Words and photos by Streets Dept Lead Contributor Eric Dale. Orginally published in November 2022, so some details of the exhibitions may have changed.
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This post is a free sample of our monthly “Local Tourist” column, a Patreon-exclusive series that recommends interesting places to visit in the Philly area. Patreon is a membership platform that lets readers like you directly support the work we do here at Streets Dept (and enables us to operate without ads!) Bonus Patreon-only articles like this are one of the ways that we thank our members. If you enjoy it (and our other reporting), join our Patreon today for just $5/month!

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Hello and welcome to another installment of Local Tourist, the column that helps you explore Philly and beyond! This month, we’re taking a step into the beyond and going a little outside the borders of Philly to Trenton’s Grounds for Sculpture.

Grounds for Sculpture (GFS) is an indoor and outdoor sculpture park and arboretum founded in 1992 by sculptor and philanthropist Seward Johnson. It’s located on the former site of the New Jersey State Fairgrounds and Trenton Speedway, and has served to elevate the work of hundreds of living artists over the years.

First things first: GFS is huge, and there’s tons to see. The $25 admission fee (or $12 for 17 and under) may seem a little steep, but if you wander the entire grounds, you’ll get your money’s worth. I’d recommend allotting at least 3.5 hours for your visit, or 4+ if you’re planning on getting a meal there. More on that below!

GFS is jam-packed with large-scale sculpture. Some of it is traditional modern sculpture; some of it is more unusual!

There are some very cool and very photogenic works here.

And, as you might expect, there are a ton of sculptures by founder Seward Johnson. His painted bronze trompe l’oeil figures are all over the property. Some of them are elaborate!

I also loved discovering a number of familiar sculptures, which loyal readers might recognize from my September 2022 column.

Yes, this is one of a dozen sculptures at GFS by Dana Stewart, whose sculpture “Boomer” has become the mascot of New Hope!

In addition to sculpture, there is also some poetry sprinkled around! I think this is such a fantastic idea. Reading this poem about a plant while standing in a garden was quite a delightful experience, and I don’t know why this isn’t more common. I think we need more public poetry.

Beyond art, GFS is also a garden, of course. And boy have they done a great job with their landscaping! Check out these paths:

Some of these make great backdrops for portraits!

GFS even labels some of their plants, which is something I’m always looking for—both because I’m always happy to learn a new plant ID, and because it’s a sign that the plants are being cared for. Another sign? A self-guided tree tour of 78 different species on the property is available!

One new plant I learned on my visit to GFS is common snowberry. Have you ever seen a berry the color of cotton candy?

Yet another sign that the gardeners are doing a good job is the presence of wildlife. Keep an eye out for bunnies at GFS!

You may also see peacocks. They’re not native, of course, and the ones at GFS have basically been domesticated. I couldn’t find any information on why there are peacocks, but they’ve been residents at GFS since it opened. This was the best view I could get, but based on photos online, they will often walk right past you, or even display their feathers! And keep an eye out for the single white peacock! (It’s not albino.)

There are several buildings on the campus. One, the Gazebo, is a little snack bar. To fully experience GFS, I tried to buy a snack there… but they seemed to be having a hard time. Not only were they out of pretzels and cookies, they literally told me “our ice cream is too hard to scoop right now.” Huh?! I had a good laugh about that one. I hope you have better luck!

Anyway, there are indoor art displays in two museum buildings. This piece and others by Roberto Lugo are on display until January 8, 2023 in the small building. And I didn’t even have time to visit the large building! I cannot express to you how much there is to see at this place. If you’re into sculpture, you could easily spend an entire day at GFS.

Lugo is a talented ceramicist who teaches ceramics at Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple. As a part of this bilingual exhibit, he worked on-site in a makeshift studio to produce several of the pieces on display. The phrase “it takes a village to make a potter” has become something of a motto for the artist, and as such, works by his mentors and mentees are also on display. It feels very communal! Adding to the sense of community, visitors are invited to make something out of clay too!

The last thing I’ll recommend incorporating into your GFS visit is a meal at Rats Restaurant. Odd name, right? Apparently it’s named for Ratty, a character in one of Seward Johnson’s favorite books, The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame. Johnson himself was behind the whole concept for Rats, which is styled after Monet and the Impressionists. I have to say, he did a great job. It’s pretty cool and cozy in there!

The only thing is, you absolutely have to have reservations. I was just barely able to get a seat at the bar without one, so learn from my mistakes! If you go during fair weather, definitely get a table out on the terrace and pretend that you’re inside a Monet!

You can get to Rats from inside GFS, which gives you this great view:

But admission isn’t a prerequisite for eating at Rats, because you can also get to it from the outside, which gives you this view of its cozy roundabout:

Regardless of whether you’re eating at Rats, visiting GFS, or both, make sure to check out the sculptures around the back of the restaurant. There is quite a shocking sculpture by Johnson back there!

All of the objects in this scene are made of metal. And there’s an auditory component too! Worth tracking down, for sure.

One last thing: like many modern garden spaces, GFS has jumped on the nighttime activations craze with light and sound installations on view after dark. Right now, Night Forms: Infinite Wave is on view, and it was created by Klip Collective, whose studio is in the Bok Building in South Philly and whose work we’ve previously covered on Streets Dept!

No matter what time of day or night (or season) you visit, Grounds for Sculpture will delight you. There’s always something going on—I visited in the dead of winter a few years ago and they were having live ice sculpture demonstrations! It’s also a great place for kids, as most of Johnson’s works practically beg to be interacted with and posed with for silly photos.

That’s it for this time! Conrad will be taking over this column next month while I’m on vacation, so I’ll see you in 2023. Happy exploring!

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Read past unlocked Local Tourist columns here: The Mercer Museum, Otherworld, Road-free Stroll Through University City, Woodmere Art Museum, and The Navy Yard.

And again, if you like these kinds of articles and want to support the growth of Streets Dept, consider joining our Patreon for as low as $5 here!