Jane and Harry Willson Sculpture Garden Reopens After Renovations
Since opening in 2011, the Jane and Harry Willson Sculpture Garden at the Georgia Museum of Art has been dedicated to showcasing sculptures by women artists.
In a field historically dominated by men, this important distinction helps close the gender gap by raising the profiles of underrepresented contemporary artists. After a two-month renovation, the sculpture garden officially reopened in May, with fresh landscaping and a new approach to programming. Under the guidance of Ruppert Landscape, the sculpture garden received several improvements in both beautification and functionality. Ruppert removed the thick bamboo growing along the garden’s back wall and replaced it with a row of green columnar juniper trees that will add softness to the concrete backdrop while eliminating the previous issue of fallen leaves clogging the garden’s fountain feature. They replaced an invasive species of liriope, a grasslike ground cover, with a native variety and added a patch of flowering catmint for a pop of color. They gave all the garden’s trees a trim to make them shapelier and added a growth inhibitor to the tall brick wall so that the lush vines climbing on it are encouraged to reach up but not out. Ruppert also repaired the garden’s irrigation system, added a fresh layer of slate chips to pathways and replaced the pine straw in the garden beds with mulch, a more durable material that’s less susceptible to move with the wind.
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