Grounds For Sculpture Unveils 2026 Exhibition and Bloom Highlights

Now that the snow has melted, blooms are stretching for the sun and adding their colorful adornment to the art that never lies dormant at Grounds For Sculpture (GFS). With seasonal blooms, more than 300 sculptures on display and six indoor galleries with rotating exhibitions, the sculpture park offers vibrant experiences year-round.

“We’ve worked to create a sculpture park for all seasons,” said 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.”

 

Seasonal Highlights: The Intersection of Art and Nature

 

Spring: Vibrant colors erupt in early spring at Grounds For Sculpture. In March and April, gold daffodils and forsythia and purple irises blanket Fairgrounds Garden. Isaac Witkin’s “Eolith” (1994), a hand-carved Blue Mountain granite sculpture, soars 14 feet above the blooms. Strawberry parfait and white cascade crabapples, visitor favorites, bloom in mid-April in the Museum Orchard that lines three sides of the Museum Building. Nearby, visitors can enjoy Roberto Lugo’s “Put Yourself in the Picture” (2022), a 20-foot, interactive, mixed-media sculpture and “Three Graces” (1994), bronze works by Toshiko Takaezu. Walter Dusenbery’s “Damascus Gate” (2002) blends architecture and sculpture to welcome visitors to the park.

Summer: The popular Lotus Pond and Tropical Room take center stage in the summer and are joined by a chorus of blooming trees and shrubs, such as magnolia, rose of Sharon, water lilies, hibiscus, phlox and hydrangeas. Nearby on the Great Lawn, works beckon to be touched. While visitors are asked not to climb or jump on the sculptures, they may interact with the art outdoors, as long as they are not marked “no touching.” Zero Higashida’s stainless steel sculpture “Sinjin” (2005) expresses the artist’s hope for world peace. Karen Petersen’s “Beast” (2001), an abstracted horse, nearly eclipses visitors with its larger-than-life presence.

Fall: While autumn dazzles with a kaleidoscope of color, blooms are a continued feature with butterfly weed and camelia adding to the seasonal splendor. Several artworks are set against the backdrop of fall foliage. Near the Museum Orchard, Dan Kainz’s “Harmony 3” is situated against the backdrop of the Ginkgo biloba’s yellow hued leaves. Emilie Beneš Brzezinski’s “Lintel” was sculpted from cherry trees and cast into bronze at Johnson Atelier, an art fabricator and restorer located right on the GFS campus. Plus, there’s the red brilliance of the Red Maple Allée, boasting two parallel rows Acer rubrum ‘October Glory’ bursting with richly hued foliage.

Winter: Evergreen and deciduous shrubs and bulbs, including Edgeworthia, witch hazel, winter hazel and Lenten rose, scent the air in late winter. Winter berries, distinctive bark that contrasts the snow, as well as camellia flowers offer reasons to brave the cold. “Mary” (1984) by Brooke Barrie sits in the center of the park. The bronze sculpture depicts a casually reclining female figure, and its placement is symbolic of Barrie’s role as inaugural Executive Director and Curator at GFS. Clifford Ward’s “Jubilant Dancer” (2001) is inspired by dancers and choreographers like Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp and George Balanchine and brings sculpture and dance together. Ward, who has one of 25 artists’ studios in the Motor Exhibits Building on the campus, has been a long-time member of the sculpture park’s community and previously worked for Johnson Atelier.

 

Exhibitions and Major Loans

 

In addition to opportunities to explore seasonal blooms in the park, Grounds For Sculpture also features rotating exhibitions.

“Grounds For Sculpture has new exhibitions in the indoor galleries as well as temporary sculpture installations outdoors,” said 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 August 1, 2027. The exhibition explores the individual and geopolitical aspects of migration with four works: an 80-foot mural, an installation featuring a portrait of the artist and ceramic nopal paddles and two bronze sculptures that incorporate a hybridization of the human form with the nopal and symbols emblematic of México and Mesoamerica. “Raíces & Resistencias,” or roots and resistance, reflects on the complex and intertwined history of migration and identity.

Opening May 17, 2026, “Opening the Vault: A Look Inside the GFS Collection” offers visitors a fresh look at works by masters of American art and early creations from artists who once apprenticed at Johnson Atelier. The exhibition, which features works from the GFS collection, is curated by team members from Guest Services, Development, Education and Marketing departments, and explores the art collection through a visual spectrum of artistic expressions, mediums and contexts.

Kiyan Williams’ “Ruins of Empire II or the Earth Swallows the Master’s House” (2024) will be installed outdoors in spring 2026. The work presents a neoclassical portico that leans off axis as if decomposing into the ground. Built using earth from the same quarry where enslaved laborers excavated materials for the nation’s capital, what Williams calls an “anti-monument,” is eroded by the forces of time, gravity, wind and rain. The work, which was created at the on-campus Johnson Atelier, exemplifies how Grounds For Sculpture is a catalyst for sculptural creativity.

“Shantell Martin: Past, Present, Future,” on view in the West Gallery September 20, 2026-July 23, 2028, invites visitors to contemplate their evolving relationship with time. The exhibition includes an immersive site-specific installation featuring textiles, murals and an engagement space, as well as Martin’s first-ever sculpture commission.

“Grounds For Sculpture strives to be far more than a repository for great sculpture,” explained 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 artform evolve in transcendent ways.”

 

Johnson Atelier joins Grounds For Sculpture, uniting sculpture creation with exhibition

 

In May 2025, Grounds For Sculpture acquired Johnson Atelier, becoming a dynamic catalyst for contemporary sculpture curation, fabrication and restoration. This brings together a major sculpture park and museum with world-class technical fabrication capabilities, positioning GFS as one of the few institutions in the country where sculpture is both created and exhibited on the same campus.

“Johnson Atelier functions as an extension of the artist’s studio, enabling ideas that might be otherwise impossible to realize,” said Margaret Johnson, Managing Director of Johnson Atelier (no relation to founder J. Seward Johnson). “Our mission is to raise the capacity of artists and make new things possible through immersive making and creative collaboration.”

With capabilities ranging from digital modeling and robotic milling to expert finishing and museum-quality conservation, Johnson Atelier has collaborated with artists for decades on projects for major museums and public spaces. More than 40% of the artwork on view at Grounds For Sculpture has been produced at Johnson Atelier by artists including Magdalena Abakanowicz, Beverly Pepper, Tom Otterness, George Segal, Kiki Smith, Michele Oka Doner, Roberto Lugo and Marisol.

 

Dining at Grounds For Sculpture