Now that the snow has melted, blooms are stretching toward the sun and adding colorful accents to the art that never lies dormant at Grounds For Sculpture.
The Hamilton sculpture park has more than 300 sculptures and six indoor galleries with rotating exhibitions “We’ve worked to create a sculpture park for all seasons,” says Janis Napoli, director of horticulture. “Nature and art interplay at Grounds For Sculpture, so there are reasons to visit throughout the year to see how seasonal horticulture cycles enrich that relationship.”
In March and April, gold daffodils, forsythia and purple irises blanket Fairgrounds Garden. Strawberry Parfait and White Cascade crabapple trees bloom in mid-April in the Museum Orchard, which lines three sides of the museum building.
The Lotus Pond and the Tropical Room take center stage during the summer months, joined by blooming trees and shrubs such as magnolia, rose of Sharon, water lilies, hibiscus, phlox and hydrangeas. In fall, butterfly weed and camellia add to the seasonal display. Visitors can walk through the Red Maple Allée, two parallel rows of Acer rubrum ‘October Glory’ trees known for their vivid red foliage.
And in winter, evergreen and deciduous shrubs and bulbs — including edgeworthia, witch hazel, winter hazel and Lenten rose — provide fragrance in late winter, while winter berries and camellia blooms offer color against the snow.
In addition to exploring the park’s seasonal landscape, visitors can view rotating exhibitions inside the galleries.
“Grounds For Sculpture has new exhibitions in the indoor galleries as well as temporary sculpture installations outdoors,” says Grace Yasumura, curator at Grounds For Sculpture. “Both first-time and returning visitors will find works that spark curiosity and invite reflection.”
In the East Gallery and outdoors, “Salvador Jiménez-Flores: Raíces & Resistencias” is on view through Aug. 1, 2027. The exhibition explores “the personal and geopolitical dimensions of migration” through four works: an 80-foot mural; an installation featuring a portrait of the artist and ceramic nopal paddles; and two bronze sculptures that merge the human form with symbols of Mexico and Mesoamerica.
Opening May 17 is “Opening the Vault: A Look Inside the GFS Collection.” The exhibition is intended to visitors a fresh look at works by masters of American art as well as early pieces by artists who apprenticed at Johnson Atelier.
The exhibition, drawn from the GFS collection, is curated by team members from guest services, development, education and marketing and explores the collection through a range of artistic expressions, mediums and contexts.
Kiyan Williams’ “Ruins of Empire II or the Earth Swallows the Master’s House” will be installed outdoors in spring. The work features a neoclassical portico leaning off axis as if sinking into the ground.
Built using earth from the same quarry where enslaved laborers excavated materials for the nation’s capital, the piece — which Williams describes as an “anti-monument” — is designed to erode over time through the forces of nature.
“Shantell Martin: Past, Present, Future,” on view in the West Gallery from Sept. 20 through July 23, 2028, will invite visitors to consider their evolving relationship with time. The exhibition will include an immersive installation featuring textiles, murals and an engagement space, along with Martin’s first sculpture commission.
“Grounds For Sculpture strives to be far more than a repository for great sculpture,” says Gary Garrido Schneider, executive director of Grounds For Sculpture. “We are a space for visitors to reflect on what they see and take meaning for their own lives. We’re also a place where artists can collaborate — with tools they otherwise may not have access to — to help the sculptural art form evolve.”
