2291. Go to the Schaumburg Sculpture Park in Schaumburg

 I am a sucker for a sculpture park. I love to see random sculptures and have I've seen random random sculptures over the years. When I stumbled upon the Schaumburg Sculpture Park I figured it would be a good stop if we needed to kill time before the Sock Monkey Museum open in Long Grove.

The Schaumburg Sculpture Park is located on the grounds on Municipal Center. It is open year round. It is free to visit. We parked by the Al Larson Prairie Center. 

At first we were confused on where these sculptures were located it as we didn't see any. There was an open grassy area with a walking trail but no sculptures in sight. We headed towards the fountain on the other side of the Prairie Center. We found Awaking Muse which was a lady half buried in a hill. It was actually very beautiful sculpture. It would have been fun to take picture on but it was roped off.

Wandering a bit we found a very weird wire sculpture called Fiberware. It was hard to see in the sunshine since it was thin metal rods sticking up from the ground. It really didn't even look like art.

Finally we found a trail that headed into the woods and it was marked as the sculpture park. 

Initially we were going to walk to the first sculpture which we thought looked like a toilet. 

Since we found the path, we decided to keep going to see what else there was. We found some pretty cool art. Each piece was unique and some were left up to more interpretation than others. 

The path was not very long. It ended near a church parking lot and we had to turn around and go back the same way we came. 

To be honest, it was not much of a sculpture park... Sculpture path maybe. I was expecting a decent walk to check out art. If we spent 30 minutes at the sculpture park, that was a lot. I'm glad it was free because if I paid money, I would have really felt ripped off. 

Now don't get me wrong, if you appreciate art and nature you might find this place enjoyable to to a casual visitor looking for some fun art, there really wasn't much. We did have time to kill so I guess it was worth it in that sense but overall I left disappointed. I saw more fun sculptures at Edgewood Orchard Galleries in Door County. 

5564. Go to The Prairie Moon Sculpture Garden in Fountain City

 After leaving the National Eagle Center, we crossed back into Wisconsin to cross of some random places the hubby would never agree to stopping at. Our first stop was The Prairie Moon Sculpture Garden. This is another Kohler Foundation Preservation Site but it was not quite as scary as John Tellen Woodland Sculpture Garden Stacy and I visited in Sheboygan.

The Prairie Moon Sculpture Garden is right off  US 35, the Great River Road. It is open 10-6 daily and admission is free. The parking lot is small but not many people seem to visit at one time. One other couple showed up while we were almost done walking around.

Like the John Tellen Sculpture Garden, many of the sculptures are made of large rocks. They all seemed to have a castle theme.

There were also animal sculptures. The dinosaurs I understood.

Some were a bit more graphic and I would have loved to understand the artist's thinking behind them.

Also on the same property was the Fountain City Rock Garden which was a smaller sculpture garden. It feature more mosaic pieces in the form of windmills and towers. 

I will have to admit some of the sculptures in both gardens were interesting but others made us go huh.

If you ever find yourself driving down the Great River Road between Alma and Fountain City, check out the Prairie Moon Sculpture Garden. It is worth the stretch break. Besides where else can you stick your head in a snake's mouth?

5036. Go to Edgewood Orchard Galleries in Fish Creek

 I love sculptures and sculpture gardens. When I found out the Edgewood Orchard Galleries in Fish Creek had a sculpture garden, I had to check it out. Due to our girls' weekend getting cut short, I decided I'd check it out after the wine trolley. My cousins agreed to accompany me. 

Edgewood Orchard Galleries has been around since 1969. The actual galley is in an old fruit barn built in 1918. There is a nice patio to sit outside and enjoy life. There is also a sculpture garden through a small section of woods. Like most places in Door County, parking is always an adventure with a small lot. We got lucky and snagged a spot as someone was leaving.

The Sculpture garden is full of whimsical statues all for sale... most, if not all, are out of my price range. If I had a fancy house on a lake, I would love some of these sculptures.. the hubby most likely would not agree with me. I really liked the animal ones.

We also had fun posing with sculptures. 

I kind of wish we went in the gallery to look at the artwork. You never know what you will find at a price point you can afford. Door county is full of local artists and their work. It is still something I have to get used to because I don't think of art when I think of Wisconsin. 

Edgewood Orchard Galleries is definitely worth stopping even if just to ogle at the sculptures. I would definitely come back and check out the sculpture gallery again as well as the inside gallery. It is something I would want to do during the week instead of a busy summer weekend as it was quite busy when we were there during the week.