"The Thinker" during construction
A gloriously rejuvenated garden landscape surrounding the Rodin Museum will be unveiled tomorrow, completing a three-year collaboration that restores the site’s extraordinary harmony of art and nature. Join us tomorrow, July 14 (Bastille Day, fittingly) at the Rodin Museum as city leaders gather in celebration. Be there by 9:30 am so you don’t miss a moment of the festivities.
The Rodin project, which also included the restoration of the building façade and the Meudon Gate entrance, is one component of a larger effort to revitalize the Parkway. Project partners include PHS, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the landscape design firm OLIN. The City of Philadelphia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, The Pew Charitable Trusts, the William B. Dietrich Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the William Penn Foundation provided generous funding.
Work on the interior courtyard garden included repair of walls, stairs and paving, planting of trees, shrubs and perennials, selective removal or pruning of shrubs, a new irrigation system, and new lighting. Exterior landscape improvements involved restoration of lawns, planting of trees and groundcover, and installation of service stairs, walls, curbs, pathways and a rear drive to increase accessibility throughout the site. At the entry to the site, enhancements included improved drainage, new benches and receptacles, planting of flowering shrubs and groundcover, and replacement of declining trees.
The outer areas of the garden create a vista to spotlight the courtyard and museum from the Parkway, with plantings that include native species used in the original design beneath a canopy of flowering trees. Within the courtyard, the formal perennial garden offers a variety of fragrance and seasonal displays, with the color and texture of the plants changing throughout the seasons. Learn more here.
Don’t miss this occasion to celebrate art and horticulture in Philadelphia! See you tomorrow!
Posted on July 13, 2011 by Daniel
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