Tuesday | May 12, 2020 •
12PM - 1PM • rain or shine
Around the Horticulture Center (via Zoom, link to register below)
Tour starts at 3:00
Join the Association for Public Art (aPA) for a lunchtime virtual “walking” tour of outdoor sculptures found around the Horticulture Center in Fairmount Park! This virtual tour is one of many Love Your Park @ Home events presented by Fairmount Park Conservancy.
From the Smith Memorial Arch (a colossal gateway to Fairmount Park) to Alexander Stirling Calder’s Sundial to Martin Puryear’s Pavilion in the Trees, aPA staff will share fascinating stories about these hidden gems and park favorites, and answer any questions along the way. We’ll be exploring only a section of the Horticulture Center’s 27 acres of public art treasures and greenery; for more artworks in the area, check out our self-guided tour here.
Memorial Hall Front Entrance, 4231 Avenue of the Republic, West Fairmount Park
Originally designed for an opera house in Vienna, these two winged horses and their muses were purchased by a Philadelphia businessman and installed at Memorial Hall for the 1876 Centennial Exposition.
The Smith Memorial Arch was initiated by Richard Smith, a wealthy Philadelphian who bequeathed a half million dollars to build a monument to Pennsylvania’s naval and military heroes of the Civil War.
Horticulture Center grounds (Belmont Avenue and North Horticultural Drive, West Fairmount Park)
An Art Nouveau-style bronze sundial atop a sculpted limestone base representing the four seasons. Spring holds a rose; Summer carries poppies; Autumn wears grapes in her hair; and Winter has a pine branch.
Horticulture Center grounds (Belmont Avenue and North Horticultural Drive, West Fairmount Park)
This allegorical bronze cast depicts descending nightfall as a shrouded woman. It was the first gift to the Fairmount Park Art Association (now the Association for Public Art).
Lansdowne Glen, Horticulture Center grounds, off North Horticultural Drive, West Fairmount Park
A sixty-foot walkway leads across a natural basin to an observation platform – a square deck covered by a latticed canopy – that rises twenty-four feet above the ground.
