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Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is a 158-acre (64 ha) botanical garden, art museum,[3] and outdoor sculpture park located in Grand Rapids Township, Michigan, United States. Opened in 1995, Meijer Gardens quickly established itself in the Midwest as a major cultural attraction jointly focused on horticulture and sculpture.[4]

Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

Location within Michigan
Established	1995 (1995)
Location	1000 East Beltline Ave NE Grand Rapids, Michigan United States
Coordinates	42.981°N 85.591°W / 42.981; -85.591
Type	Art Museum Botanical Garden
Key holdings	Iron Tree by Ai Weiwei[1] Galileo's Wedge & archives of Beverly Pepper[2]
Collections	Sculpture
Collection size	300
Visitors	750,000
CEO	David Hooker
Curator	Suzanne Ramljak
Architect	Cox, Medendorp & Olson Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
Owner	West Michigan Horticultural Society
Website	MeijerGardens.org

Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park includes a tropical conservatory, an 8-acre Japanese garden, major works of modern and contemporary sculpture on the grounds and indoors, along with a series of outdoor gardens and nature trails.

It is a well attended cultural site in Michigan, having attracted 750,000 visitors annually between 2015 - 2017.[5] Meijer Gardens has continued to grow its permanent collection of sculpture from major figures in Modern and Contemporary art[6] while building additional structures for indoor and outdoor gardens. In 2018, the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park was included as one of "Eleven of the World's Greatest Sculpture Parks" by Artsy.[7]

History

In the early 1980s, the West Michigan Horticultural Society, a non-profit organization in Grand Rapids, Michigan,[8] was searching for a nearby site in order to establish a botanical garden and conservatory.[9]

As early as 1986, a member of the Horticultural Society approached Frederik Meijer, (founder of Meijer grocery megastores), to request the donation of a parcel of land.[9] The site, which contained a stream and wetland areas, had originally been earmarked by Meijer for the construction of a new superstore.[9] However, an alternative location for the store was found, allowing the more environmentally sensitive lands to be used for the public garden.[9][10]

In January 1991, Meijer, Inc. donated 70.7 acres (28.6 ha) of land in Grand Rapids Township, Michigan to establish the new public garden.^{[citation needed]} A $13 million capital campaign to develop the land into a public park was led by Earl Holton and additional support was provided by the Meijer Corporation’s vendors.[9] By 1993, Frederik Meijer and fellow Grand Rapids environmental philanthropist Peter Wege of Steelcase were walking the grounds of the early park, then known as the Michigan Botanic Garden, and making plans for the nature trail.[9]

Frederik and Lena Meijer, of the Meijer Corporation, were instrumental in supporting the development of the project through the donation of land, financing, and by providing their sculpture collection to the park. The museum was renamed the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in their honor in 2002.[11] The Gardens provided an outlet for Fred Meijer's growing collection of large-scale sculpture from Marshall Fredericks and for Lena Meijer's love of plants and flowers.[12][13] Three areas of the park reflect the interests of Lena Meijer: a tropical conservancy and a children's garden (each named in her honor), and a replica of the family farm on which she was raised in Amble, Michigan.[14] Meijer Gardens first opened to the public on April 20, 1995.[15] The mission of Meijer Gardens is to support horticulture and sculpture in order to encourage appreciation of the natural environment and fine art.[16][17]

In its first 25 years of operation, Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park has attracted more than 13 million visitors.[18]

Horticulture

Conservatory

The Lena Meijer Conservatory, a five-story, 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m²) facility, supports tropical plants from around the world.[10] The conservatory houses diverse tropical plants, including coconut palms from the Pacific, fig trees from India, exotic orchids from Central and South America, and Asiatic bamboo and banana trees.[19] Additional indoor gardens include a carnivorous plant house, an arid house for cacti and desert vegetation, and an area with a Victorian theme.[19]

Children's Garden

Opened in June 2004,[20] the Lena Meijer Children’s Garden was also inspired by and named for Lena Meijer.[21] As with much of the larger park, this garden contains a number of sculptures. Included among the areas designed for children within the Lena Meijer Children's Garden are a log cabin, a labyrinth, and a rock quarry where kids can dig for buried fossils.[21]

Woodland Shade garden

The Gwen Frostic Woodland Shade Garden, dedicated in June 1998, commemorates the influence of Gwen Frostic, a life-long Michigan resident, artist, author and businesswoman known for her naturalistic block prints of local flora and fauna. The garden features woodland plants including ferns, hostas, bleeding hearts, rhododendrons, and azaleas.[19]

Japanese Garden

Opened on June 10, 2015, the 8-acre Richard and Helen DeVos Japanese Garden supports horticulture and sculpture. Designed by Hoichi Kurisu, president and founder of Kurisu International, Inc., the garden includes a variety of horticultural elements, including zen-style and bonsai gardens, scenic bridges, waterfalls, and a tea house.[22] Kurisu's garden contains several contemporary sculptures by major international artists selected especially for the location. The Japanese Garden includes a ten-foot work in granite by contemporary artist Anish Kapoor.[22]

Nature trail

The Wege Nature Trail, named for Peter M. Wege,[23] is a paved path that winds through a forested section of the property. The trail presents various native ecosystems of West Michigan and provides sites for bird watching along areas of natural prairie and wetlands.^{[citation needed]} . It is connected to the Frey Boardwalk.

