. It seems that every time I go, I end up gushing so much about it that I inspire another person to want to come visit it with me!

One of the things that I really like about Grounds for Sculpture is that it is not just an outdoor museum; there are others like that elsewhere, albeit Grounds for Sculpture is the nearest to me. But Grounds for Sculpture is more than that – it boasts a large collection of sculptures by Seward Johnson himself, who re-creates famous paintings in the landscape of the gardens. For instance, Monet’s Garden at Sainte-Adresse (a painting I know well for I have a copy hanging in my living room) is re-created on a grand scale here, placed before a lake. Visitors can stop by and physically plop themselves into a chair next to the seated lady and gentleman admiring the view. Elsewhere, there are re-creations of famous paintings by Manet, Rousseau, Matisse, and so on.

There’s also a fair amount of sculptures designed to appear like regular people about the park. Look out for a gardener trimming some bushes, a couple sleeping under the shade of some trees, a young girl reading on the grass, and so forth. These sculptures make you do a double-take to confirm that it’s really a piece of art and not a person.

Of course, there are also numerous other sculptures throughout the park that are not based either on other artists’ work or meant to be trompe l’oeil. These works vary from George Segal’s “Depression Bread Line” to more abstract and conceptual works. Whatever form the work takes, it is sure to be incorporated into the landscape in a most fitting way, whether that be within a bamboo forest, alongside a shady pathway, in a broad grassy area, or near the lakeside. All and all, this makes for a pleasant walking experience -- just remember to take a map with you and/or watch for some landmarks or you will find yourself lost on the property! But don’t be afraid to wander off the beaten path to find some hidden gems, like a quiet nook with a hammock for relaxing.

Some other features of Grounds for Sculpture worth mentioning are its Water Garden, peppered with still more sculptures but this time in the extra aura of mist and tinkling waterfalls; fine dining at its Rats restaurant (hearsay, as this blogger has never actually been); and its peacocks. Yes, its peacocks. Somehow these beautiful birds have taken up with art and live on the grounds. You will see them throughout the park, can buy stuffed animal versions of them in the museum shop, and can even dine at the Peacock Café on site (no peacocks served there, of course!). Be warned that at the Peacock Café, you might be hard pressed to find a seat on the outdoor patio as sculptures have their places here as well.

During my most recent visit to the grounds, we got some extra treats. The first was that the artists’ studios on the grounds were partially open to the public. One artist was unofficially giving visitors a tour of his work space. Another artist was working on a project and allowed viewers to stop in to see his progress and asks questions. This was a really exciting opportunity to see behind the scenes and get answers to any burning questions about technical details about sculpture and the artistic processes from concept to construction.

The second treat was that we found some exhibits on display in the grounds’ Domestic Arts Building, which had not been on our agenda per se. The bottom floor of the building featured the “E Pluribus Unum” exhibit of artist Willie Cole’s work, which largely focused on works made with recycled items. For instance, the thing that caught our collective eyes first was a chandelier made from plastic water bottles. There were also several sculptures that resembled cows, which took me a few moments to recognize as made up of parts of toilet bowls. When I found in the accompanying literature that this work was called “Two-Faced Bull Shitters,” I could not stifle a loud chuckle at the cleverness of this title. The top floor of the building was giving over to artist Marilyn Keating’s exhibit “Natural Curiosities.” As the name implies, many of her works focus on beauty in the natural world, including insects, animals, and plants. Several of her works were created with wood blocks, which is one of my favorite artistic mediums, if I have not mentioned that before somewhere in this blog.

Although we arrived too late in the day this last time to take advantage of this other great Grounds for Sculpture feature, on a previous visit we participated in the Tots on Tour event. This special tour is for 3- to 5-year-old children (and, of course, their accompanying adults!), who are treated to a story time, a craft time, and then a quick run of some of the park’s many art works, highlighting those that would be most exciting for children. These include a giant snake the kids could run on top of and an interactive musical sculpture. As soon as the tour began, the guide explained to the kids that if a sculpture had a green sign near it, they were allowed to touch it with care but if the sculpture had a red sign near it, they could admire it with their eyes only. The kids were thrilled to run around looking for green signs and have the opportunity of interacting with the sculptures tactically. I’ve now been to Grounds for Sculpture with young children of a variety of ages (younger than 1 year old; not quite 2 years old; age 3; age 4; and age 5) and they have all been delighted with visiting the sculpture park. All of the staff running the Tots on Tour feature were well-versed not only in art but in child development as well, making sure every part of the event was the appropriate amount of time and complexity for young ones’ attention spans.

