Naty K.
Yelp
If you're in Palm Beach and enjoy avant-garde and modern artistic expression, as well as gardens, then I recommend visiting the Norton Sculpture Gardens. Located on Barcelona Road in an upper middle class, quiet residential area, this charming home (the Norton House) is located on prime waterfront land, 1.7 acres to be exact, across from the water. The Norton Sculpture Garden draws its name from Ann Norton, an American artist, whose maiden name was Ann Weaver. An artist since a young age, she got started with sculpting while still in elementary school. She was the second wife of Ralph Hubbard Norton, founder of the Norton Museum of Art, also in Palm Beach.
Impressively, this rather small and waif-like woman was able to carve statues over 12 feet tall. She worked mostly with brick, as she knew this was a hardy material, and it reminded her of the chimneys of her home state of Alabama. If you know anything about carving, you'd know carving brick is not easy, so it takes a lot of hard work, and talent. She actually made her own bricks in her studio; she lived and worked on the property.
These statues that she created are on display directly in the gardens of what used to be her home until the time of her death. The statues were designed for the gardens and put among the plants and rare palms. The garden was representative of her commitment to conservation and preservation among high rises. Keeping with the concept of conservation, the palms and other plants on the grounds are left to grow in a natural state, rather than using professional landscaping and pruning. They are trimmed if they obstruct with the path, but other than that, they are not tampered with. Most of the trees on the property happen to be palms, which are able to bend in the case of hurricanes and strong winds, so pruning is unnecessary. The Gardens contain over 100 sculptures and over 300 species of tropical palms.
Though Ann passed away of leukemia in 1982, she left behind a studio that contains works in bronze, stone, and wood. The studio has been left intact since her death, and it is open to the public so in addition to seeing the sculptures on the grounds, you can access her studio, where time has stood still. It encompasses over four decades of sculpture and several artistic periods and concepts by the artist. It is very haunting, I felt an air of sadness, and I can imagine the frustration she must have felt of not being able to complete her works due to her declining health.
In 1977 Ann Weaver Norton had the foresight to establish a foundation, the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, Inc. Ann sought to preserve the historically significant art studio, the sculpture gardens and the architecture that comprise this unique national and local treasure. Ann lived and worked at 253 Barcelona Road, West Palm Beach for 34 years until the time of her death in 1982. Thanks to the foundation, we are able to enjoy the grounds without fear of the home or the grounds being demolished to make way for another modern commodity.
In addition to visiting the grounds and the home, there are photography exhibits inside the home for your viewing pleasure. Up until mid-April, they have photographs of Nancy Ellison on display. She shares with us some intimate, candid photos of the famous. In Palm Beach County, the Norton Sculpture Garden is known for having beautiful tree lighting ceremonies (Festival of Trees) during Christmas, where they pick a theme and put several Christmas trees throughout the property that are lit up and keep with this theme. There are also lectures and other exhibits going on throughout the year. You can check out their "events" page to find out more if you're interested.
