Explore Gardens, Sculptures, Wildlife and Past at Brookgreen Gardens
By Michelle Cantey
Located between Myrtle Beach and Pawleys Island, Brookgreen Gardens encompasses more than 9,000 acres in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Anna Hyatt Huntington's impressive Fighting Stallions welcome guests to her beloved sanctuary, which can entertain anyone who has only a couple of hours or a couple of days to explore its vast landscape of lush gardens, sculptures, wildlife, glimpses into its past, and abandoned ricefields.
A National Historic Landmark and accredited by the American Association of Museums, Brookgreen Gardens features the most extensive collection of figurative sculpture in an outdoor setting by American artists in the world. Brookgreen Gardens Lowcountry Zoo is the only zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums on the coast of the Carolinas.
Open year-round, Brookgreen Gardens has seasonal events planned throughout its 9,000 acres. In planning your trip to Brookgreen Gardens, there are three main sections: the Huntington Sculpture Garden, the Center for American Sculpture, and the Lowcountry History and Wildlife Preserve.
Designed around the walkways laid out by Anna Hyatt Huntington, the gardens have long been regarded as one of the nation's most beautiful botanical displays. The Huntington Sculpture Garden opened in 1932 as America's first public sculpture garden. Its garden spaces and the collection of sculpture displayed within them have continued to expand through the years. The collection now contains over 1,200 works, spanning the entire period of American sculpture from the early 1800s to the present, and its placement in more than 35 acres of garden and landscape settings creates an extraordinary combination of art and nature.
Lowcountry History and Wildlife Preserve is rich in history with great rice plantations of the 1800s and the Gullah culture of the enslaved Africans who sustained it, as well as with the native plants and animals of the distinctive landscapes of the Lowcountry. Visitors may explore the Lowcountry Trail with its archeological sites, tour the animal exhibits, and travel on the boat or overland vehicle deep into the Preserve.
At the Lowcountry Zoo, be sure to check out the latest exhibit - the otters in the River Basin Retreat. Acrylic panels of this above-ground pool serve as replicas of river banks and provide the otters with places to rest above the water and serve as "diving boards" when they jump into the pool. The "see-through" panels enable visitors of all ages to see the otters up close underwater and the chance to take some great photographs of these lively little creatures at play!
The Center for American Sculpture opened in October 2003 and contains a sculptor's studio, library, and offices. Its purpose is to provide a place to create, teach, research, and promote figurative sculpture by American artists. It hosts sculpture master classes and workshops each year and supports a master sculptor-in-residence program. The Center for American Sculpture is not open to the public but is available for private tours. See the Sculpture Workshop Sidebar for complete listing of 2009 workshops.
Brookgreen Gardens' cafes and restaurants are open for lunch daily. However, family picnics are welcomed in selected picnic areas. Wi-Fi is accessible at the Pavilion Restaurant.
Children's Discovery Room
Described as "imaginative, exploratory, and playful," Brookgreen Gardens recently launched its "hands-on" learning center, Children's Discovery Room. Funded by American Timberlands Company and located in the Wall Lowcountry Center Complex, the Children's Discovery Room is aimed at stimulating 4-12 year-old visitors. Each station is Brookgreen-oriented.
Children may stay at any station as long as they wish. At some stations, children will complete projects they may carry home with them. Some stations include Trees are Tree-mendous, which showcases an authentic beaver stump and skull; Dig Into the Past will encourage children to experience how it feels to be an archeologist; Color Gullah History will afford children the opportunity to see pictures that reflect Gullah heritage; Rubbing Off Nature will encourage children to do rubbings onto paper of a variety of nature objects; and Sculpture Studio will allow children to create their own sculpture.
Through the Children's Discovery Room, Brookgreen Gardens will also launch its Brookgreen Detectives program. This new booklet is designed for children and features puzzles, games, and activities specific to the Lowcountry Trail. It is available at the new Children's Discovery Room for free through the generous support of the International Paper Company.
New: The Oaks Plantation History and Nature Trail Phase II Now Open!
The southern-most area on the Brookgreen Gardens property situated along Oaks Creek became known as The Oaks Plantation in the early part of the 18th century. It was an indigo and rice plantation owned by the Allston/Alston family from the 1730s through the early 1900s. The Oaks Plantation was home to South Carolina Governor Joseph Alston and his wife Theodosia Burr Alston, the only child of Aaron Burr. Their marriage in 1801 was followed by a series of tragedies. Phase II opened in March with a new trail that winds through an agricultural area and continues through the area where The Oaks Plantation Slave Village was located. Interpretive panels with poignant excerpts from Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 complement the trail with first-person accounts of slavery and black-and-white photographs of former enslaved Africans. Transportation to and from the trail is only available via Brookgreen Gardens mini-bus, and there is $3 charge per person.
Admission to Brookgreen Gardens is valid for seven days. Children 5 and under are admitted free; children (6-12) are $5; adults (13-64) are $12; seniors (65 and over) are $10. Brookgreen Gardens is located on U.S. 17 between Myrtle Beach and Pawleys Island, S.C., and open to the public daily. For more information, visit www.brookgreen.org or call 843-235-6000.
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