If you are driving in or around Hamilton, no doubt you’ve noticed some of the giant sculptures scatted about the grassy areas near major roads. These are some of the greatest advertisements that could be given for Grounds of Sculpture -- pass near them, and you’ll get a sense of what it’s like to be in the sculpture park. But visit the park itself for the much grander scale of what that’s like. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!

A Long Day at Longwood Gardens

After having discussed this trip months in advance, a friend and I finally descended upon Longwood Gardens this weekend, in part to view the art installation “Light” currently on display there. Located in Pennsylvania’s Kennett Square, Longwood Gardens is the former estate of entrepreneur, philanthropist, and horticulture lover Pierre Samuel du Pont and his wife (and cousin) Alice Belin du Pont. Now approximately covering 1,200 acreage (with only some of that open to the public), Longwood Gardens came in to being when du Pont bought 202 acres of land from the Peirce family in order to save some centuries old trees on the property from being cut for lumber. Of interest (to me at least) is that the Peirce family had originally bought their farmland from William Penn himself. There is certainly a great deal of history behind Longwood Gardens!

After buying that initial tract of land, du Pont set about saving trees in the arboretum, participating in some “gentleman farming,” and expanding and improving the gardens, including numerous additions based on his personal interests and travels. For instance, Longwood sports a beautiful and elaborate Italian Water Garden, inspired both by du Pont’s love of water and a similar garden he saw while traveling near Florence with his wife. He also added a flowered garden walk, an enormous conservatory, and expanded the Peirce’s family home to include a library and covered courtyard, to name a few changes.

The Italian Water Garden at Longwood Gardens

After his death, Longwood Gardens were opened to the public, as stipulated and provided for by du Pont’s will. Incidentally, it is not the only du Pont estate in the Brandywine Valley open to the public; Alfred du Pont’s Nemours is in nearby Wilmington, Delaware as is Henry Francis du Pont’s Winterthur, which I have written about here before and would highly recommend. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to find a good family tree online, so if anyone knows the exact relationship amongst these various du Ponts, I would be interested to know. My surmise is that Henry Francis and Pierre Samuel were some sort of distant cousins; they appear to share the same great-grandfather, Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, founder of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. (Both Henry Francis’s Winterthur and Pierre Samuel’s Longwood Gardens are listed in the book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, if you need any extra motivation to visit either one or both.)

Unlike Winterthur, there are few museum-like qualities to Longwood Gardens – that is not to say it is not a great place to visit, just an explanation of what to expect. There is some history on display in the Peirce-du Pont House as well as in the ballroom near the conservatory. The ballroom houses one of the world’s largest pipe organs to be installed in a private residence as well as an exhibit on organ history. (Interestingly, although I think many of us associate organs with churches, early Christians were opposed to their use.) In the music room at the conservatory, there was also a small exhibit on the “Light” installation currently at Longwood, but more on this later. Also, throughout the estate there is often signage explaining the historic significance of particular trees, plants, structures, or garden plans. Here, as in several of the exhibits, I really appreciated the use of photographs to illustrate how particular rooms or garden areas looked when the du Ponts lived at Longwood. Comparing these with the current landscape emphasizes how well the grounds have been maintained and conserved to look as they did back in the 1920s and 30s.

