Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

On a spectacular spring day in May, my partner and I had the pleasure of spending a day touring the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The Guest Guide explains:

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park celebrates benefactor Fred Meijer’s love of sculpture and his wife Lena’s love of flowers. What started out as a love story has been transformed into 158 acres of beauty celebrating the marriage of art and gardens. Spectacular in all seasons, Meijer Gardens is a place you’ll want to experience again and again.

Outdoors, explore our world-class sculpture collection, gardens, meadows, woodlands and wetlands. Indoors, enjoy conservatories featuring tropical, desert and carnivorous plants, and changing seasonal displays.

Artwork

Sculpture

Explore our internationally acclaimed permanent sculpture collection, which includes 200 masterworks from Auguste Rodin to Yinks Shonibare. Our indoor sculpture galleries host temporary sculpture exhibitions. 

We took advantage of the 45-minute Tram Tour to see many of the outdoor sculptures which would have been difficult to see without extensive walking through the park.

Lena Meijer Children’s Garden

One of the largest and most interactive children’s gardens in the country, the Lena Meijer Children’s Garden guests make their own discoveries through hands-on play. This space invites children of all ages and abilities to explore in a setting that fosters curiosity, experiential learning, and the engagement of all five senses.

Plants and Flowers

Chihuly Glass

The main building features creations by renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly. All but one of his works displayed here are glass flowers installed near the ceiling in the James & Shirley Balk Café. To learn more about Dale Chihuly, visit his website.

The Experience

A visit to the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is an experience par excellence. After spending much of a day there, I left feeling that every aspect of this place was conceived and executed to near perfection. The visual stimulation is sensory overload. The quality of the artwork, sculture, and gardens is superb. Even the food in the café is excellent.

The first thing you receive after purchasing your ticket is a carefully designed Guest Guide & Map booklet. Here you are treated as a guest, not a tourist. Every employee and volunteer we encountered was polite and helpful.

In conclusion, these words from the Guest Guide:

Meijer Gardens is a place for everyone to enjoy and feel welcome. We invite you to experience our gardens and interior spaces to stimulate your senses, grow your curiosity and share a cultural experience that is Always Growing, Always Beautiful, Always New.