Alexander Calder began his career in the 1920s by developing a new method of sculpting: by bending and twisting wire, he essentially “drew” three-dimensional figures in space. He is renowned for the invention of the mobile, whose suspended, abstract elements move and balance in changing harmony. From the 1950s onward, Calder increasingly devoted himself to making outdoor sculpture on a grand scale from bolted steel plate.

The Calder Gardens, planned in Philadelphia, will unite the art of Alexander Calder with nature and architecture to create an oasis that will invite introspection and nurture human connections. Featuring a building designed by the Pritzker Prize–winning firm Herzog & de Meuron and gardens by internationally acclaimed landscape designer Piet Oudolf, Calder Gardens will present a vibrant curation of masterworks from the Calder Foundation, New York.

Alexander S.C Rower, Calder Foundation founder and the artist’s grandson, recently told Artnet: “Calder was a great disruptor. There’s no retrospective art installation. My truest desire is that people get to know themselves better, not get to know Calder’s work better.”

In early January this year, it was announced that the new cultural destination on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway will open in September 2025 and that curator, educator, and arts programmer Juana Berrío has been appointed as the Marsha Perelman Senior Director of Programs. Congratulations for this amazing initiative!

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Images: Sunken Garden © Herzog & de Meuron. All artworks by Alexander Calder © 2022 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York and Highway and Tall Gallery. © Herzog & de Meuron. All artworks by Alexander Calder © 2022 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York