Longwood may not have an extensive amount of information for the history buff, but it more than makes up for that in its natural beauty. The grounds host plants, trees, flowers, vegetables, and herbs of all kinds, making it especially interesting for botanists (amateur or professional) to explore. However, even those without any flora knowledge can enjoy just soaking in the beauty. Those interested in fauna may also be delighted with some surprise finds – at least the bird-watchers amongst us will have plenty to see! The well-laid out paths, along with a handy map, make the large estate easy enough to navigate. Visitors can enjoy strolling through and near a topiary garden, a rose arbor, a couple of lakes, and a cultivated meadow, amongst other fabulous sites. There are also numerous tree-houses to explore along with an impressive chimes tower and accompanying waterfall. For those traveling with children, there are a few child-specific areas carved out, including an outdoor children’s corner and an indoor children’s garden.

Chimes Tower

A bird "condo" above one of the garden patches

An unexpected visitor. I suspected he was there because of all the birds, but he came to sit next to me on this bench instead.

Indoors, the conservatory hosts 20 rooms of rare, exotic, or just plain interesting plants and flowers. Here visitors can view bonsai trees that have been in training for nearly 100 years, a plethora of orchid variations, and various fruit trees, ferns, roses, and so forth. (Apparently, orchids and roses were amongst Alice Belin du Pont’s favorite types of flowers, while Pierre Samuel du Pont had a fondness for nectarines.) Some rooms are filled with flora fitting a specific theme, such as the silver garden or the Mediterranean garden.

Close-up of one particular species in the orchid room. The centers struck me as looking like fanciful little people.

One patch of the "silver garden" within the conservatory

Just outside of the conservatory is the main fountain garden. A personal project of Pierre Samuel du Pont’s, this set of fountains use his hydraulic designs to jettison spouts of water up to 130 feet high while pumping 10,000 gallons of water per minute. A brief 5-minute water show is displayed here several times a day, with a more elaborate 30-minute water-and-light show occurring every evening. This show is generally accompanied by music, but as the nearby outdoor theater on the grounds was entertaining guests with The Mikado last night, our show was sans music. Nonetheless, it was a pleasant display, and many visitors of the grounds grabbed a seat or stood outside the conservatory to watch this impressive entertainment – and made their own music with the collective “oohs” and “aahs” that sprung up with each new delight.

Traversing the main fountain garden is this bridge-like structure with additional fountains (apparently not in use now though) and sculptures. Unlike nearly everything else at Longwood, this whole structure had a dilapidated air that gave it a Great Expectations-like atmosphere. We hoped that it was slated for restoration/conservation next.

In addition to all the usual charms of Longwood Gardens, part of the reason we decided to visit this particular month was to see the art installation, “Light,” by Bruce Munro. This site-specific installation is actually comprised of several different installations throughout the estate. This varies from the amusing (large “lily pads” made up of foam and recycled CDs floating in the large lake) to the enchanting (a forest walk illuminated by 20,000 glass-blown baubles encasing LED lights that were constantly changing colors) to the profound (a section of the meadow littered with 69 towers made of recycled bottles filled with water and LED lights accompanied by music, apparently inspired by a novel the artist read in which a character had synesthesia). At the exhibit in the music room, a few details of Munro’s work were on display along with professional (and amateur via visitors’ uploads) photography of his installations at Longwood. Here the curators displayed a quote in which Munro explained his work, “Light is visceral and evocative. A certain quality of light can bring you back to a moment in the past. Every season has a light that brings back distinct memories, whether staring at a twinkling Christmas tree or lying under the window on a summer afternoon watching dust motes float in the sunshine. In my work I try to capture something of these ephemeral experiences. I want to express those moments of being lost, of discovering that feeling of merging with something greater.” What a beautiful sentiment.

In the distance is the "Water Towers" installation as seen in the daylight still

The only downside to our trip was that we came fairly early in the afternoon so that we were pretty exhausted from all our walking by the evening time, just as dusk was coming. As a consequence, we didn’t see Munro’s work in all its full glory of being lit up in contrast to a dark night. However, we did see enough to appreciate it and the stunning amount of work that much have gone into it. Like others, we marveled at the fairy tale-like ambiance of the “Forest of Light” and sat meditatively listening to music at the “Water Towers.” And, our long day at the Longwood Gardens meant that we got to traverse the public property in its entirety, even doubling back to certain areas.

