Add These Outdoor Sculpture Parks to Your Next Itinerary

Outdoor offerings are all the rage these days, and sculpture parks are no exception! Next time your groups are looking to admire some thought-provoking art while basking in the sunshine, keep these sculpture parks around the U.S. top of mind.

The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
Included in the widespread Newfield campus, the 100-acre Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park has much to offer groups, including the iconic "Funky Bones" by Atelier Van Leshout, which is made up of 20 fiberglass benches made to resemble a skeleton from above. While there, groups could also woodlands, wetlands, meadows and the shoreline of a 35-acre lake.

Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
Art and nature are truly in harmony at the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, which occupies 12 acres adjacent to the New Orleans Museum of Art. The park offers groups more than 90 works of varying styles, including the recently added work, The Seated III, a sculpture by contemporary Kenyan-American artist Wangechi Mutu.

The Neon Museum
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
A different type of sculpture park, the Neon Museum offers groups a unique perspective of Las Vegas history through the preservation, study and display of iconic signs. Among the museum's campus offerings, groups could explore the outdoor Neon Boneyard, which contains more than 200 unrestored signs which at sunset are illuminated with ground lighting, as well as numerous restored signs which are lit all the time.

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is home to a variety of internationally-acclaimed permanent works, including work from Auguste Rodin, Edgar Degas and more. Even better? The 158-acre main campus is barrier free and handicap accessible, making the destination ideal for groups of all kinds. While there, be sure to also visit the Richard & Helen DeVos Japanese Garden.

Written by Sarah Suydam, Managing Editor for Groups Today.

Photo: Cabin Creek by Deborah Butterfield. © William J Hebert, Courtesy of Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.