Grounds For Sculpture (GFS), a sculpture garden, arboretum, and museum in New Jersey, has announced that its 42-acre landscaped park will remain open to the public from December 1 through March 31, 2021. GFS is committed to offering safe, outdoor art experiences that foster community engagement, stimulate imagination, and promote wellness in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the winter months, visitors are invited to experience the seasonal transformation of the grounds and engage with new sculptures sited throughout the landscape. To deepen visitors’ encounters with both art and nature, GFS will also offer a range of hybrid, in-person, and virtual programs.

Located in Hamilton, New Jersey, Grounds For Sculpture is easily accessible from both the New York City and Philadelphia metropolitan areas and is now open year-round. For more information, visit groundsforsculpture.org.

Starting December 1, GFS will offer flat rate admission at the reduced price of $10, inviting visitors to embrace the outdoors and enjoy the immersive art experiences found on GFS’s campus. While in previous years the grounds have closed for the winter season, GFS will remain open this year providing a vital outdoor resource for the community.

"People are seeking dynamic outdoor experiences that they can safely enjoy, and in the coming months we have a great opportunity to connect guests with outstanding art and sublime nature,” said Gary Garrido Schneider, Executive Director of Grounds For Sculpture. “GFS is a vital hub for our community, bringing together families across generations and friends of all ages to nurture a deep appreciation for nature and art. We are thrilled to continue to welcome visitors to experience our landscape and art as winter envelops the campus.”

Grounds For Sculpture undergoes a stunning transformation as the seasons change from fall to winter, and winter to spring. Nature creates an ever-changing backdrop for the nearly 300 sculptures on view throughout the park, creating new moments of discovery with each visit. In late fall, visitors can delight in the fragrant bloom of False Holly (osmanthus); in January, the trailing, viny shrub of the Winter Jasmine (jasminum nudiflorum) springs to life with bright yellow flowers; and in late February, the Flowering Plum Tree (prunus mume) reveals white and light pink spring blossoms signaling the advent of spring.

Each outdoor work, from Horace Farlowe’s Portal Rest (1989) and Robert Ressler’s Baruch Ashem (1989) to Seward Johnson’s On Poppied Hill (2016), also takes on a distinctly new appearance with a layer of snow. There are also new installations to see such as the debut of Seward Johnson’s latest work Viral Art, a multi-figured sculpture scene which was developed by the late artist from 2013 to 2019. Recently conserved works by Beverly Pepper, Untitled (ca. 1968) and Split Ritual II (1992), will also be on view in the Water Garden and Rat’s Woodlands area. 

GFS’s six indoor galleries remain closed due to COVID-19, but select special exhibitions continue to be presented on the grounds. Rebirth: Kang Muxiang, an outdoor presentation of six large-scale sculptures created from steel elevator cables by Taiwanese sculptor Kang Muxiang, has been extended through February 28, 2021. Additionally, visitors will have the opportunity to se eight outdoor sculptures from Bruce Beasley: Sixty Year Retrospective, a major retrospective for Bruce Beasley, one of the foremost sculptors on the West Coast, which has been postponed to spring 2021 due to COVID-19. The outdoor component of the exhibition, featuring recent works such as Torqueri XIII (2018) and Rondo VI (2017), as well as iconic works by Beasley in GFS’s collection like Dorion (1986) will be on view through December 2021.

Grounds For Sculpture has developed a rich calendar of hybrid virtual/in-person programs for the winter season, combining the best qualities of virtual programing, namely accessibility and safety, with a complementary on-site art experience. Ranging in topic from winter wreath making to family meditation, the programs provide direct access to experts as well as dynamic opportunities to interact in groups in a social distanced way. GFS will also continue to offer ArtBox, a recently launched pick-up activity for children ages 5-12 that can be completed on site or at home with monthly themes to encourage reflection and creativity. Additional programs will be announced at groundsforsculpture.org.

Starting December 1, Grounds For Sculpture will also present the first virtual edition of its eleventh annual Members’ Musings exhibition, Comments on the Contemporary. On view through February 28, 2021, the online exhibition will showcase work created by GFS’s members.

Grounds For Sculpture is open Thursday to Monday from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. through March 31. To promote the safety of visitors and staff, GFS will continue operating with a range of health and safety protocols, including limiting capacity through advance online tickets, frequent cleaning of high-touch surfaces throughout the day, and requiring that visitors and staff wear face coverings in accordance with CDC guidelines. For more information on GFS’s guidelines, visit groundsforsculpture.org.