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".
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