Ohio Gardens and Art Day

The east and west coasts get a lot of credit for being the places to go for the Arts, but when I lived in Columbus, OH as a graduate student, I felt like I was in a cultural hot spot, with free evenings at the Museum of Art and bustling first Friday gallery walks. But it wasn't until this year, that I finally saw some of the free outdoor sights, including the Field of Corn (with Osage Oranges) by sculpture Malcom Cochran. This installation is a roadside attraction in Dublin, OH and was right by my favorite Columbus food places: W.G. Grinders for lunch and Graeter's Ice cream for dessert. You can park in a company parking lot and walk among rows of giant ears of corn, or rest in a hammock in the shade of the trees.

Columbus Park of Roses is another treasure that I never seen and in fact, didn't know existed until I saw a sign as we were driving down High Street. I'm so glad we took the detour because walking among a gazillion roses is a beautiful way to spend a morning. I imagine a lot of senior or bridal photo shoots have been done there. 

Downtown Columbus offers a Topiary garden where the School for the Deaf used to be. The bushes are sculpted to re-create the famous George Seauraut Painting "Sunday on the Island of La Grand Jatte." There's even a bronze reproduction of the painting to use as reference. 

Of course I had to make a pilgrammage to Ohio State University, with it's free Wexner Center for the Arts, and more importantly, the Hopkins Art building where I met my husband. Behind that entire 2nd floor wall of windows was the my studio (shared with my studio mate, Julie). And just inside those front doors was where I met my husband. There are always shows in the gallery on the first floor. The building to the right is where I taught drawing and 2D design every day. "Cultured Mind Skilled Hand" is engraved above the door.

The Franklin Conservatory ended up being a favorite stop of our Ohio Day. The children's garden was especially amazing, with tree houses and play houses, places for water play, hills for rolling down, and koleidoscopes for viewing plants. And the trains! I couldn't get enough of them. 

But of course, inside the conservatory was magical as well, thanks in part to the Chihuly sculptures that grace almost every room. There seems to be throughout the country to show is work in botanical gardens from Atlanta to Pheonix, and I'm here for it!

We had started our morning in Columbus early enough that we were able to still fit in the Toledo Museum of Art into our afternoon. If you are ever Northern Ohio, stop by the museum for free parking and free  admission. They have an impressive Matisse mosaic and a nice Asian collection. 

Many of the galleries were closed for renovations were closed for renovations, but the sculpture garden alone was worth the stop. And across the street is the Glass Pavilion where there are glass sculptures on display and they've got a hot shop to see glass blowing demos. It was a lot to do in a day, but nothing took so long that I wasn't able to make it to Michigan in time for dinner and a relaxing evening.