I first heard about the Meijer Gardens while reading David Byrne's concert journal. - and wondered where they were, because they hadn't been in Grand Rapids the last time I was there. When Elizabeth suggested that they were the thing to stop and see, we made a beeline over there and ended up spending most of the day.
A great collection of sculpture and a wild collection of gardens - all very well put together and worth the trip. If teaching a class on contemporary sculpture - this would be an incredible field trip.
Joe was particularly interested in Leonardo da Vinci's Horse: the American Horse by Nina Akamu - it is stunning at 24 feet - and makes a bold statement from any angle in the park - especially (I am told) lying underneath one of the lifted hooves. I particularly enjoyed another bronze - Bill Woodrow's Listening to History. Cast in an edition of three, it is one of those pieces that you love to sit next to and listen to the conversation others are having about "what it MEANS." (Should we listen to history? Then why is his face blindfolded? He has his ear to the ground though. Is the history in the book or in the earth?.....)
We spent a lot of time in the carnivorous plant house - the only one (they say) of its kind the country. The pitcher plants from Africa looked like giant Doctor Suess sculptures come to life.
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