Woodmere’s Outdoor Wonder is an experience of outdoor sculpture in the context of nature and the environmental features of the Museum's grounds. WOW includes sculpture by significant artists as well as monumental estate trees of the 19th century, a pollinator garden, a rot road, and contemporary stormwater-management features such as a bioswale and step pools.

Sculpture & Nature

La Cresta
Charles Knox Smith Grounds
Syd Carpenter and Steve Donegan
,
La Cresta
La Cresta
Free Interpretation of Plant Forms
Charles Knox Smith Grounds
Harry Bertoia
,
Free Interpretation of Plant Forms
Free Interpretation of Plant Forms
The Root
Charles Knox Smith Grounds
Steve Tobin
,
The Root
The Root
S'Elever (To Arise)
Charles Knox Smith Grounds
Walter Erlebacher
,
S'Elever (To Arise)
S'Elever (To Arise)
S'Endormir (To Go to Sleep)
Charles Knox Smith Grounds
Walter Erlebacher
,
S'Endormir (To Go to Sleep)
S'Endormir (To Go to Sleep)
Spring and Triangle
Charles Knox Smith Grounds
Dina Wind
,
Spring and Triangle
Spring and Triangle
On the Rocks
Frances M. Maguire Grounds
Robinson Fredenthal
,
On the Rocks
On the Rocks
Untitled
Frances M. Maguire Grounds
Leon Sitarchuk
,
Untitled
Untitled
Winter Garden
Frances M. Maguire Grounds
Andropogon
,
Winter Garden
Winter Garden

Interactive Map & Self-guided tour

Want to explore Woodmere’s Outdoor Wonder onsite?

When visiting the Museum, use the camera feature on your smartphone to scan QR codes present at each sculpture pedestal and follow the trail. Or open the WOW Interactive Map, which provides an immersive and interactive experience with Woodmere’s Outdoor Wonder.

Start at any point along the trail and follow the path marked between Charles Knox Smith Hall and Frances M. Maguire Hall for a self-guided sculpture experience at both locations.

The outdoor classroom

With great thanks to the William B. Dietrich Foundation, a landscape project within WOW, Woodmere’s Outdoor Wonder, was completed in March 2023. The project was designed by Andropogon Associates, a landscape architecture firm renowned internationally for holistic approaches to landscape and ecosystem preservation. This included enlarging the pollinator garden, installing two new statues by Walter Erlebacher, expanding the all-natural, rot-road path with ADA compliance for classroom accessibility, and adding a nature-based amphitheater. And at the heart of WOW now lies The Frances M. Maguire Outdoor Classroom which was generously funded by The Maguire Foundation. The classroom, along with the amphitheater, will provide a magnificent space for outdoor classes, concerts, programs, and special gatherings.

This project is made possible by the generosity of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Honorable Tom Wolf, Governor; the William B. Dietrich Foundation; the Maguire Foundation; and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Commonwealth Financing Authority.

Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania Land Partnership

Woodmere recognizes the Lenape people as the original inhabitants of Pennsylvania, and we actively support our Lenape sisters and brothers, who continue to live across the region. Together, we seek to be stewards of the land, water, and sky of Lenapehokink, the ancestral homelands of the Lenape people. Our planting practices are directly influenced by Lenape traditional medicinal and edible plants. Learn more about our land partnership and treaty of friendship below.

May this partnership heal the past, give direction to the present, and brighten the future.

Learn more
Open
map