The Peter M. Wege Library, which holds reference books and periodicals on horticulture and sculpture, is also named for Peter Wege.[23]

Other features

The outdoor gardens include a New American Garden by influential[24] landscape designer James van Sweden, known for his painterly approach to garden and landscape design,[24][25] and an English Perennial & Bulb Garden from designer Penelope Hobhouse, an award winning garden designer, lecturer and author.[25]

In 2003, two additional aspects of the garden were completed and opened to the public. The Michigan Farm Garden, with heirloom vegetables, orchards, and figurative animal sculptures, provides families with the opportunity to experience the context of a 1930s farm complete with a 100-year-old barn and replica farmhouse from Lena (Rader) Meijer’s childhood, and the Frederik Meijer Gardens Amphitheater, an outdoor musical and theatrical venue with a covered stage and tiered lawn seating for 1,900 persons. Past musicians featured in the Amphitheater include Harry Connick Jr., B.B. King, Sheryl Crow, the Steve Miller Band, and Wynton Marsalis.^{[citation needed]}

Sculpture

Meijer Gardens includes a 30-acre (12 ha) outdoor sculptural park, which opened on May 16, 2002.

The museum has exhibited the work of world-renowned artists including Jonathan Borofsky, Alexander Calder, Tony Smith, Anthony Caro, Antony Gormley, Mark di Suvero, Anish Kapoor, Jenny Holzer, Richard Hunt, Joan Miró, David Nash, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Keith Haring, Laura Ford, and Kenneth Snelson among others.

Permanent collection

Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park primarily collects the work of sculptors.[26] It also contains drawings, provided they were created by artists who identify as sculptors.[26] As of May 2015, the permanent collection contained over 300 artworks.[27] It features works by prominent British and American sculptors including Claes Oldenburg, Louise Bourgeois, Richard Serra, Barbara Hepworth, and Henry Moore, in addition to major works by the international artists Coosje van Bruggen, Ai Weiwei, Beverly Pepper, and Jaume Plensa.[28][29]

Fred and Lena Meijer purchased a second work by glass artist Dale Chihuly in 2009 as an addition to the permanent collection.[30]

In 2016, the museum acquired the archives of sculptor Beverly Pepper, over 900 works on paper.[26][5] Following the museum's acquisition of Iron Tree by Ai Weiwei, a major exhibition of his work was held at the Gardens in 2017.[31][32]

The collection contains numerous outdoor monumental sculptures throughout the property and also indoors in the conservatory, specialty gardens, and gallery. Among the many highlights for visitors is The American Horse, sculpted by Nina Akamu as a homage to the original commission to Leonardo da Vinci of the Duke of Milan, as well as works by Auguste Rodin and Degas in the Victorian Conservatory.

Temporary exhibitions

The Sculpture Program of the Gardens features three temporary exhibitions annually. Featured exhibitions have included works by Andy Goldsworthy, Tom Otterness, Magdalena Abakanowicz, and George Rickey.

Seasonal events

Meijer Gardens supports two large seasonal exhibition events, both started in 1995 when the facility first opened: The Fred & Dorothy Fichter Butterflies Are Blooming, and Christmas and Holiday Traditions Around the World.

Butterflies Are Blooming is held annually in the Lena Meijer Conservatory from March 1 through April 30; it is one of the largest temporary butterfly exhibits in the nation, with thousands of tropical butterflies from Central America, South America, and Asia.[33] The butterfly exhibit is well attended and popular with visitors of all ages.[34][6]

Christmas and Holiday Traditions around the World takes place from November through the first week of January. The Gardens' annual event includes the display of holiday items and symbols of more than 40 nations and cultures.[35] In 2012, the event reportedly offered "horse-drawn carriage rides" through the "candle-lit sculpture park".[36]

Gallery

• 
  Arid room cacti 2006
• 
  Michigan's Farm Garden
• 
  Meijer Gardens, 2014
• 
  Gwen Frostic Woodland Shade Garden
• 
  Boardwalk and wetlands
• 
  Children's Garden
• 
  Children's Garden
• 
  Jaume Plensa

Management

David Hooker serves as president and CEO at Meijer Gardens.[37]

In 2022, Meijer Gardens announced the hire of Suzanne Ramljak as Chief Curator.[38]

Architecture

The Lena Meijer Conservatory was designed by Cox, Medendorp and Olson,[10] and utilizes galvanized steel for the frame construction.[39][40]

In May 2019, the New York partners Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects were selected to re-envision and expand the facilities at Meijer Gardens, with the assistance of local partners Progressive AE and Owen-Ames-Kimball Co.[41] The expanded and updated 69,000 square foot welcome center, designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, displays a large relief sculpture by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa carved from four white marble slabs, each at 19 feet in height.[42]

See also

• List of botanical gardens in the United States

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.

• Meijer Gardens Website
• Gallery of 2D & 3D photos

На других языках

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- [en] Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

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[es] Parque de esculturas y jardines de Frederik Meijer

El Parque de esculturas y jardines de Frederik Meijer (en inglés: Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park) son unos invernaderos, y jardín botánico de 132 acres (53 hectáreas) de extensión con una colección de esculturas al aire libre, en el Municipio de Grand Rapids, Míchigan, Estados Unidos.

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