Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is a 158-acre botanical garden and outdoor sculpture park located in Grand Rapids, Michigani. It has quickly become one of the most significant sculpture experiences in the Midwest and an emerging worldwide cultural destination. Opened in April 1995 after 13 years of planning and fundraising by the West Michigan Horticultural Society. In 1990, Fred and Lena Meijer were asked for their support, and they embraced the concept of a major cultural attraction centering around horticulture and sculpture.
The Lena Meijer Tropical Conservatory is a five-story, 15,000 square-foot facility featuring rock landscapes, a waterfall and a variety of exotic plant selections. The conservatory houses tropical plants from around the world, including fig trees from India, exotic orchids from Central and South America. The outdoor gardens feature four-season plantings that can be enjoyed throughout the year.
The sculpture program is composed of both an internationally-acclaimed permanent collection and dynamic exhibition programs. The permanent collection features nearly 300 works including important examples ranging from Auguste Rodin and Edgar Degas, to Henry Moore and Alexander Calder to Louise Bourgeois and Richard Serra. Works are sited in both interior settings as well as featured outdoors across the gardens and grounds.
Every year, Meijer Gardens features three special exhibitions,
The Fred & Dorothy Fichter Butterflies Are Blooming, Christmas and Holiday Traditions Around the World and Chrysanthemums and more. Butterflies Are Blooming began in 1995 and is open every year from March 1 through April 30. It is the largest temporary butterfly exhibit in the United States with thousands of tropical butterflies from Central and South America and Asia on display in the Lena Meijer Conservatory. This is Meijer Gardens' largest exhibit with more than 150,000 visitors annually.
Christmas and Holiday Traditions Around the World - Started in 1995 as an effort to share how Christmas is celebrated around the world, every November through the first week of January, Meijer Gardens embraces the decorations, music and food of more than 40 countries and cultures and 300,000 lights twinkling indoors and out.
Chrysanthemums and more. Highlights thousands of flowering chrysanthemums in both interior and exterior venues. —
meijergardens.org
