deCordova Sculpture Park
Lisi Cai / Getty Images
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ADDRESS
51 Sandy Pond Rd, Lincoln, MA 01773, USA
PHONE +1 781-259-8355
New England’s largest outdoor art venue, deCordova is about 20 miles west of Boston and sits on the 30-acre former estate of collectors Julian and Elizabeth de Cordova. The couple donated the property to the city of Lincoln, as long as it became a public art museum. Today, the sculpture garden in a wooded area by Flint Pond is home to works by Nam June Paik, Andy Goldsworthy, Jaume Plensa, Dorothy Dehner, and Ursula von Rydingsvard. Be sure to interact with Paul Matisse’s "Musical Fence" and pose in front of Jim Dine’s "Two Big Black Hearts"—especially evocative covered in snow. Visitors can expect about 60 sculptures on display outside, as well as a small indoor museum.
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Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park
Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields / Getty Images
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ADDRESS
1850 W 38th St, Indianapolis, IN 46228, USA
PHONE +1 317-923-1331
The sprawling Newfields campus includes the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Lilly House, and this 100-acre sculpture park, complete with walking and biking trails and a lake. Most of the works encourage interaction, like Atelier Van Leshout’s iconic "Funky Bones" (made up of 20 fiberglass benches that look like a skeleton from far away) and visiondivision’s "Chop Stick," an interactive playground made from a fallen tree. The Newfields campus also includes formal gardens and a beer garden, so it’s easy to spend an entire day here.