Calder Gardens is a beautiful addition to Philly’s art world

Calder Gardens is dedicated to the oeuvre of Alexander “Sandy” Calder, who was born in Philadelphia in 1898 to a family of artists. His grandfather, Alexander Milne Calder, is best known for the massive sculpture of William Penn atop City Hall. His mother, Nanette Lederer, was a portrait painter who married Alexander Stirling Calder after they met as students at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Sandy’s father sculpted the Swann Fountain on Logan Circle, among other renowned monuments. Sandy, who died in 1976, became a modern master of innovative sculptures, which included mobiles (a term coined by Marcel Duchamp for kinetic sculptures) and stabiles (ground-based works, named by fellow sculptor and Dadaist Jean Arp).

Architectural magic

Entry to Calder Gardens is via 21st or 22nd street on the south side of the Parkway. (I spotted a bike rack near 21st Street.) A slightly elevated path takes you through grounds planted in late summer, so foliage is not yet mature and lush, yet colorful flowers were blooming on my two visits. Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf designed seven areas of plantings within 1.8 acres of grounds with 37,000 perennials in 195 varieties, including 50 types of trees. The garden is a nod of respect to the area’s Indigenous Lenape Peoples and anticipates seasonal changes.

At the top of the walkway sits a large black stabile on loan from the Whitney Museum. Behind it, a long-angled, low building dips into the earth, seductively revealing a subterranean floor with outside spaces. Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron (noted for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Stadium “Bird’s Nest”) conceived this structure. Its façade is reflective metal cladding that mirrors the trees and the gardens on the Parkway. This both reveals and disappears the structure with a dazzle of architectural magic.

A unique art space

My first visit was a grey-sky September Saturday with lots of visitors bustling about. My second trip on a sunny Thursday in October was less busy. Like the Barnes, timed tickets ensure prompt entry. After being greeted by security in the lobby, you’ll scan your ticket and be directed to a free locker room next to a small gift shop. An elevator provides an alternative to staircases in navigating the building’s two levels.

The museum is unlike any other art space in Philly. Calder wanted us to marvel at space. His idiosyncratic works play with space as they rise from floors, hang on walls, or dangle from ceilings, moving on invisible air currents. The architects understood how Calder’s artworks needed to exist in space by creating a building that is not just about viewing them, but about the ways his art can be encountered, beginning with your walk through the garden, which serves as a liminal space.

Food for the imagination

Interior galleries boast an abundance of windows, of different sizes and shapes, which provide natural light along with views of the sky, trees, and some outdoor sculptures. Viewpoints of the sculptures are endless as you hover above on cantilevered landings or walk around and under sculptures. Galleries and stairwells present disparate veneers, including naturally hued wood planks, smooth white, or rough pebble walls. Unexpected cul-de-sacs bring you into intimate contact with a few mobiles. Benches invite sitting and gazing; in a few places, seating is literally carved into the wall, allowing you to commingle with the architecture.

There’s a range of sizes and muscular qualities in the works; some feel heroic, poetic, or comic. Sculpture patinas are in red, black, or white. Vibrant abstract paintings dot the walls as juxtapositions to the three-dimensional forms. Some works have never been seen before, and others are rarely on view. A small display in one room is dedicated to the Calder family legacy. (A periodic change-up of artworks will provide a different experience for future visits.) Notably, there are no didactic labels for ancillary information, such as titles or years. This omission is controversial, but encountering artworks unmitigated by data seems good for the imagination.

Art and democracy in our DNA

Much existing press coverage tells the story of how and why Sandy’s grandson, Alexander C.S. Rower, managed to land Calder Gardens in our cultural midst. Rather than a rehash, I’ll relay a couple of personal things about Calder that endear him as a native Philadelphian. He was wildly imaginative and fun-loving, but also hard-working. He was a strong liberal individualist who helped fellow artists escape the Nazis; he later protested the Vietnam War. He was dedicated to his family.

Like Calder, our city has a strong DNA of art and democratic values. Calder Gardens is a beautiful addition to Philadelphia’s rich (if sometimes messy and dysfunctional) art world. Welcome home, Sandy.

At top: Calder Gardens in 2025. Photograph by Iwan Baan. Artwork by Alexander Calder © 2025 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.