Carp at the Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Encompassing 158 acres in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park represents a massive undertaking as both a horticultural center and an art space. The sprawling campus includes an amphitheater, accessible walking trails, sculptures by major modern and contemporary artists, and a welcome center that houses both indoor galleries and multiple greenhouses.
There is, in other words, a lot to see. For Josh and me, this meant what we had intended to be a two hour stroll with friends ultimately became an all-day death march under the summer sun. Which is how we know we had a great time.
Our initial interest in the gardens was as an outdoor museum, and our desire to see as many sculptures as possible kept us going throughout the day. However, many of my favorite aspects of the park—the ones I found most visually stunning and memorable—turned out to be its natural, more ephemeral attributes. These included the koi pond with its floating lily pads and churning, overlapping reflections; the seemingly misplaced wildflowers sprouting beside the paths; and the carefully cultivated carnivorous plants that crowded together in one of the smaller conservatories.
On the whole, I was struck by how much thought and care had been put into every aspect of the park to cultivate a total aesthetic experience—or, perhaps more accurately, to cultivate a series of interconnected aesthetic experiences—and I look forward to seeing how the gardens and sculpture collection develop in the future. I just hope that next time we visit we remember to come prepared with multiple bottles of water and comfortable walking shoes.
Venus flytraps (Dionaea muscipula) at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Carp at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Queen Anne’s Lace at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Carp at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Sweet pea flowers at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Carp at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Bird’s-foot trefoil at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Carp at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Flask-shaped pitcher plant (Nepenthes ampullaria) at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.