The Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden entrance sign in Little Rock.
ByJohn P. Posted on

Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden – Little Rock, AR

It’s official. The Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden is now my favorite sculpture “museum” anywhere. And it is criminally underrated everywhere! This beautiful park has more than 100 sculptures you can walk around and get up close and personal with. Sure, there are plenty of other sculpture gardens across the country, but I’ve never seen such density packed into such a compact and walkable area.

Overview & Highlights

  • The Vogel-Schwartz Sculpture Garden is located in Riverfront Park along the south bank of the Arkansas River in Little Rock.
  • Sculptures range from whimsical and figurative to abstract and conceptual.
  • The design of the garden uses landscape architecture to create “rooms”, steel panels, terraces, boulders, and plantings help frame, obscure, and reveal works as you walk through.
  • The garden was inspired by Benson Sculpture Garden in Loveland, Colorado.
  • It’s supported and expanded by the Vogel-Schwartz Foundation.
  • New sculptures are added annually; the collection has grown from about 30 pieces (circa 2004) to over 90 by mid-2020s. 

The collection contains a variety of works created using different processes, though most of them are either bronze or direct metal sculpture. For example, one of my favorites is this man joyously leapfrogging a ball. This one was obviously cast.

Bronze statue of a joyful, energetic man jumping over a large globe sculpture, surrounded by lush trees and a clear blue sky, representing adventure and exploration for travel enthusiasts.

Another of my favorites was this direct metal sculpture which would have been constructed from cutting plate material and welding.

Modern outdoor art sculpture along a scenic riverwalk, featuring metallic elements, surrounded by lush greenery and blooming plants, with a view of a bridge and water in the background.

Photo Album

Here’s an album of just a few of the sculptures from the park. The pictures don’t do them justice, but it does give you a good idea of the kind of variety you’ll find here. All in all, highly recommended!!!

A bronze head assembled from stacked blocks at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A bronze sculpture at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
Small raised-arm figures atop posts beside the rust-steel walls at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A slender dark figure sculpture beside a boulder and rust-steel arc at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A bronze sculpture of two entwined leaping forms amid tall grasses at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A row of seated bronze figures on a long base at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A bronze long-tailed crested bird sculpture beside a picnic table at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
The bronze crested bird sculpture seen from the other side at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A tall carved column with a twisting, scale-patterned surface at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A white pavilion with blue trelliswork arches beside the Arkansas River at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A sculpture of stacked key shapes at the river overlook in the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A wooden boardwalk with black railings leading to the river overlook at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
The Junction Bridge lift span over the Arkansas River, seen from the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
The planted entrance walk into the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A bronze dog sculpture seated on a rock outcrop at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A bronze sculpture of a man seated in a wheelbarrow with a companion beside him at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
The view beneath a concrete bridge over the Arkansas River at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A wolf sculpture woven from wire mesh striding across the lawn at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A rust-steel wall and stone outcrops along the path at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
An abstract bronze form with a pierced opening on a pedestal at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A bronze bust of a woman on a plinth beside a stone wall with a plaque at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A metallic geometric sculpture beneath a bridge at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
The Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden entrance sign in Little Rock.
A bronze sculpture of a boy seated atop a large sphere at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A bronze sculpture of two children standing together at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A sculpture of rounded yellow-patina forms on a rock base at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A bronze sculpture of children walking along a log at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
The XIX Amendment Plaza in Little Rock's Riverfront Park, with its bronze suffrage monument ringed by a curved wall of plaques.
A curved steel and blue sail-like sculpture amid grasses at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A bronze eagle with spread wings on a pedestal at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.
A curving rust-steel wall wrapping a small lawn at the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock.

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