Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

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The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is a four and a half acre sculpture garden in Minneapolis , Minnesota . It is located near the Walker Art Center , which co- operates with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board . With over 40 permanent and other temporary sculptures installed, it is one of the largest urban sculpture gardens in the United States. In addition to views of the nearby Basilica of Saint Mary , the park also offers views of the Minneapolis skyline.

“Standing Glass Fish” by Frank Gehry at the Cowles Conservatory

The original park area was created at the beginning of the 20th century. The Swiss-American Theodore Wirth, who also designed a large part of the Minneapolis park system, created a large park area called Armonry Gardens around a US National Guard building . When the building was demolished in 1933, this original park structure was partially lost. In the late 1960s, Interstate 94 crossed the park and separated it from Loring Park to the east . From then on, parts of the site were used for sports fields. A football stadium with a capacity of 16,000 ( Parade Stadium ) and a smaller baseball stadium were also built. As early as the 1960s there were initial discussions between the park administration and the Walker Art Center as to how the area could best be used for cultural purposes.

It was not until 1984 that the decision was made to convert the old park areas into a sculpture garden. It was officially opened on September 10, 1988. In 1992 it was again enlarged to a total of 45,000 square meters.

The center of the park is the "Spoonbridge and Cherry" fountain designed by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen . The park also has a tropical greenhouse ( Cowles Conservatory ). With the Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge , which was designed by the Iranian-American artist Siah Armajani , a pedestrian bridge was also built over Interstate 94 and thus again a direct connection to Loring Park.

Web links

Commons : Minneapolis Sculpture Garden  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Coordinates: 44 ° 58 ′ 13 ″  N , 93 ° 17 ′ 20.4 ″  W.