Art & Sculpture #4: International Sculpture Park and 4 More Sculpture Parks in IL

Smithsonian Magazine lists "Six of the World's Most Spectacular Sculpture Parks...from New York to Norway". (Jennifeer Nalewicki, May, 6, 2019) and I've only been to one of them, twice (Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle, Washington).

Even with travel restrictions, if you live in Illinois, you can share the joy of sculpture art with your kids.  For our staycation, we planned visits to places that felt connected to other countries.  We chose the International Sculpture Park in Schaumburg, IL.  A partnership between The Chicago Anthenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and the Village of Schumburg turned this 20 acres of meadow, forest, and prairies into a park for art lovers.  Then we connect to Greece.  Ioannis Karalias, a Greek architect, planned the garden.

Here's good news for moms - no admission fee, no parking fee, open from sunset to sunrise, and the open space makes it easy to socially distance.

You'll enter the grounds of the Robert O. Atcher Municipal Center with free parking at the Prairie Center for the Arts.  You likely won't see the sculpture garden entry sign from the lot.  Take the prairie trail back towards the entrance.  You will see the entrance sign and "Together", an 18 foot sculpture by Jerry S. Kenar.

You can connect back to Greece with "Chairs" sculpture by Argyro Konstantinidou showcasing Greek themes and images from the history of Mexico, Egypt, and Greece.  "Athys" by Charles de Montaigu provides another connection to Europe since it represents contemporary art in Switzerland.  "Touch Heaven" connects you to Israel designed by Oded Italahmy and inspired by Judaic culture and iconography.  "Vinland" intrigued us so much that we looked up more about the sculpture by Jarle Rosseland of Oslo, Norway.  The sculpture commemorates the 1,000 year anniversary of the Viking explorer, Leif Eriksson and his discoveries of the Americas.  With that background, we could see the ship form.  Another favorite was "Thought Rise in Vacuum" by Hans-Christian Berg, combining the numbers "zero" and "ones" in a cloud-like pattern.

Fortunately we researched the park ahead.  My daughter knew we missed sculptures, even though the path seemed to end near a road.  Trace back to the parking lot and walk across the street for other sculptures.  We had a picnic lunch near the prairie and now we found lots of other picnics near the small lake.

My daughter particularly wanted to see "Awaking Muse" by Don Lawler.  It takes a lot of horizontal space at 40 feet across.  The female figure inspired by Greek mythology appears to awaken from her sleep.  Keep walking and you'll find the colorful "Ecceltora" meaning "Behold the Hour".  May you enjoy your hour at the sculpture park.

Here's four additional sculpture parks to consider visiting in Illinois:

1) West Street Sculpture Park, Galena, IL, 2 acres

2) Goldman-Kuenz Sculpture Park at Cedarhurst in Mount Vernon, IL (Southern IL)

3) Scovill Sculpture Park in Decatur, IL near zoo and museum

4) Koehnline Sculpture Park, part of Koehnline Museum of Art on Oakton Community College campus- Des Plaines, IL (north of O'Hare airport), 25 sculptures

For more sculpture parks in the Midwest, visit my article "Pyramid Hill and 4 More Sculpture Parks in the Midwest".

Agriculture Lesson #7: From France to US, Lavender Farms and 4 Festivals

Photo by Krenda

A friend of mine visited Provence, France and raved about the lavender fields.  The Mediterranean mountains and Africa are known as lavender locations.  I imagined her strolling through the fields and visiting cute gift shops.  She brought me back lavender soap which I treasured.  The perennial flowering shrub smells so fragrant.  It's often found in beauty care items, sometimes with a claim to help relaxation and sleep.  This began my research in how to visit a lavender farm a little closer to home.

Born in the south of France, Martine Anderson became the founder of the Fragrant Isle Lavender Farm in Washington Island, Wisconsin.  Martine
began growing lavender gardens with her husband Edgar.  In 2013, the farm staff planted 9,000 plants and now there's 30,000 lavender plants.  So I scheduled our Door County Wisconsin vacation around the July timing of the Lavender Festival at the Fragrant Isle Lavender Farm.  It took all of us boarding a ferry to Washington Island.  We strolled through the fields, saw freshly harvested lavender hanging in the working barn, watched demonstrations, listened to live music, and tasted samples of food containing lavender.  The festival offered painting classes near the fields too.  While lavender for culinary and aromatic purposes, I prefer the scent versus the taste.  My sister doesn't appreciate the scent as much as me, so she gladly gave me her lavender organza sachet.

France inspired other growers.  In 1999, Rob Kendrick and his wife Jeannie Ralston shot a story for national Geographic about lavender farming and perfume-making in Provence.  In 1999, they planted 2,000 plants and now you can visit their farm Hill Country Farm in Texas, near San Antonio and Austin.  Visit the farm May to July or you can buy their lavender-lemon tea cookies online.

You can find lavender farms coast to coast in the United States.  Here's three more lavender festivals for you and your family to consider:
1.  Sequim Lavender Festival, Sequim, Washington; June-Labor Day
Considered the "Lavender Capital" of North America, Sequim celebrates with a street fair of craft booths, LavenderStock music stage, free self-guided farm tours at eight farms
Kids can stay active in the KidsZone including a dance party, quick golf, obstacle course, and minute to win it challenges
2.  Michigan Lavender Festival; Imlay City, MI; Eastern Michigan Fairgrounds (North of Detroit); July
Admission includes shuttle, educational classes and demos, 5-minute mini massage, daily yoga sessions at 11AM and 2PM, and many demos (knitting, pottery, broom making, spinning & weaving), pamper yourself with an express lavender facial for $20 or listen to live music
Kid's activity barn includes crafts such as DIY lavender play dough demo for age 12 and under
3.  Ojai Valley Lavender Festival; Ojai, California; June
Ojai declared June as Lavender Month.  Take advantage of free parking and shuttle; learn from talks such as "growing lavender" and "cooking with lavender" at Lavender Inn, listen to live music and expect a crowd as the festival has attracted over 4,500 attendees
 4.  Blanco Lavender Festival, Blanco, TX; June
Free admission to the festival and farm, live music, listen to speakers at the courthouse on horticulture and bee keeping

If you can't time your visit just right for a festival, visit a farm in the summer:
1.  Ali' Kula Lavender Farm; Maui, Hawaii; June to Aug.
2.  Mt. Shasta Lavender Farms; Montague, California
3.  Pelindaba Lavender Farm; Washington State's San Juan Island; April to Oct.
4.  Hood River Lavender Farm; Oregon; May to Oct.
5.  Red Rock Randeh & Farm Growers of High Altitude Lavender; Concho, Arizona
6.  Los Poblanos Lavender Farm; Albuquerque, New Mexico
7.  Sprigs and Sprouts; Palisade, Colorado
8.  White Oak Lavender Farm; Harrisburg, Virginia; open year-round
9.  Lavender by the Bay; East Marion, NY; June - Oct.
10.  Peace Valley Lavender Farms; Bucks County, PA;  open year-round