Officials Cut Ribbon at Philadelphia’s Calder Gardens
125Sept. 16, 2025
Local officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning at Philadelphia’sCalder Gardens, the new sanctuary honoring pathbreaking sculptor Alexander Calder, presaging its opening to the public, which is set for September 21. A free public parade, conceived by artist, composer, and musician Arto Lindsay and organized by Juana Berrío, Calder Gardens’ senior director of programs, will take place on September 20 at noon, originating at the nearby LOVE Park and proceeding to Maja Park, near the gardens, where the Sun Ra Arkestra will perform a free concert at 1 p.m.
Designed by Pritzker Prize–winning Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron and featuring grounds planted by Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf, who is responsible for the natural, idyllic look of New York City’s High Line, Calder Gardens was created in collaboration with the Calder Foundation. The 18,000-square-foot sanctuary occupies 1.8 acres on the city’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway, home to several other museums. Unlike the surrounding institutions, however, Calder Gardens will stage no special exhibitions, instead presenting works from the foundation’s vast holdings in an unscheduled rotation alongside those borrowed from other sources. These will appear without wall labels, as the space is intended as a place of peace and reflection, rather than as an educational institute. A slate of ongoing programs, including performances, sonic experiences, screenings, and lectures, is planned.
“On the surface, my grandfather pushed beyond established norms by collapsing mass and setting sculpture in motion,” said Calder Foundation president Alexander S. C. Rower, the artist’s grandson, in a statement. “But on a deeper level, he explored how art can be experienced in a perpetual present—one that is always unfolding. Calder Gardens does not so much present a story as it offers an opportunity to activate this challenging notion. The architecture and gardens invite us to direct our own journey, to interpret what we see in a uniquely personal way, to use our hearts more than our heads. This is a site for reflection, introspection, and discovery.”
Calder, who was born in Philadelphia in 1898, had deep ties to the city: His grandfather Alexander Milne Calder created the statue of William Penn that stands atop City Hall, while his father, Alexander Stirling Calder, designed the Swann Memorial Fountain in nearby Logan Square.
“Calder Gardens is an extraordinary space, and in joining the other cultural treasures along the Parkway—including the Barnes, the Rodin Museum, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art—it will further solidify Philadelphia’s position as one of the world’s most exciting cities in which to experience, and be transformed by, art,” said Marsha Perelman, the president of the gardens’ board of trustees, in a statement.