Calder Gardens, the Ben Franklin Parkway’s latest cultural attraction, opened to the public on Sunday, Sept. 21. The unconventional sculpture garden, masquerading as a meadow, is dedicated to midcentury sculptor Alexander “Sandy” Calder’s dynamic works.
Opening festivities kicked off with “Chaos and Kisses: A Grand Opening Parade for Calder Gardens” on Saturday, Sept. 20. The parade, arranged by musician and producer Arto Lindsay, traveled from LOVE Park to Maja Park, passing iconic sculptures by three generations of the Calder family along the Parkway.
After performances by the Pig Iron Theatre, Mad Beatz Philly drum line and Brazilian percussion ensemble PHonk!, the raucous Sun Ra Arkestra concluded the celebration with a free concert at Maja Park.
The Triangle was given an early look at Calder Gardens last Monday after a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring Governor Josh Shapiro, leading benefactor Joseph Neubauer and other dignitaries.
The project is the culmination of a decades-long effort to create a space in Philadelphia for the Calder Foundation’s holdings.
With the help of renowned Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, the project’s backers have created a jewel box for experiencing Calder’s works unlike any typical museum, much less anything in the city.
Calder is the definitive American sculptor of the 20th century, the president of the Calder Foundation — his grandson, Alexander S.C. Rower — asserts.
“He is also a sculptor for the 21st century. [My] grandfather created art that is not static — and not even [just] literally. It is always evolving,” Rower said. “Calder’s sculptures… invite you to be in the present in a way that is not like any other work of art.”
Calder is best known for his signature mobiles, works of kinetic art typically composed of wire and colored metal forms, carefully hung and balanced yet free to move and respond to airflow and touch.
This small parcel on the parkway facility is uniquely well-sited and well-suited to the Parkway. The third in a line of prodigious American sculptors, Calder’s father designed the Swann Memorial Fountain in Logan Square, and his grandfather modeled the grandiose 37-foot-tall William Penn statue atop City Hall, meaning three generations are now represented on the Parkway.
The Barnes Foundation across the street is a uniquely well-suited partner not just for operations and management, but for its ethos. Calder Gardens adheres to the Barnes method of presentation: each work eschews a label, and is stripped of context, placing them purely in the present.
“Our experiment here is to present, in a totally different way, Calder’s work, where you’re allowed to have your own unfolding experience… and like the sculpture, or not like the sculpture, or just sit in residence with the sculpture,” Rower said. “[It is presented] in a way that doesn’t tell you what to think or what to feel.”
On arrival, even with renowned landscape designer Piet Oudolf’s plantings at a near-nadir for the garden’s debut, they clearly promise a lively meadow to come. The landscape strives to be as dynamic as the gallery spaces themselves, according to HdM.
Inside, voluminous gallery spaces rise to the occasion, with every opening a picture framing either a Calder or the city itself. There is a sense of serendipity that comes from discovering a new sightline, or another work, around every corner.
Even though Calder Gardens is barely bigger than the Rodin Museum across the Parkway on paper, the experience unfolds like a Mobius strip: turning back the way one came reveals new experiences of the same spaces and works.
The promise of extensive programming, led by inaugural director Juana Berrío, guarantees new ways to experience the collection, which will rotate through the Calder Foundation’s own holdings and borrowed works from other museums.
“I don’t know any other place… where you have three world-class artists combining in one space,” reflected Neubauer. “You’ve got Calder, you’ve got Herzog & de Meuron… and you’ve got Piet Oudolf with the gardens. It’s a combination of three artists, working together to create a jewel in Philadelphia.”
In an era of social media, museumgoing is often reduced to a rote itinerary of finding star artworks to post to a timeline. Calder Gardens resists, if not banishes, that urge, as do Calder’s works themselves. Pictures and videos fail to capture the slow swinging trajectory of a mobile, or the changing light in the galleries across the day.
“We want you all to be off your screens in Calder Gardens. I mean, it would be great if we could say, ‘Park your iPhone in the cubby.’ I know that’s impossible, but if you could go without a screen, that would be incredible,” Rower encouraged.
Timed entry tickets to Calder Gardens are available online, with student admission beginning at $5. Joint admission to the Barnes Foundation is also available for $10.