We are so blessed, and "Moving Up," as the above sculpture is titled, to have the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in our community. The gardens offers so much for so many. The Butterflies are flying now, the fabulous gardens, Japanese Gardens, Lena Meijer Farm, magnificent sculptures throughout, and of course, the Summer Concert Series. It's a place that people from around the world visit, and is listed in the top 100 most visited museums in the world and the 30 most visited museums in the United States by The Art Newspaper, the leading global art news publication. It's in our own back yard.

The Meijer Gardens also continues to present exciting exhibitions, and has now been able to reopen the sculpture galleries after being closed over a year for renovations. If you haven't visited in awhile since all of the renovations and expansion have been completed, you are in for a real treat. It is even more world class and amazing!

Yinka Shonibare - Eden Painting

Courtesy Meijer Gardens
Courtesy Meijer Gardens
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Last Friday a landmark exhibition of internationally renowned artist, Yinka Shonibare CBE: Planets in My Head, opened at the Meijer Gardens. What does CBE mean? Shonibare was awarded the prestigious decoration of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2019.

This is largest exhibition in the United States of Shonibare's works never before seen in the U.S. and it wouldn't have been possible without the help of the presenting sponsors, Bill Padnos and Margy Kaye, the Louis and Helen Padnos Foundation, the Botanic and Sculpture Societies of Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park and the Meijer Foundation.

Yinka Shonibare - Food Man

Courtesy Meijer Gardens
Courtesy Meijer Gardens
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What is also exciting is that Shonibare created Food Man specifically for this exhibition to honor West Michigan's vast agriculture.

The exhibition is a fabulous selection of three decades of Shonibare’s work, including sculptures, paintings, photographs, print and film, and will be on display through October 23rd.

 

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