Two weeks ago Mr. Katie, Mr. Man, Baby Nugget and I traveled to Hamilton, New Jersey to visit Grounds for Sculpture for my birthday. I had been wanting to check out this 42 acre sculpture park for some time now and the opportunity presented itself when I logged onto the webpage of my library (Indian Valley Public Library) and found that the only museum pass that was reservable on my birthday was the pass for Grounds for Sculpture.
How excited I was that not only would we have a fun destination on my birthday but our admission to the museum would be free because I would be using the library’s free passes! Yet, do you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men? They often go awry. C’est la vie. We left the passes at home. Whoops. We ended up paying the full admission price but still had a great time.
Grounds for Sculpture was founded by Seward Johnson the grandson of Johnson and Johnson co-founder Robert Wood Johnson. It is located on the site of the former New Jersey State Fairgrounds.
Seward Johnson is a sculptor and many of the works on the campus are his own, though there are plenty of other artists represented as well. We mostly viewed the pieces that were located outside and by no means saw every piece of work on the campus. The day we visited the temperatures were around 90 degree Fahrenheit and the air was very humid. We also visited with a toddler and a baby in tow so we only stayed for about four hours before our companions were ready to enjoy the air conditioning of our car.
However, Mr. Katie and I really enjoyed looking at the pieces of art we saw and plan to come back again and visit in a few years perhaps on a cooler day. It is open year round and even has a warming hut in one corner of the park to make winter visits more enjoyable.
What an interesting place! I love the sculpture of the dancing couple and the painter! Nice way to spend your birthday.
Thank you for reading!