Balboa Park is of course known for its award-winning gardens, which I cover quite extensively in this blog. But there is one garden I have yet to mention that is noteworthy for reasons other than its lush flower beds and ornamental trees. And that is the San Diego Museum of Art’s Sculpture Garden.

Open free to the public, the Sculpture Garden is accessed either via the café, west of SDMA’s main entrance, or through a side “doggie” gate at the end of the arcade on El Prado. Though modest in size, the garden presents several fine large-scale works by some of the greatest British and American sculptors of the 20th century, including Henry Moore, George Rickey, Barbara Hepworth, Louise Nevelson, and David Smith.

Benches scattered across the garden’s green lawn invite visitors to sit a moment to admire these abstract metallic masterpieces, whose organic and geometric forms are set off nicely by a backdrop off trees and shrubs. The garden’s latest addition, Mark di Suvero’s 20-foot-tall Tumbleweed, with its bright orange entanglement of I-beams and bolted metal, is particularly striking in this setting!

For any bipeds wishing to enjoy a longer respite, the nearby Sculpture Court Café by Giuseppe offers a leisurely European-style dining experience with its lunchtime menu of gourmet pizzas, salads, sandwiches, espresso drinks, beer, wine, and spirits. Or better yet, pick up something at the café’s Grab and Go counter and treat me to lunch in the garden area.