Published July 1, 2024

Realistic statues peppered along Sculptures Way towards Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey. Our ticket reservation was 11 o’clock. Light rain clouded the sky as we arrived through the gates, received paper wristbands, and parked around the Seward Johnson Center for the Arts building.

Scanning our wristbands brought up a digital map to follow. We entered into the first building — the Seward Johnson Center for the Arts. 

A welcome center, museum gift shop, several galleries and offices, and the Van Gogh Cafe, filled the space. The East and West Gallery were closed when we visited, so we went to the left into The Cecelia Joyce & Seward Johnson Gallery. 

The Cecelia Joyce & Seward Johnson Gallery

This exhibit is on display until December 2024. It features, “The Johnson family’s passions and the founder’s vision for The Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture.” 

I understood this exhibit better after reading the blurb on the Grounds for Sculpture website. Various sections of the gallery featured their passions and dreams.

The Marilyn Monroe statue was unbelievable; look at the movement in her dress! A grid of windows behind the statue looked out onto the lawn where a peacock moseyed through the grass.

The gallery had other realistic sculptures, black and white photos of the Johnson’s, a looped video about the 9/11 sculptures, and a wall of hand-painted trays with a metal sculpture of Einstein on a bike.

Olympia Hill

The dark metal King Lear statue towered over us as we crossed the street to Olympia Hill.

The statue on Olympia Hill was modeled from Édouard Manet’s 1863 painting Olympia.

Narrow rain garden paths lined with roses and ornamental shrubs led us up to the back of the sculpture, which was detailed and painted to look like a realistic antique chair.

I was impressed with all of the sculptures that we’d seen so far, and we barely were into the grounds (all 44 acres worth).

Pine trees grew overhead, creating a tunnel effect along the walls of viney greens. Cool raindrops plunked down upon us as we walked through. I loved exploring botanical gardens, like the one in Maine and Atlanta, and I was equally excited to explore the Grounds for Sculpture.

Red Maple Allée

Three paths diverged in the wood, and we took the well-worn dirt path through the rows of Japanese Maple trees.

The symmetry stood out to me as we wandered through the shade. Jonathan Hertzel’s bronze statues were visible beyond the trees, hidden in the branches on the left. To the right, a stream trickled out into a sunny grassy area with larger sculptures.

Rat’s Pond and Monet Bridge

To the left of the bronze statue (named Lintel) that looks like the Pi symbol, and found ourselves at the pond overlooking Rat’s Restaurant.

A wooden bench for three sat at the water’s edge. Trees hugged the area in shade with two mallard ducks snuggled beneath their limbs.

White, black, and orange Koi fish glided close to the edge of the pond, unafraid of the visitors standing at the water’s edge.

We took a picture on Monet’s Bridge, which was modeled from his famous painting, Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies. It was beautiful and so much like the original painting, especially being surrounded by the water lilies.

Sailing the Seine II & Visual Arts

Stepping past an admission booth (which luckily our wristband covered), was another water exhibit. This featured a combination of sculptures for “Visual Arts” and the couple for “Sailing the Seine II.”

The natural pose of the Sailing the Seine II sculptures was incredible, as was the detail in their clothes. Other boats on the water included a couple who were painting. On land, the men for the “Visual Arts” sculptures (cleverly named) painted one another. It was fun to see the meta perspective of each man’s canvas vs what they saw in front of them.

The sculptures at Grounds for Sculpture are so realistic, that at first, you actually believe someone is standing there painting.

This happened when I noticed a couple walking through the woods to the left of the pond. We followed their path over the tree roots. Around the corner, the path opened up and led down to a lake, where there looked to be someone fishing.

Was that a sculpture too? We stared, watching for movement before approaching the water’s edge.

It was a statue! I was impressed to see the pole and basket of fish accompanying this statue. It really looked lifelike and the view of the lake was beautiful.

If we hadn’t wandered down, we never would’ve seen this bonus piece. If that’s not a metaphor for life, I don’t know what is.

Lakeside Table #1

We stayed to the left of the path again and found a set table with chairs along the edge of the path.

Decorative napkins, wine and cutlery, bread baskets and butter curls set around the table. The foodie in me loved the detail of the exhibit and its quirky location. It felt as if someone had prepared it for lunch and stepped away.

Another sculpture I loved was right next to this one, which was this gentleman sitting in the dirt. What struck me about the sculptures was their natural poses, movement in the clothing, and detail. Look at his pants and sweater!

