My visit to the sculpture garden at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC on October 10, 2010

I visited the sculpture garden at the Museum of Modern Art yesterday, and since I didn't expect too much, I was actually fairly blown away.  I've visited this museum before, but not in a long time, and I probably scooted right by the sculpture garden on my last visit with not much thought on my way to some more traditional art exhibit, I'm sure.  But since I've been studying at the NYBG, I've learned there are so many kinds of gardens, and they don't have to have flowers or many plants at all to be considered a "garden".   This sculpture garden was the perfect example.  There wasn't hardly a plant in sight, except for clumps of trees here and there and a few annuals thrown in for a little waning color.

In my Landscape Design History class we have to write our first paper on a visit we make to a public, historic or well known garden.  We aren't supposed to talk about how we feel about the garden or use qualitative descriptions, but instead we are challenged to describe the garden directly and let our reader make the judgment about whether the garden design is a success.

This garden was full of all kinds of sculpture from very modern to classical.  There was also a "wishing tree" designed by Yoko Ono where visitors could take a white tag and write their wish on it and hang it from the tree.  But what I think I loved best is how the garden came together as a restful spot for visitors to sit and relax or reflect, along with a playful area for children.  I saw several kids running and playing and enjoying the garden's design's fountains, paths and even taking in the sculptures.

I also loved how when you looked up you could see above the trees in the garden, into the blue sky and admire all the different architecture around the garden and the museum, from stark office buildings, to apartments and even to a church.  The design allowed the visitor to feel as if they were in an oasis in the middle of the crowded chaos of the museum and of course, the busy streets on a Fall Sunday in the city.