Whether it’s the towering size of the sculptures or their fantastical subjects like witches and sea monsters, it’s hard to find a visitor at Grounds for Sculpture without a smile on their face. This sprawling art park in Hamilton Township is unlike any you’ve ever been to. There is a theme park quality to the experience and that is not meant to diminish the importance of the works found within.
The park has somehow managed to make art-viewing a family-friendly activity. One reason why young people respond to the sculptures is because it’s one of the rare places where you can get right up close to them, touch them, and in some cases, such as Roberto Lugo’s Put Yourself in the Picture, climb on top of them. The outdoor works are almost all cast in bronze, allowing viewers a chance to interact with the art in ways that might cause a MOMA security guard to have a conniption.
About an hour drive southwest of Newark, Grounds for Sculpture, founded in 1992, is the legacy of the late Seward Johnson, heir to the Robert Wood Johnson fortune, whose world-renowned studio is still located within the complex and turns 50 years old. Most of the artworks inside the impeccably landscaped garden are Johnson’s creations.
Grounds for Sculpture had long been on my list of places to visit, but other plans always got in the way. For one, I wondered what an entire afternoon of consuming art would feel like when the limit to my brain’s art-viewing capacity is an hour or so at most museums.
But with two eateries on site, including the French chateau-inspired Rat’s Restaurant, everything you might need — food, snacks, coffee, even cocktails — is found here, making it easy to take your time. Another reason a visit is so enjoyable is that the art is amusing and playful in ways that museum exhibitions often aren’t. In fact, Johnson was initially panned by some of the high-brow art critics who thought his art was kitschy and unserious.
“Seward really believed in accessibility and he wanted everyone to get something out of art,” said Lynn DeClemente Losavio, chief legacy officer at the Seward Johnson Atelier. “The world has caught up to his ideas. It’s not low or high art — it’s just art.”
Visiting Grounds for Sculpture
Your visit to Grounds for Sculpture should begin at the Center for the Arts, just inside the entrance, which houses the welcome center, restrooms, and a “Starry Night”-themed café. Take a minute to look at the vintage photos that tell the history of the place when it was populated with Victorian thrill seekers. The land used to belong to the New Jersey State Fairgrounds, which closed in 1980. Johnson, whose atelier was located next door, saw the abandoned lot as a chance to create an outdoor museum and opened Grounds for Sculpture in 1992.
When you’re finally ready to venture off into the park, remember that there is no right or wrong way to go. It is the sort of place that rewards exploration. Not all the artworks are found along the walking paths. Some are in little clearings or down side alleys and you almost feel like you’re imposing on intimate gatherings when stumbling on a hidden group of statues. Other works can only be spied while looking in unexpected places. For instance, Frederick Morantes’s “Nude Descending the Staircase” is found scaling the wall outside the café.
“One of the things Johnson wanted was for people to walk around, get lost, and discover things,” said Bill Stahlin, one of the park’s guides who showed me around on a recent Saturday.
You should know two terms about Johnson’s artistic point of view. One was beyond the frame, where he would craft realistic tableaux of famous Impressionist paintings. You’ll find exhibits portraying Henri Matisse’s The Dance and Claude Monet’s Woman with a Parasol. But Johnson always puts his own spin on the works.
The other term you should know is hyperrealism. Johnson, in fact, used human models and dressed them in real clothes then drenched them in resin and liquid rubber to replicate the material right down to the folds and wrinkles in the fabrics. Stahlin said that one time an intern fell asleep next to a statue and woke up to find a visitor prodding her as if she were part of the exhibit.
The park is something different to everyone. For those who want to relive the New Jersey State Fairgrounds site, its history is preserved. For others who want to see rare horticulture and feats of topiary and landscape design, it’s a botanical garden. But in the end, the art left the biggest impression. What I took away was the much-needed reminder about how to experience the world: to look beyond the surface, to be curious, and most of all, not to take the life so seriously.
How to Get There
Grounds for Sculpture is easily accessible via public transportation. Take the Northeast Corridor train from Newark Penn Station to Hamilton Station (one stop after Princeton Junction). Right outside the station hall on the northbound side is a bus stop for #608. From there, it’s a five-minute bus ride to the park.
Exhibitions
In collaboration with the Philly-based Monument Lab, a new exhibition, “Slow Motion,” features five artists including Billy Dufala, Ana Teresa Fernández, Colette Fu, Omar Tate, and Sandy Williams IV and runs from May 5, 2024, to September 1, 2025.
