SculptureSitesGR.org is a website made, in part, by Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park to document public sculpture in West Michigan.
About
SculpturesitesGR.org is a collaborative website created to list and document the outsdoor sculpture collection in the Grand Rapids area. The Greater Grand Rapids area has quietly built an impressive collection of modern and contemporary sculpture over the course of the last thirty years. World-renowned masters from Auguste Rodin to Alexander Calder, Mark di Suvero to Maya Lin, Clement Meadmore to Henry Moore have become a part of the cultural patrimony in a variety of public sites and collections. This community collection of masterpieces began with the efforts of cultural leaders and art enthusiasts in the early 1970's with the Sculpture Off the Pedestal exhibition headed by Mrs. M.S. Keeler, Mrs. James Oosting, Mrs. Stephen Bransdorfer and Mrs. James Hazzard from the Women's Committee of the Grand Rapids Art Museum. This important effort brought people in direct contact with contemporary sculpture and the community to the attention of the international art world.
Several important public entities and cultural institutions have contributed to this growth including the City of Grand Rapids which is fortunate to have La Grande Vitesse by Alexander Calder as part of their permanent collection. A variety of educational institutions and businesses in the metropolitan area have important works by masters of national and international repute as well (see Links page). Two significant events recently expanded the regional collection; in September 2001 Ecliptic on Rosa Parks Circle, a large downtown park by Maya Lin, creator of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C., was unveiled, and in the spring of 2002 the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park dedicated the newly landscaped thirty acre sculpture park with a 16-foot waterfall, meandering creek and beautiful outdoor "rooms" appropriately designed for the placement of sculptures including pieces by masters such as Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore, Mark di Suvero, and Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen. [Source]
