Calder Gardens

Last updated
Calder Gardens
Calder Gardens.jpg
Calder Gardens in 2025
Calder Gardens
Established2025 (2025)
Location Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Type Art museum
Website https://caldergardens.org/

Calder Gardens is an art museum in Philadelphia dedicated to the work of sculptor Alexander Calder, opened in 2025. It sits on 1.8 acres (0.73 hectares) of land on the city's Benjamin Franklin Parkway and includes indoor and outdoor spaces that feature Calder's work.

Contents

Jointly administered by the Calder Foundation and the nearby Barnes Foundation, Calder Gardens was designed by the architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron in collaboration with landscape designer Piet Oudolf and landscape architect Richard Herbert. Funding for the nearly $100 million project was provided by the city, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and private donors.

Background and history

Development

A museum dedicated to the Philadelphia–born sculptor Alexander Calder was first proposed by mayor Ed Rendell in 1998 as a collaboration between the city and the Calder Foundation, the family–run nonprofit which manages Calder's estate. Planning and fundraising commenced and a city–owned site was set aside on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway; [1] a number of works by the artist were installed outdoors on the site in 2002 and 2004 and became known as the Calder Garden. [2] Despite this, the project stalled and was announced as canceled in 2005, [1] and the sculptures installed on the site were removed in 2009. [2]

In the late 2010s, philanthropists in the city approached the foundation to propose restarting the project. [3] Alexander S.C. Rower, Calder's grandson and the president of the foundation, said that he told supporters he did not want to build a traditional museum, instead envisioning "a place that’s meant for introspection, where you can be with art." [4] The new project was announced in early 2020 with architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron chosen to design the building, [3] with an original budget of $40 million. Businessman Joseph Neubauer and the Neubauer Family Foundation, key supporters of reviving the project, contributed a significant amount of funding, [5] along with other private donors and foundations including The Pew Charitable Trusts and grants from the city and state. [6] [7] The schedule was soon delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. [1]

In 2022 the foundation revealed renderings of the museum design, featuring structures heavily integrated into the site's landscape, [6] and announced that the gardens would be designed by Piet Oudolf along with landscape architect Richard Herbert. [7] By this point, the budget was raised to $70 million. [5] Construction was set to begin the same year with a projected opening date of early 2024, but the work was delayed until 2023 to allow the city to reroute a water main on the site. [8]

In early 2025, the museum announced an adjusted opening date of Fall 2025 and appointed senior curatorial leadership, naming curator Juana Berrío as senior director of programs. [9] [10] The final budget for the museum was close to $100 million, with a total contribution of $20 million from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. [5]

Opening and operations

The museum officially opened in September 2025. [11] The primary ongoing exhibition at the museum is a rotating installation of works by Calder from throughout his career. [12]

Museum leadership decided not to include explanatory wall texts or other didactic information in the museum, instead directing visitors to learn more about Calder via online sources. [5] [12] [13] Rower and other museum leaders have said the institution hopes to emphasize the experience of viewing Calder's art in a tranquil setting, rather than foregrounding historical information about the artist or academic analyses of his art. [14] [15]

Administration and programs

The museum is jointly administered by the Calder Foundation and the Barnes Foundation, an art museum located nearby on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. [5] [4] Calder Gardens does not have a traditional permanent collection, instead drawing from the collection of the Calder Foundation and other institutions. [16] [17]

Reception

Critics reviewing the opening of the museum and its design were largely positive, with many approving of the institution's decision not to provide written interpretations of Calder's work as well as the design of the underground structure and gardens. Others criticized the building and gardens's relationship to the history and landscape on the parkway, objecting particularly to a perceived civic failure to make the institution more physically open to the public.

Willard Spiegelman commended the naturalistic feel of the museum space and didactic-free curatorial strategy, applauding the decision not to mediate the viewer's experience with Calder's work. [12] Andrew Russeth wrote in The New York Times that the lack of didactics in the museum "may seem anti-intellectual" but argued that it allowed for an "undistracted" experience of Calder's art. [14] In The Brooklyn Rail , Jessica Holmes praised the non-traditional structure and curatorial strategy of the museum, writing that they were largely in line with Calder's own philosophies. [18] Holmes, along with Adam Gopnik writing in The New Yorker , argued that the design of the museum ensured that though underground, the interior spaces never felt confined or limited. [18] [19]

Critic Inga Saffron called the project's approach to its geographic site a success, saying that the architects had successfully managed to balance the relationship between the parkway on one side and the active interstate highway on the other side. [15] Aaron Betsky, writing in Architect Magazine , approved of the museum's design and structure and said they offered a new model of presentation for more traditional art institutions to replicate. [17]

