Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

After our big family reunion yesterday, most of the family gathered again today to visit the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids.

Meijer is a large grocery store chain in Michigan and a few surrounding states. These gardens were opened in in 1995 through the generous donation of Frederick and Lena Meijer.  In May 2009, it was named one of the top '30 Must-See Museums" in the world'.

I've been to many botanical gardens through the years and I have to say this is one of the best and most interesting. In all of my years of visiting Michigan, this is my first visit!  We only covered about half of the garden in the 2-3 hours that we were there, so I'm sure I'll enjoy another visit next time I'm in Michigan!


Top Left: Lena Meijer Tropical Conservatory
Top Centre; Barrel Cacti in the Arid Garden
Top Right: Arid Garden

Middle Left:  Sculpture in the Children’s Garden
Middle Centre: Orchid in the Conservatory
Middle Right:  The American Horse (see below)

Bottom Left: The American Horse (see below)
Bottom Centre: Mini Replica - Great Lakes Garden
Bottom Right: Bent of Mind , Tony Cragg, British, 1949



A monument to creativity, The American Horse was created by famed animaliere or animal sculptor, Nina Akamu. The work was inspired, in part, by a work created by Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci for the Duke of Milan in the late 15th century. The project was championed by Frederik Meijer in the late 1990's, resulting in two casts of the 24-foot monument—one for Meijer Gardens and one for the city of Milan, Italy. In addition, to inspiration from Leonardo, Akamu was also inspired by the history of equine imagery and the study of horses.