Durning my spring break I was able to travel to the wonderful warm and sunny state of South Carolina to visit my Andi (grandma). My grandparents have always resided in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina so I take every opportunity to visit them but it does mean that we have visited just about every tourist attraction there is and tried every restaurant within 100 miles of the house but one place I will never get bored of is Brookgreen Gardens.
History of Brookgreen Gardens
Brookgreen Gardens is a nature preserve as well as a sculpture garden that spans over 9,000 archers. The gardens were created by Archer Huntington and his wife Anna Hyatt Huntington in 1930 and was named Brookgreen Gardens in 1931. The gardens were created to protect, preserve and exhibit three main things which were plants, animals and sculptures. The original plan was for the gardens to just hold Anna Hyatt Huntingtons sculptures, she was an award-winning sculptor which at the time was very difficult for any woman to do n the art industry. Brookgreen does carry Huntingtons sculptures but now is home to over 2,000 sculptures by over 430 different artist.
You can read more on the history of Brookgreen Gardens here https://www.brookgreen.org/history-gardens
Family History with Brookgreen
I have been going to Brookgreen Gardens for as long as I can remember because my Grandfather was one of their most dedicated volunteers for over 10 years. He had many of duties when volunteering, he was a tour guide through the gardens, he would clean and mend to the gardens as well as dust and polish the statues. He was very passionate about his job and up to right before he passed he would bring me around and show me all the sculptures he was in charge of keeping clean. I truly think that Brookgreen Gardens is one of the main reasons I am so interested in sculptures. Even though my grandfather has now passed Brookgreen Gardens is still a place that I will always visit each time I am in South Carolina and I think everyone should go and visit the gardens if ever given the opportunity.
Stay Creative!
Emma Brooks