Find Tranquility at Minneapolis' Cowles Conservatory
Set off to the left of the main entrance to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, the Cowles Conservatory is a peaceful, refreshing spot, that is too easily missed. In the main atrium architect and sculptor Frank Gehry’s enormous glass fish leaps for the ceiling out of a tranquil square of water. Towering palms and potted flowers share the perimeter with a few well placed benches.
Inlaid in the brick floor are installations of miniature sculptures by artist Sarah Sze. Made of everyday objects, the carefully arranged compositions are worlds unto themselves, evoking images of tiny universes or cityscapes. Entitled “Grow or Die”, three pieces make up the installation.
The wings of the conservatory feel like formal European gardens with successive walls of hedge or climbing vines separated by beds plants and flowers, both tropical and native. Cowles Conservatory is open 10:00 am--8:00pm Tuesday through Saturday and 10:00am-5:00pm on Sunday. The all-glass conservatory is located on Vineland Place in Minneapolis across from the Walker Art Center.
