USA TODAY Highlights New Jersey Public Art

USA TODAY has awarded a Hamilton, New Jersey, sculpture garden with public art as one of the best sculpture grounds in the country.

Grounds for Sculpture, a 42-acre sculpture garden, scored accolades by USA TODAY in its 10 Best Readers' Choice Awards. The Grounds for Sculpture, a 20-minute drive from most parts of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, features manicured grounds with approximately 300 contemporary works of art. About 40% of the artwork is created in an on-site workshop.

"Grounds For Sculpture is an arboretum, sculpture garden, and museum focusing on the intersection of art and nature in a playful, jovial way," noted USA TODAY. 

According to The Bucks County Courier Times, artist and philanthropist Seward Johnson founded Grounds For Sculpture. The venue opened in 1992 on the New Jersey State Fairgrounds and was established as a “natural extension” of the artists' workshop, Johnson Atelier.

“Its state-of-the-art modeling, scanning, milling, painting and finishing capabilities, along with its assets including the seven-acre meadow, the physical plant that houses the Johnson Atelier, the Motor Exhibits Building, which (has) studios for 25 artists, and living accommodations for guest artists,” according to the Grounds for Sculpture website.

Hundreds of artists have developed masterpieces of contemporary art since the creation of Atelier in 1974.