Charles W. Ireland Sculpture Garden
The Charles W. Ireland Sculpture Garden is an outdoor garden dedicated to the presentation of sculpture completed as part of a $21 million expansion of the Birmingham Museum of Art in 1993.
The 30,000 square foot space, named for Charles W. Ireland, was co-designed by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes and environmental sculptor Elyn Zimmerman. It incorporates the Memorial Garden founded by the Red Mountain Garden Club at the rear of the museum in 1959. That garden, "dedicated to those who by their works and gifts have beautified our city", was laid out by architect William Kessler.
The Ireland Sculpture Garden is divided into three zones:
- Lower Gallery, a sunken area accommodating temporary exhibitions and events
- Upper Plaza, home to monumental works of contemporary sculpture
- Red Mountain Garden, with trees and planting beds surrounding Valerie Jaudon's Blue Pools Courtyard installation
In 2010 the American Planning Association named the Ireland Sculpture Garden one of "Americas 10 Great Public Spaces", citing the marriage of art with natural landscaping and its accommodations for physically disabled and visually impaired visitors..
Works present in the garden
- Bands of Color in Various Directions, Sol LeWitt, 2001
- Blue Pools Courtyard, Valerie Jaudon, 1993
- Jean d'Aire, Nu, Auguste Rodin, 1886/1986
- Lithos II, Elyn Zimmerman, 1993
- Mother and Child, Jacques Lipchitz, 1949
- Reclining Nude, Fernando Botero, 1984
- Tuba, Anthony Caro, 1982
References
- Huebner, Michael (October 13, 2010) "BMA Sculpture Garden a 'Great Place' in America" The Birmingham News
- 2010 Great Places in America: Great Public Spaces, Charles W. Ireland Sculpture Garden from the American Planning Association