USA Today Ranks Two Michigan Sculpture Parks In Top 10

The Michigan art scene is a staple of this state, and now we have the awards to prove it.

TSM

USA Today's 10 Best List

USA Today's 10 Best Reader's Choice Awards is a section of USA Today that "highlights the best of the best" via public voting. Lists range from topics covering food and drink to hotels or things to do. In this case, the latter is where Michigan finds itself being honored. For this list, USA Today is highlighting the 10 best sculpture parks across the country, stating:

Discover the allure of open-air artistry...these space blend the beauty of nature with the ingenuity of human creation.

Michigan Legacy Art Park

Michigan and Missouri have the unique honor of having two of their parks featured on this list, with Missouri taking the 9th and 10th spots. In 8th place, we find our first Michigan sculpture park, the Michigan Legacy Art Park (MLAP) in Thompsonville. I'm not sure if I've been living under a rock, but I had not heard of the MLAP. The story of this park is a beautiful one.

Founded by artist David Barr, the MLAP is a non-profit organization that features over two miles of trails spread across 30 acres of land. It was founded on the idea that there needed to be a place to highlight Michigan's rich art. Crystal Mountain ski slopes and the MLAP entered a deal to create a park on part of Crystal Mountain slopes in 1995.

Fredrick Meijer Garden's

Coming in 1st place was West Michigan's very own Fredrick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. It shouldn't be a huge surprise to find Fredrick Meijer Gardens on this list, but it is an incredible honor to find it at number 1. Fredrick Meijer Gardens opened in 1995 and features three different areas to visit: a botanical garden, an amphitheater, and most notably, a sculpture park with a "permanent collection featuring nearly 300 works". The sculpture park itself is 30 acres with trails all around the garden leading you to many of the different sculptures.

Both of these parks are absolutely stunning. Fredrick Meijer Gardens recently completed a multi-year expansion project and the annual butterfly exhibit opened this past weekend. You can find ticketing information for both of these parks below.

Michigan Legacy Art Park

Fredrick Meijer Garden