While I still personally preferred Winterthur as a place I would go back to multiple times, visiting Longwood Gardens was certainly an enjoyable and informative experience and I would recommend it to others!

Serendipity: Meet Esao Andrews

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon an article that led me directly to oil painter Esao Andrews. I was absolutely blown away by this artist’s work. It’s fantastic, albeit sometimes a bit creepy; it reminds me of Tim Burton’s movies in that regard and I love Tim Burton. Of all Mr. Andrews’s works, I love Megan most of all, which looks realistically three-dimensional yet also whimsical with her half-smile and finger to her face. Other favorites are Untitled (Thinker) (whether intentional or not, this is a nice nod to Rene Magritte, my favorite artist of all), The Hangover (this clever title isn’t what you’re thinking), Letting Go (this one screams Tim Burton more so than some of the others), Poppies (the emotion!), The Guarded Fairground (this, like some of his other works, reminds me of the works of Hieronymus Bosch), Don’t Wake Up the Neighbors (this is another whimsical one, which also reminds me of the movie Coraline for some reason), and Finch (something so innocent yet also so foreboding about this painting). I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the selected works on his website, and I hope you will also. In addition, Easo Andrews has a blog that you can follow – you can bet I’ll keep an eye on this and see what prints are coming down the pipe.

Somewhat Sunny in Philadelphia

Last Sunday a friend and I trekked down to meet up with another friend and acquaintances in Philadelphia. While it may always be sunny in Philadelphia in the TV world, it was an overcast day with a 60 percent chance of rain forecast so we decided to stay indoors rather than hoofing around the city.

We began the day by taking a trip over to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a building of such grand architecture as to make its exterior an art exhibit in itself. The museum's current big hit exhibit is titled "Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus." As you can imagine from the title, this exhibit features the many, many portraits of Jesus painted by the Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn. This exhibit was popular with our little group and based on the huge lines, many others who were at the museum. But I have to confess, it held no appeal for me. For starters, while I can appreciate Rembrandt's work considering the time in which it came, I am but very rarely a fan of dark and shadowy works in any medium. Furthermore, after years of visiting art museums, I've seen more than my fair share of paintings based on biblical stories, which let's admit it, is a limited palate when you consider the hundreds of artists over hundreds of years painting these scenes. To further limit that to only portraits of Jesus himself, you can imagine that this exhibit was rife with redundancy. I'm sure for major fans of Rembrandt, portraits, or religious iconography, this was a great exhibit. But for me, it was enough to breeze by quickly and then say, what next?

So while the rest of our group meandered and spent a while in this exhibit, I moved on to what was a far more interesting exhibit for my tastes, "Here and Now: Prints, Drawings and Photographs by Ten Philadelphia Artists." This seemed like a particularly fitting exhibit for me to see while visiting Philadelphia as I'd be unlikely to see it anywhere else. As you can probably gather from the name, there was no particular theme tying together the works of this exhibit, but rather the locality of the artists. But while there was no overarching theme in the works, I would say that a combining element, beyond just the city where the artists work, was a feeling of weightiness to the art. The artists all tackled serious issues, such as the feelings of being an outsider due to a multiracial background. That isn't too say that these subjects were all treated with a doom-and-gloom attitude. Some of the works did have an ironic or downright funny effect despite - or perhaps because of - their serious nature. While I enjoyed nearly all the works on display, two artists and their art particularly stood out. Daniel Heyman was on hand for interviews with Abu Ghraib detainees and displayed their portraits and their stories together. These were heart-breaking to read, yet very necessary works to have to remind us of atrocities around the world. Serena Perrone's woodcuts were haunting, even surreal at times. In particular, I liked her works "Phantom Vessels and the Bastion of Memory V,""A Day in November: Impending Loss," and "In the Realm of Reverie." There is some quality about these works that I can't quite put a finger on that somehow allows them to be both childlike and innocent yet have an undercurrent of dread lurking just beneath the surface. Of course, I love woodcuts (so much so that one of my favorite books is Lynd Ward's Gods' Man, a wordless novel entirely made up of woodcuts) so you'd be hard-pressed to find an exhibit featuring woodcuts that I wouldn't like.

