Art

Our next stop on my three-state/five-city tour was Grand Rapids, to visit one of my cousins. I have a lot of cousins. Most of them are older than me, got married, and are now spawning children. The point being, we went to visit one of my cousins and her family. While in Grand Rapids, the plan for the day was to visit the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, so we got up nice and early and drove to the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.

Neuron

We ended up spending most of the day there, because in the theme of doing things for arbitrary completion, we like to get our money’s worth at any kind of museum or attraction by seeing everything there is to see. Besides, you might not be going that way again for awhile. We started out with the giant horse (and the medium horse and the little horse) then made our way around the sculpture park. Here’s where I add the disclaimer that I’m not a huge art person. I appreciate art, and I like going to art museums, but I can only name a handful of artists and I’m not discussing the symbolism of the green fork in the bottom right corner of the painting unless someone pays me.

That said, I liked the sculpture park. There were enough sculptures that looked like things or were otherwise interesting, and the walking between sculptures was through nicely manicured areas with lots of trees. Highlights included a giant trowel, a tree, headless ostriches, and curly fries, among others. For the right price, my naming services may be available for any paintings, sculptures, artwork, or children you might produce.

Clockwise from top left: giant trowel, headless ostriches, tree, and curly fry

After admiring every sculpture possible, I was hungry, so we went to have lunch back in the main building. It was standard museum-style food – mainly sandwiches, some salads and soups – and it was good, but not spectacular. If I remember correctly, the prices were reasonable, if on the higher side. The meal area also has Chihuly pieces hanging from the ceiling. Chihuly had an exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston that I saw some years ago; he’s known for his often very large and colorful blown glass works. If you have a chance to see a Chihuly exhibit, take it.

Following lunch, we returned outside to the blazing hot sun to explore the Japanese Garden. The Japanese Garden is the newest part of the Gardens/Sculpture Park. You could tell from the lack of mature plants in some areas, but it has a nice lake surrounded by paths, bridges, and waterfalls. After sweating our way through the Japanese Garden, we swung by the farm and the children’s garden, walked through the shade garden, and finished up in the greenhouses.

Cactus

So all told, we spent a full day there, with a lunch break. You could certainly take less time if you walked faster or didn’t look at every block of steel and concrete. You could take more time if you wanted to discuss why each artist used a particular shade of orange or placed that piece of wood exactly three centimeters from that other piece of wood. For the price, it’s worth it even if you only spend a few hours there if you compare it to a movie ticket. If you don’t like paying for movie tickets, spend the whole day there and it’ll be worth it then.