Exploring “Grounds for Sculpture”
*If you like this post, it is now available on iTunes as a self-guided walking tour! Click here to download it.
“Grounds for Sculpture” is a sculpture garden that is quite close to where my husband and I live in New Jersey. We have been hearing about it ever since we arrived in the Garden State. It wasn’t until this past weekend that we finally made the journey to visit it. It has been by far our favorite adventure since moving here. “Grounds for Sculpture” is beautiful, relaxing and a wonderful place to take photos and enjoy contemporary art.
The picture above of the large Marilyn Monroe statue is probably the most famous piece the gardens have. She was created by Seward Johnson (he is also the founder of Grounds for Sculpture). This post will contain many photos of the gardens, but I should warn you, some of the statues are depictions of nude people (I’ve placed those pictures toward the end of the post). So, if you are reading this at work, proceed with caution. Haha.
My husband and I spent around 3 hours going through the park, but I feel we could have stayed far longer. There is art literally everywhere you look.
I am also not going to pretend my husband and I know the first thing about art. However, we were able to appreciate the lifelike sculptures and had a wonderful time wandering.
The admission to enter the gardens was $15 for adults and $10 for students. I can say with complete confidence that the sculpture gardens were worth every penny.
Grounds for Sculpture also offered so many fun opportunities for photographs! The next several photos will be of my husband and I being a little goofy. I should also mention that if my husband is not in the picture, that means he was taking the picture. So, about 90 percent of the pictures taken in this post are credited to my husband.
The next few pictures are of my personal favorite, “The Awakening.” He is a 70 foot giant coming out of the ground. He made for some fun pictures!
My husband and I also had dinner that evening at the restaurant inside the gardens. It’s called “Rat’s,” and it was wonderful! It’s a little pricier, but it was worth it. They have a beautiful outdoor dining area (the indoor looked beautiful, as well), and the food was superb.
If you find yourself near Hamilton, New Jersey, visiting Grounds for Sculpture is a must. I would also highly recommend Rat’s for dinner. And if you are planning to visit Grounds for Sculpture one day, I would come here soon. I just found out that Seward Johnson’s exhibit “The Retrospective,” will be closing in July. It is the exhibit that includes the statue of Marilyn. You can click here for more information and you can read TripAdvisor reviews by clicking here.
I will end this post with a photo gallery of the rest of our pictures from the gardens. I have included captions for some, but if you have any questions please let me know in the comments. (You can click on the photos to make them larger.)
*Is anyone planning to make a trip to Grounds for Sculpture? Let me know in the comments!
*If you would like to see more on the Star Wars dress I am wearing in these photos, click here.
Never miss a post! Bloglovin’ will send you a weekly summary of my blog posts. Just enter your email below!
Follow
Love your pics! The Grounds for Sculpture is one of my favorite spots in NJ. I only learned about it a few years ago, but I love popping in when I go visit my niece at Princeton.
Ahh I’d have a total blast at this sculpture park! The sculptures are much larger than what I have seen…
WONDERMENTARY @ http://blog.jessicapei.com
It was so much fun, Jessica! Definitely check it out, if you are ever in the area!
This looks like so much fun!!!! Great photos- I especially love the ones where you and your husband are interacting with the statues haha!
Thank you, Lauren! We had such a blast here!
I’ve honestly never heard of this place. Looks absolutely wonderful though! I could definitely spend the day there just wandering around. The Marilyn sculpture has to be my favorite. I love her lol. The scenery around Rats looks so beautiful too.
amandabrezovsky.com
It was so much fun, Amanda! If you have the chance this summer you should definitely check it out, especially because Marilyn won’t be sticking around much longer.
I love this post! These pictures are so interesting. Your husband has a great sense of humor. I definitely got a good laugh out of the last few. Hee hee. Those are some beautiful sculptures. I really like the one of Marilyn Monroe and the one of the guy coming out of the ground.
astylishlovestory.blogspot.com
Thank you, Joanna! My husband will be happy to hear at least one other person thinks he’s funny. Haha. (Just kidding!) 😉
Wow the sculptures are really something special! I would love to see them in person one day! These would take so much time to create just from their size. Amazing talent!
Rebecca
www.winnipegstyle.ca
Yes! I can’t imagine how long it takes to make one of these sculptures, they are huge! Thank you for stopping by my blog, Rebecca. 🙂
Hahaha you two are so cute! Love all these photos. I totally want photos with Marilyn Monroe sculpture :p
www.wunderbliss.blogspot.ca
Thank you, Elizabeth! 🙂
This is incredible! It must have been amazing to be surrounded by all of those sculptures. At least I can say that I’ve seen the Marilyn Monroe one in person–that one used to be on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago!
Thank you, Devinne! I completely forgot that the Marilyn sculpture was in Chicago for a while. That’s too cool that you were able to see her, too! 🙂
I didn’t know such an interesting garden existed in New Jersey! Some sculptures are so huge compared to you:) I would definitely visit next time I will travel from New York; thanks for recommending it:)
http://www.yuliannova.com/
Thank you for stopping by my blog, Yulia! Definitely visit if you have the time, it would be about an hour worth of traveling from New York. 🙂
Wow! It looks and sounds like an amazing place! The giant coming out of the earth is so cool. I will definitely put this place on my list of sights I need to see when I cross the pond.
Beautiful photos Lindsey, very fun to see.
Thank you so much, Mona! There’s a ton of fun sights to see over here, if you do cross the pond. 🙂 However, I have quite the growing list for the next time I make it to Europe. 😉