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  Location within Michigan | |
| Established | 1995 (1995) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1000 East Beltline Ave NE Grand Rapids,Michigan United States |
| Coordinates | 42°58′52″N85°35′28″W / 42.981°N 85.591°W /42.981; -85.591 |
| Type | Art Museum Botanical Garden |
| Key holdings | Iron Tree byAi Weiwei[1] Galileo's Wedge & archives ofBeverly Pepper[2] |
| Collections | Sculpture |
| Collection size | 300 |
| Visitors | 750,000 |
| CEO | Charles Burke |
| Curator | Suzanne Ramljak |
| Architect | Cox, Medendorp & Olson Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects |
| Nearest parking | On site (no charge) |
| Website | MeijerGardens.org |
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is a 158-acre (64 ha)botanical garden, art museum,[3] and outdoorsculpture park located inGrand Rapids Township,Michigan,United States. Opened in 1995, Meijer Gardens quickly established itself in theMidwest as a major cultural attraction jointly focused on horticulture and sculpture.[4]
Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park includes a tropical conservatory, an 8-acre Japanese garden, major works of modern and contemporary sculpture on the grounds and indoors, along with a series of outdoor gardens and nature trails.
It is a well attended cultural site in Michigan, having attracted 750,000 visitors annually between 2015 - 2017.[5] Meijer Gardens has continued to grow its permanent collection of sculpture from major figures inModern andContemporary art[6] while building additional structures for indoor and outdoor gardens. In 2018, Meijer Gardens was included as one of "Eleven of the World's Greatest Sculpture Parks" byArtsy.[7] In 2023, 2024, and 2025USA Today voted the park the #1 Sculpture Park in the United States as part of their 10Best Readers Choice Awards.[8][9]
In the early 1980s, the West Michigan Horticultural Society, a non-profit organization inGrand Rapids, Michigan,[10] was searching for a nearby site in order to establish abotanical garden andconservatory.[11]
As early as 1986, a member of the Horticultural Society approachedFrederik Meijer, (founder ofMeijer grocerymegastores), to request the donation of a parcel of land.[11] The site, which contained a stream and wetland areas, had originally been earmarked by Meijer for the construction of a new superstore.[11] However, an alternative location for the store was found, allowing the more environmentally sensitive lands to be used for the public garden.[11][12]
In January 1991, Meijer, Inc. donated 70.7 acres (28.6 ha) of land inGrand Rapids Township, Michigan to establish the new public garden.[citation needed] A $13 million capital campaign to develop the land into a public park was led by Earl Holton and additional support was provided by the Meijer Corporation's vendors.[11] By 1993, Frederik Meijer and fellow Grand Rapids environmental philanthropistPeter Wege of Steelcase were walking the grounds of the early park, then known as the Michigan Botanic Garden, and making plans for the nature trail.[11]
Frederik and Lena Meijer, of theMeijer Corporation, were instrumental in supporting the development of the project through the donation of land, financing, and by providing their sculpture collection to the park. The museum was renamed the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in their honor in 2002.[13] The Gardens provided an outlet for Fred Meijer's growing collection of large-scale sculpture fromMarshall Fredericks and for Lena Meijer's love of plants and flowers.[14][15] Three areas of the park reflect the interests of Lena Meijer: a tropical conservancy and a children's garden (each named in her honor), and a replica of the family farm on which she was raised inAmble, Michigan.[16] Meijer Gardens first opened to the public on April 20, 1995.[17] The mission of Meijer Gardens is to support horticulture and sculpture in order to encourage appreciation of the natural environment andfine art.[18][19]
In 2017 the organization began significant renovations and additions of new spaces. The expansion was designed byTod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. The expansion featured a new Welcome Center and more exhibition spaces, allowing for larger and more diverse art installations.[20]
In 2023, Meijer Gardens welcomed their 14 millionth visitor.[21]
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The Lena Meijer Tropical Conservatory, a five-story, 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m2) facility, supports tropical plants from around the world.[12] The conservatory houses diverse tropical plants, includingcoconut palms from the Pacific, fig trees from India, exoticorchids from Central and South America, and Asiaticbamboo andbanana trees.[22] Additional indoor gardens include a carnivorous plant house, an arid house for cacti and desert vegetation, and an area with a Victorian theme.[22]
Opened in June 2004,[23] the Lena Meijer Children's Garden was also inspired by and named for Lena Meijer.[24] As with much of the larger park, this garden contains a number of sculptures. Included among the areas designed for children within the Lena Meijer Children's Garden are a log cabin, a labyrinth, and a rock quarry where kids can dig for buried fossils.[24]
The Gwen Frostic Woodland Shade Garden, dedicated in June 1998, commemorates the influence ofGwen Frostic, a life-long Michigan resident, artist, author and businesswoman known for her naturalistic block prints of local flora and fauna. The garden features woodland plants includingferns,hostas,bleeding hearts,rhododendrons, andazaleas.[22]
Opened on June 10, 2015, the 8-acre Richard and Helen DeVos Japanese Garden supports horticulture and sculpture. Designed byHoichi Kurisu, president and founder of Kurisu International, Inc., the garden includes a variety of horticultural elements, includingzen-style andbonsai gardens, scenic bridges, waterfalls, and a tea house.[25] Kurisu's garden contains several contemporary sculptures by major international artists selected especially for the location. The Japanese Garden includes a ten-foot work in granite by contemporary artistAnish Kapoor.[25]
The Wege Nature Trail, named for Peter M. Wege,[26] is a paved path that winds through a forested section of the property. The trail presents various native ecosystems of West Michigan and provides sites for bird watching along areas of naturalprairie andwetlands.[citation needed] It is connected to the Frey Boardwalk.