In a negative review for The Guardian , Oliver Wainwright criticized the architects for overloading the design with ideas. He deemed the museum "tuned to our impatient age of spectacle" and said the experience in the space "can sometimes verge on Disneyish". [13] Historian Michael J. Lewis was highly critical of the museum's perceived civic posture as a primarily underground building with limited public outdoor space and of the lack of attention paid to the visual or historic context of the site on the parkway. [20] Izzy Kornblatt in Architectural Record described the execution of the museum's building as "impressive" but faulted the lack of publicly accessible spaces. [21]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Salisbury, Stephan (7 September 2022). "The project seemed dead. But after a 25-year delay, a Calder museum is finally coming to the Parkway" . The Philadelphia Inquirer . Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
  2. 1 2 Mucha, Peter (2 April 2009). "Calder sculpture garden goes fallow". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Archived from the original on 4 April 2009. Retrieved 7 November 2025.
  3. 1 2 Angeleti, Gabriella; Ludel, Wallace (21 February 2020). "A 'sanctuary' devoted to Alexander Calder will open in Philadelphia" . The Art Newspaper . Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2025.
  4. 1 2 Loos, Ted (7 September 2022). "Calder Gardens in Philadelphia to Honor a Native Son" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Crimmins, Peter (16 September 2025). "Major new art attraction for the work of Alexander Calder opens in Philadelphia on Sunday". WHYY . Archived from the original on 9 October 2025. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  6. 1 2 Benzine, Vittoria (2022-09-07). "Famed Architects Herzog & de Meuron Have Built a New Garden Dedicated to Alexander Calder's Art in Philadelphia—See Images Here". Artnet News . Archived from the original on 8 November 2025. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
  7. 1 2 Angeleti, Gabriella (2022-09-07). "A first glimpse of Philadelphia's future Alexander Calder sanctuary" . The Art Newspaper . Archived from the original on 18 July 2025. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
  8. ↑ Crimmins, Peter (16 November 2022). "Calder museum breaks ground on the Parkway". WHYY . Archived from the original on 15 September 2025. Retrieved 7 November 2025.
  9. ↑ Loos, Ted (15 January 2025). "Calder Gardens Names a Curatorial Leader and Sets September Opening" . The New York Times . Retrieved 7 November 2025.
  10. ↑ Sutton, Benjamin (15 January 2025). "New Alexander Calder institution in Philadelphia sets opening date" . The Art Newspaper . Archived from the original on 20 September 2025. Retrieved 7 November 2025.
  11. ↑ Dobrin, Peter (2025-09-21). "After two decades, Calder Gardens has finally arrived" . The Philadelphia Inquirer . Archived from the original on 21 September 2025. Retrieved 2025-10-04.
  12. 1 2 3 Spiegelman, Willard (24 September 2025). "At Philadelphia's Calder Gardens, a Sculptor Seen Anew" . The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on 5 October 2025. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  13. 1 2 Wainwright, Oliver (19 September 2025). "Garden of unearthly delights: inside the eerie underground lair for 'master of mobiles' Alexander Calder". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 28 September 2025. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  14. 1 2 Russeth, Andrew (15 September 2025). "In Philadelphia, a Stirring New Stage for Alexander Calder" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on 24 September 2025. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  15. 1 2 Saffron, Inga (15 September 2025). "The Parkway's luminous, magical spirit cave" . The Philadelphia Inquirer . Archived from the original on 15 September 2025. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  16. ↑ Cascone, Sarah (28 October 2025). "Inside Calder Gardens, Philadelphia's Lush New Space for the Master of the Mobile". Artnet News . Archived from the original on 8 November 2025. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  17. 1 2 Betsky, Aaron (22 September 2025). "Calder Gardens: The Anti-Museum as Architecture". Architect Magazine . Archived from the original on 24 September 2025. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  18. 1 2 Holmes, Jessica (November 2025). "Calder Gardens". The Brooklyn Rail . Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  19. ↑ Gopnik, Adam (15 September 2025). "In Philadelphia's Calder Gardens, a Dynasty Comes Home" . The New Yorker . Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  20. ↑ Lewis, Michael J. (24 September 2025). "Calder Gardens Puts Sculpture in a Loosely Sketched Context" . The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  21. ↑ Kornblatt, Izzy (2 October 2025). "At Philadelphia's Calder Gardens, Herzog & de Meuron Entombs Art Beneath a Tapestry of Plantings". Architectural Record . Retrieved 4 November 2025.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.