PHILIP HULITAR SCULPTURE GARDEN FINE ARTS
Open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ■ No charge ■ Closed during inclement weather
Above: Gaston Lachaise (1882–1935), Short-Tailed Peacock, 1920, re-cast 2017, 2 of 12, bronze. On loan from the Lachaise Foundation. Left: Jim Dine, American (b. 1935) King Parrot, 1995, Painted and polished bronze. Gift of Dorothy Tremaine Hildt in memory of her son K. Bryant Wick, Jr., Collection of The Society of the Four Arts, 2014.1 Photos by ELVIO SALAZAR
The Society of the Four Arts acquired this 2.2-acre expanse of land in the mid-1960s to prevent a Jacksonville firm from developing a Winn Dixie supermarket. The land remained unkempt and neglected until 1979 when Four Arts member Mrs. John Clifford Folger asked Philip Hulitar, a fashion designer, and former Four Arts’ Chairman of the Board, to transform the undeveloped space into a sculpture garden. Not only did he design the space, but he also helped acquire sculptures for it. The
14 21-22 Season Programs
garden opened in November 1980 and was officially named the Philip Hulitar Sculpture Garden in 1988 in honor of his continued support of the space and for his many years of service to The Four Arts. In 1987, The Four Arts celebrated the installation of a new garden gate that linked the Sculpture Garden to the Botanical Gardens. Two decades later, hurricanes Jeanne (2004), Frances (2004), and Wilma (2005) roared through and caused destruction to both
gardens. The Four Arts hired the landscape architecture firm Morgan Wheelock, Inc. to reimagine the Sculpture Garden and the Botanical Gardens, which reopened in March of 2007. The Sculpture Garden was enhanced with new seating, water fountains, additional sculptures, four pergolas, terraced planters, and a garden pavilion. Despite its urban setting and its proximity to two busy streets, the Sculpture Garden has become a place of refuge and contemplation.
