Cornerstone Gardens Sonoma, California
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Cornerstone’s nine acres contain more than a dozen gardens by noted California landscape architects. Strolling through the grounds, you’ll find much more than tea roses and picket fences. In the Mediterranean Meadow, grasses of varied height and colors move in the breeze like a living sculpture, while a sweeping windscreen woven from eucalyptus bark and branches creates an elegant sightline to the Sonoma hills. Look for whimsy, too: hundreds of kitschy, spinning pinwheels blossom from a plot of AstroTurf, and when the holi- days roll around, a field of hundreds of glowing snowmen lights the night. The grounds also include galleries, shops, and—this being Sonoma— wine-tasting rooms. When it’s time to put your feet up, look for the Big Blue Chair, a towering Adirondack at the entranceway that dwarfs anyone intrepid enough to climb in.
South Carolina Botanical Garden Clemson, South Carolina
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Fans of innovative environmental art- ist Andy Goldsworthy will appreciate the Nature-Based Sculpture Program at the South Carolina Botanical Garden. Local and international talent have used the space to mold a dozen site-specific works from materials found on-site—stones, vegetation, and soil. The result is sculptures that seem to sprout from the landscape, like the impressive Clemson Clay Nest, a whirling tangle of pine logs rising from a deep pit in the red Carolina clay. This is one museum where curators don’t have to worry about wear and tear on the collec- tion: decay and rebirth just come with the territory. Almost 20 years ago, artist Patrick Dougherty re-created a famous Renaissance temple by twist- ing dry tree branches tightly around a framework of saplings. Today, the young trees have pushed through the walls, transforming what once resembled an elegantly woven bird’s nest into a verdant crown of leaves.
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Caponi Art Park Eagan, Minnesota
In the 1950s, Italian-born sculptor Anthony Caponi built himself a house on a wooded plot 20 minutes south of St. Paul and filled the backyard with his distinctive stone carvings. Caponi had a lifelong mission to “bring art to the people”: during his years as an art professor at Macalester College, he often invited students to find inspi- ration in his outdoor studio, and in 1987 he opened a full 60 acres to the public. Permanently conserved with help from The Trust for Public Land in 2005, the Caponi property now invites visitors to stroll on miles of wooded trails, discovering foliage and fine art in seamless combination. A concrete serpent curls up on a grassy slope, while a stone bust nestles half- hidden among wild columbine. At the Theater in the Woods, a circular stage blends into a leafy grove where spectators lounge and revel in Shake- speare, poetry slams, and symphonies.
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