Calder Gardens Opens in Philadelphia

Calder Gardens, a new cultural destination dedicated to the art of Alexander Calder, will open to the public on September 21, 2025.

Located on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway between 21st and 22nd Streets, the 1.8-acre site was designed to immerse visitors in a space that catalyzes reflection and renewal, highlighting the interplay between art, architecture, and landscape—an open invitation to interpretation and discovery.

Calder Gardens' milestone opening moment will be preceded on Saturday, September 20, by Chaos and Kisses: A Grand Opening Parade for Calder Gardens, a free public parade conceived by acclaimed artist, composer, and musician Arto Lindsay and organized by Juana Berrfo, Marsha Perelman Senior Director of Programs at Calder Gardens.

Calder Gardens is a unique collaboration between the Calder Foundation, which is providing the curatorial vision, and the Barnes Foundation, which is providing administrative and operational support through an innovative resource-sharing model. The site's gardens and meadows, featuring native and perennial species, were created by renowned Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf. The building—a gently curved structure with a softly shimmering metal-clad north facade and an understated wood south facade reminiscent of Calder's own bohemian home in Connecticut—was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning firm Herzog & de Meuron. In this setting where architecture and nature commune, visitors will find a wide range of works by Calderboth inside and outside. The artworks on display will change over time and include rarely seen masterpieces, some on public view for the first time.

Beginning on Sunday, September 21, Calder Gardens will be open to the public Wednesday­ – Monday from 11 am to 5 pm. Memberships and tickets are now available at (opens in a new window) caldergardens.org. Memberships start at $98 annually, providing benefits such as unlimited free admission to Calder Gardens and the Barnes Foundation, exclusive morning access from 10 am to 11 am, guest passes, and discounts at the Calder Gardens Shop. General admission tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for seniors, $5 for college students (with valid ID) and youth (13- 18), and free for children 12 and under.

Calder Gardens has received a broad range of generous support and significant underwriting from many dedicated individuals, foundations, and corporations, as well as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia.

"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," says Marsha Perelman, President of the Trustees of Calder Gardens.

In a departure from the traditional museum approach, wherein didactic information is presented alongside works on view, Calder's mobiles, stabiles, paintings, and drawings will be presented without labels that provide titles, dates, and texts explaining how best to understand and interpret them. By allowing the artworks to speak for themselves, Calder Gardens proposes an open-ended experience that encourages visitors to take their time and react to Calder's art in their own way and at their own pace.

"In this unique commission in Philadelphia—from the site, to the open brief, to our design process—I focused on space over form, leading me to explore below-grade areas and discover the defining spaces of the structure," says Jacques Herzog. "Calder Gardens embodies a kind of 'no-design' architecture, allowing the works of art to express their diversity and ambiguity across numerous different spatial contexts. It's a place where you can sit, wander, and observe, whether it's nature or art, with the ease one has when one sits under a tree."

"While I have admired Alexander Calder for decades, I never imagined receiving such a remarkable opportunity to engage his work directly," says Piet Oudolf. "At Calder Gardens, I have designed a landscape that responds not only to the specific conditions of the site but to Calder's powerful embrace of movement and change as defining elements of his art. Here in Philadelphia, Calder's sculptures will be placed in dialogue with gardens that are constantly evolving. Those artworks and the plants I have selected and placed will be moving in time at different speeds in relationship to one another and the seasons for many years to come. I look forward to watching this unfold."

Learn more and plan your visit at (opens in a new window) caldergardens.org.