The Peter M. Wege Library, which holds reference books and periodicals onhorticulture andsculpture, is also named for Peter Wege.[26]
The outdoor gardens include a New American Garden by influential[27] landscape designer James van Sweden, known for his painterly approach to garden and landscape design,[27][28] and an English Perennial & Bulb Garden from designerPenelope Hobhouse, an award-winning garden designer, lecturer and author.[28] The English Perennial Garden was redesigned by award-winning designer Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio of Vermont.[29]
In 2003, two additional aspects of the garden were completed and opened to the public. The Michigan Farm Garden, with heirloom vegetables, orchards, and figurative animal sculptures, provides families with the opportunity to experience the context of a 1930s farm complete with a 100-year-old barn and replica farmhouse from Lena (Rader) Meijer's childhood, and the Frederik Meijer Gardens Amphitheater, an outdoor musical and theatrical venue with a covered stage and tiered lawn seating for 1,900 persons. Past musicians featured in the Amphitheater includeHarry Connick Jr.,B.B. King,Sheryl Crow, theSteve Miller Band, andWynton Marsalis.[citation needed]
Meijer Gardens includes a 30-acre (12 ha) outdoor sculptural park, which opened on May 16, 2002.
The museum has exhibited the work of world-renowned artists includingJonathan Borofsky,Alexander Calder,Tony Smith,Anthony Caro,Antony Gormley,Mark di Suvero,Anish Kapoor,Jenny Holzer,Richard Hunt,Joan Miró,David Nash,Arnaldo Pomodoro,Keith Haring,Laura Ford, andKenneth Snelson among others.
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park primarily collects the work of sculptors.[30] It also contains drawings, provided they were created by artists who identify as sculptors.[30] As of May 2015, the permanent collection contained over 300 artworks.[31] It features works by prominent British and American sculptors includingClaes Oldenburg,Louise Bourgeois,Richard Serra,Barbara Hepworth, andHenry Moore, in addition to major works by the international artistsCoosje van Bruggen,Ai Weiwei,Beverly Pepper, andJaume Plensa.[2][32]
Fred and Lena Meijer purchased another large work by glass artistDale Chihuly in 2009 as an addition to the permanent collection.[33]
In 2016, the museum acquired the archives of sculptorBeverly Pepper, over 900 works on paper.[30][5] Following the museum's acquisition ofIron Tree byAi Weiwei, a major exhibition of his work was held at the Gardens in 2017.[1][34]
The collection contains numerous outdoor monumental sculptures throughout the property and also indoors in the conservatory, specialty gardens, and gallery. Among the many highlights for visitors isThe American Horse, sculpted byNina Akamu as a homage to the original commission toLeonardo da Vinci of theDuke of Milan, as well as works byAuguste Rodin andDegas in the Victorian Conservatory.
The Sculpture Program of the Gardens features temporary exhibitions. Featured exhibitions have included works byAndy Goldsworthy,Tom Otterness,Magdalena Abakanowicz,Yinka Shonibare,Jim Dine, andGeorge Rickey.
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Meijer Gardens supports two large seasonal exhibition events, both started in 1995 when the facility first opened:The Fred & Dorothy Fichter Butterflies Are Blooming, and theChristmas and Holiday Traditions.
Fred & Dorothy Fichter Butterflies Are Blooming is held annually in the Lena Meijer Conservatory from March 1 through April 30; it is one of the largest temporary butterfly exhibits in the nation, with thousands of tropical butterflies from Central America, South America, and Asia.[35] The butterfly exhibit is well attended and popular with visitors of all ages.[6][36]
Christmas and Holiday Traditions takes place from November through the first week of January. The Gardens' annual event includes the display of holiday items and symbols of more than 40 nations and cultures.[37]
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David Hooker was the President & CEO at Meijer Gardens from 2006 to 2022.[38][39] Charles Burke was appointed as Hooker's successor, starting in 2023.[40]
In 2022, Meijer Gardens announced the hire of Suzanne Ramljak as Chief Curator.[41]
The Lena Meijer Conservatory was designed by Cox, Medendorp and Olson,[12] and utilizesgalvanized steel for the frame construction.[42][43]
In May 2019, the New York partnersTod Williams Billie Tsien Architects were selected to re-envision and expand the facilities at Meijer Gardens, with the assistance of local partners Progressive AE and Owen-Ames-Kimball Co.[44] The expanded and updated 69,000 square foot welcome center, designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, displays a largerelief sculpture by Spanish artistJaume Plensa carved from four white marble slabs, each at 19 feet in height.[45]
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