I then wandered up to the section of the museum dedicated to European art from 1500 to 1850. What I really enjoyed here was the broad view of the term art. Yes, there were paintings and other traditional art works, but there were also porcelains, furniture, and other everyday items. It was fun to stumble upon such objects as a baby's cradle and be able to compare something hundreds of years old to what we use today. There was even a fully furnished 17th century Dutch room, which is pretty cool to view. I barely scratched the surface of this permanent exhibit when the rest of our group was finished with the Rembrandt exhibit and we all decided to trek over to the museum's auxiliary Perelman Building.

Across the street at the Perelman Building, we took in another current exhibit, "Zaha Hadid: Form in Motion." The exhibit featured the sleek designs for furniture, a car, and even shoes by architect Zaha Hadid. As a woman in a predominantly male field who has done particularly well, Zaha Hadid seems like an interesting person and I would have liked to learn even more about her as a part of the exhibit. Indeed, the only thing we all agreed we did not like about the exhibit was that there was not more of it. It was rather small and featured only a limited number of works. However, given the amount of work that went into this exhibit (Hadid also re-designed the exhibit space to create flows and contours to complement the works featured), I understand why that would be.

By this time, the museum was closing but it was still a little early for dinner. To kill some time, we went back to my friend's apartment and were flipping channels until we landed on the reality TV series, "Sister Wives," which ended up being fuel for the fire of us discussing various things. All I'm going to say here is that the show itself was like a train wreck - you know you shouldn't keep watching but you can't peel your eyes away.

After dinner, with storm clouds still threatening, we again returned to watching the tube, but this time selected a movie. I was actually the decider in choosing Sunshine Cleaning, which no one else in the group had seen yet and I didn't mind re-watching myself. I'm always a little bit nervous about zealously suggesting something for fear it won't live up to everyone else's then-heightened expectations or that my quirky brand of humor won't appeal to others, but everyone agreed at the end that they enjoyed the movie. My one friend expressed it perfectly by saying that it was one movie where the characters actually felt "real." However, before I go too far in editorializing about the movie, I should provide a brief summary. Rose (Amy Adams) is a single mother with a child who needs special attention at school. Even working as hard as she does, cleaning houses doesn't pay enough for the school she wants her son to attend. When her boyfriend (Steve Zahn) finds out how much a crime scene clean-up crew makes, he suggests he takes her cleaning skills in a different direction. Rose enlists her slacker sister Norah (Emily Blunt) into starting a business with her, Sunshine Cleaning, to invest in this lucrative field. The film also co-stars Clifton Collins, Jr. as a helpful cleaning supply store owner who steers the sisters in the right direction as they start their business, Alan Arkin as the unreliable father of Rose and Norah, and Mary Lynn Rajskub as the woman Norah finds herself befriending.

There are so many things I like about this movie and viewing it a second time only made that more abundantly clear. The movie had originally been recommended to me by a friend when we realized we both liked Amy Adams and Emily Blunt, and she pointed out that they starred together in Sunshine Cleaning. And, indeed, both did an excellent job in this movie (and actually look as though they could be sisters). Alan Arkin doesn't disappoint as the quirky grandfather, and young Jason Spevack, who plays Rose's son Oscar, is absolutely adorable. Clifton Collins, Jr., who I couldn't stand as Perry Smith in Capote, redeems himself in my eyes as the subtly played Winston. Actually, I feel that most of the characterizations were understated, adding to the feeling that the characters were indeed "real." After the movie ended, we actually spent some time wondering about the pasts and futures of these characters, including their motivations, as though they were actual people we were trying to learn more about and analyze. I love that the movie provided that kind of fodder.

Likewise, while the movie is nominally a comedy (and has many funny moments, especially of the darkly humorous type that I like), it had plenty of serious undertones and opened the conversation around it up to death and dying, marriage and relationships, family relations, middle-class working families and their unique troubles, etc. The next time you're looking for an alternative to your latest run-of-the-mill Hollywood churn-out, Sunshine Cleaning fits the bill.