Magazine

Writer and educator Liz deBeer reviews Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ, and the connection between nature and art. 

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Reflections on the Intersection of Art in Nature

Permanent Collection 

The Grounds for Sculpture
Hamilton, NJ

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Ralph Waldo Emerson, often referred to as the Father of American Transcendentalism, reflects in his iconic 1836 essay Nature: “Standing on the bare ground,—my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space,—all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me…”

Such convergence of nature, spirit, and observer with the added benefit of over 300 contemporary sculptures is celebrated at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ. Founded by artist and philanthropist Seward Johnson, Grounds for Sculpture opened in 1992 on what was previously a state fairground. The park’s website notes that “Grounds For Sculpture is a continually evolving landscape,” and its 42 acres has become a Level II Accredited Arboretum. This “accreditation is awarded to arboreta with at least 100 labeled species or taxa of trees and other woody plants in their collections, and a clear commitment to public education and collections management,” according to ArbNet’s website.

Meandering paths generate a personal connection to the art despite the packed parking lot. For example, there’s a playful experience of discovery when spotting the mixed media “Heart’s Desire” by Gloria Vanderbilt in the sculpture park’s section called The Forest of the Subconscious. Vanderbilt’s work is an enormous plexiglass box displaying a doll, an armless woman, a heart, and mirrors that reflect back at viewers who themselves are framed by nature’s green. The title pushes spectators to ask themselves what is their heart’s desire? Is it self-knowledge? Is it synthetic, glittery objects? Or is it the human connection to nature? 

Several sculptures’ titles are overt inquiries, such as the whimsical “Has Anyone Seen Larry? (The Three Fates)” by Seward Johnson which depicts three demonic figures by a cauldron filled with body parts. Or the question, “Were You Invited?” that a waiter appears to be asking rowdy patrons at Johnson’s  three-dimensional scene. This work, inspired by French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s 19th-century painting “Luncheon of the Boating Party,” is part of Johnson’s “Beyond the Frame” series.

Other titles are more suggestive queries like “Family Secret” in Johnson’s life-size bronze sculpture inspired by Renoir’s painting “On the Terrance.” Viewers are left wondering about the secret. 

Another path twist, another sculptor featured, including Clement Meadmore, George Segel, Red Grooms, Kiki Smith, Beverly Pepper, Bernar Venet, Carlos Dorrien, Clifford Ward, and many more. Works by Seward Johnson, though, pop up everywhere — often requiring a double-take: is that a real person or a sculpture?

Repeat visitors may feel as if they’re rediscovering the park, in part due to temporary exhibits, like Opening the Vault: A Look Inside the GFS Collection, open through the end of 2026.

Emerson, though, would likely note that Nature’s seasonal shifts contribute to this sense of change and novelty. In his philosophical essay Nature, Emerson reflects: “For, nature is not always tricked in holiday attire, but the same scene which yesterday breathed perfume and glittered as for the frolic of the nymphs, is overspread with melancholy today. Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.” 

Grounds for Sculpture lures us back again and again with its promise of seeing the sculptures with a new perspective, whether it’s because the leaves have turned or because we spot art that we missed previously, perhaps this time sighting a naked woman in the woods, another famous sculpture by Johnson aptly entitled, “Part of Nature.”  

Grounds for Sculpture is a public, nonprofit organization open year-round with extended summer hours. Reservations are recommended. 

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By Liz deBeer https://www.ldebeerwriter.com

Liz deBeer is both teacher and writer with Project Write Now, a writing cooperative based at the Jersey Shore, where she resides with her family. Her debut chapbook Farewell to Emptiness, a novelette-in-flash (Thirty West Publishing House), is set in the Albany, NY, area, her birthplace.  Her flash has appeared in Fictive Dream, Bending Genres, Literally Stories, BULL, Literary Garage, and others. Her essays on writing and teaching have been published in various journals including Brevity Blog and New Jersey English Journal. A volunteer reader for Flash Fiction Magazine, Liz holds degrees from University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers University. Her weekly Substack A Lizard's Tale explores nature and art as a vehicle to discover meaning and resilience.

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What's most theirs is not their own,

But borrowed in atoms from iron and stone,

And in their vaunted works of Art

The master-stroke is still her part.

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Nature https://allpoetry.com/poem/8494667-Nature-by-Ralph-Waldo-Emerson