It’s a balmy winter day – well, balmy if you’re from the frozen tundra we call the Midwest – and what better way to enjoy the 50-plus-degree weather than exploring outdoor sculpture gardens.
Cornerstone Sonoma Blends Quirky and Fabulous
Packed with delightful, unexpected surprises and set amid world-renowned architectural gardens, Cornerstone Place is a wine country experience unlike anything you’ve seen before.
Your first glimpse of this indescribable place may be of the Monterey pine – long dead – with its skeletal limbs coated in 25,000 blue plastic Christmas balls. There are two 11-foot-high Adirondack chairs, and a picket fence that floats about 10 feet above the perimeter.
Outdoor sculpture garden, art galleries, boutiques, wine tasting and a great deli for picnics round out the scene.
Cornerstone Sonoma
23570 Highway 121
Sonoma, CA 95476
www.cornerstoneplace.com
(707) 933-3010
Winery Boasts Sculpture Garden
Nestled on a 156-acre wine country estate in the heart of Sonoma County, Paradise Ridge Winery offers spectacular natural vistas overlooking the Russian River Valley. Expansive decks and terraces open to panoramic landscapes, including rolling vineyards and pastoral wine country scenery.
Visitors can sample exciting wines in our newly renovated tasting room and winery guests are invited to relax and enjoy “The most beautiful view in Sonoma County.”
Marijke’s Grove Sculpture Garden: You’re strolling through Paradise Ridge Winery’s Marijke’s Grove and suddenly a giant American eagle swoops into view. You haven’t been sipping too much wine; you’ve discovered the winery’s sculpture exhibit nestled in a four-acre grove of ancient oaks.
Sculptures are displayed among mossy rocks and small grassy clearings in this natural outdoor gallery. Rather than acquiring a permanent sculpture collection, Marijke’s Grove supports the arts by creating an annually changing exhibit space where art, ideas and nature converge.
Adjacent to the grove, in the environs of the Nagasawa winemaking building, an art garden reveals additional sculptures displayed among the trees. Marijke’s Grove is open daily during tasting room hours.
Paradise Ridge Winery
4545 Thomas Lake Harris Drive
Santa Rosa, California 95403
(707) 528-9463
info@prwinery.com
www.paradiseridgewinery.com
Public Art Space Encourages Walkers
The 0.6-mile creek restoration project stretches from Santa Rosa City Hall to Railroad Square. Late 19th and early 20th century vintage commercial and industrial buildings characterize the area. Using the historic building materials, including stone, cast iron, steel and wood, the creek has been transformed into a series of terraces with landscaping, trails, plazas and public art. The scale of the improvements is intimate, with stone retaining walls, curved stairs and ramps that lead to the water’s edge, artistic benches, murals and sculptures.
Native riparian vegetation was planted along the banks creating shade and wildlife habitat. Deep pools along with gravel bars and riffles provide juvenile rearing and adult migration habitat for steelhead. Already, there have been increased numbers of juvenile steelhead trout in the creek and adult steelhead spawning upstream, along with increases in the river otter and other wildlife populations.
This award-winning project has increased the public’s awareness of the entire creek system in Santa Rosa. Walkers, joggers, and bicyclists of every age are all enjoying the pleasant peaceful walkway. Santa Rosa Creek has become a model of urban creek restoration that addresses social as well as environmental and educational goals.
Prince Memorial Greenway
Santa Rosa, CA
From the corner of Santa Rosa and Sonoma avenues, meanders west along the creek bed to the corner of Pierson and 6th.
http://ci.santa-rosa.ca.us/departments/recreationandparks/parks/PMG/Pages/default.aspx
