Benson Sculpture Garden

The scale of this garden is surprising: it spreads over 2 large city blocks, separated, unfortunately, by a very busy street with no crosswalk. Quality of the art varies, of course, but there's so much of it that, surely, everyone will find much to delight, inspire and provoke. Just wish they would devote more attention to landscaping. Too many sculptures are just kind of plunked down where there's a space, and photos are marred by the unattractive background of houses and cars. The traffic noise is a distraction as well.

We learned of this by accident during a cross country trip and decided to stop by. We are SO glad we did! We felt the park and sculptures were exceedingly well done and enjoyed ourselves a great deal. Yes, there is a busy street between the two blocks of the garden but there actually IS a crosswalk at the traffic light. The sign states that at the time of establishment (2008), it was the largest outdoor juried artist sculpture show in the United States. It says it is recognized as “one of the most unique sculptural gardens in the country”. We believe it. Truthfully, we were amazed at how long the trail was for the garden. There is much to see here.

It was a nice place to stop and walk around for a few moments while on our way through town. The indoor gallery has much more to see than the garden itself.