Dejeuner Déjà Vu

Now that we learned from the fisherman that we needed to keep an eye out for somewhat hidden exhibits, we followed a narrow dirt path — easily missed — through the trees.

It led us to the Dejeuner Déjà Vu exhibit, inspired by Edouard Manet’s painting Déjeuner Sur L’Herbe.

The sculpture is spot on to the painting, which is also visible next to the sculpture in an open book (which I thought was a clever detail). The discarded clothing and food were so lifelike — like the piles of open eaten oysters!

I liked the sculpture that was behind (but also an element) of this scene, of the woman reaching into the water.

Following the wide main path, we stayed along the lake, which was shaded. It had stopped raining and now the grounds buzzed with people. Elderly tour groups stayed together, stopped to rest on walkers or in the seating along the greenery. Families with small children pushed strollers. Couples took engagement photos throughout the flowers.

If It Were Time

The Sound of Silence being played on a flute brought us to the waterfront, where a young girl played amongst the sculptures as she read her sheet music.

A sculpture of a painter (who is supposed to be Claude Monet) was tucked behind a wall, as he painted the scene below (which is supposed to be his painting Garden at Sainte-Adresse).

Down several stone steps and past the flute player was the couple in front of the water. A boat with a silhouette of another couple bobbed on the water behind them.

I loved their vintage outfits and the layout of these sculptures within the garden and flowers to make the entire space the exhibit.

We even found another sculpture of a sad couple embracing tucked within the greenery on our way back to the main path.

Sculpture Court

Abstract stone and metal sculptures peppered the wide Great Lawn. Couples posed on the plush lawn and took turns snapping pictures. I enjoyed the sculpture set in water with blooming pink lotuses.

Peacock Run

Off the path and into the grass between the Museum Orchard and Sculpture Court, we stopped in a field half lined with giant reed grass.

God Bless America

This exhibit was inspired by Grant Wood’s famous painting, American Gothic. The figures were so tall we could barely take a selfie with them!

The Meadow

Crossing two parking lots led us to “The Meadow” with sculptures that driver’s can see from the main road.

Daydream

The path to the right opened at the top of a hill to a pond rippling with turtles. A massive sculpture of women dancing in a circle around the edge of the lake (titled Daydream), was the focal point of The Meadow.

An unnamed sculpture sat to the right of the path featuring two women sunbathing. From a distance, they looked realistic and up close, they looked lifelike — as if they were glistening with sweat, their papers and magazines bent on their lap. Even the towels were a part of the sculpture (and not real material).

The Awakening

The sandy path led us up and under Daydream, before bringing us down onto the main shaded area. In another field, The Awakening stretched from middle to end. It looked like a Greek God breaking free from the soil.

The sculpture’s chin was nearly taller than me. Children ran through the wooden paths and immediately went to touch the metal of the sculpture.

Other metal and abstract sculptures were tucked within the trees, including another painter and a vintage-looking dad mowing the lawn.

Crossing Paths

The last sculpture at the farthest end of the trail, closer to the road was Crossing Paths. It featured two elderly ladies talking on a bench. They wore pearls and brooches with their purses nearby.

You cannot believe the scale of these sculptures unless you’re standing in person. I craned my neck to look up at their faces and when standing to take a photo, you look like a speck beneath the bench. It was impressive and I’m glad we walked to the end of the path to see such a large-scale, realistic-looking piece.

Painting by the Glow of the Green Fairy

We retraced our steps all the way back to where we began. The sun was sweltering and we spent a total of four hours wandering the grounds. We planned to visit the gift shop before finding a restaurant for a late lunch / early dinner.

The last piece we saw was the two most obvious. The first represented Vincent van Gogh as he painted his well-known work Café Terrace at Night.

Next to him, was the massive sculpture inspired by Renoir’s painting Dance at Bougival.

While my post shares my favorite pieces from our visit, don’t worry. There were tons of sculptures and paths we didn’t explore, and we saw the grounds updating exhibits. Grounds for Sculpture was a great full-day experience and I plan to return in the future to explore even more of their plants and art.

What’s your June Highlight?

Do you have a favorite activity, adventure, or highlight from June? Tell me about it in the comments below.

If you’re looking for other New Jersey restaurants and activities to do, click here to read my other New Jersey posts, on the blog.