Brookgreen Gardens
Brookgreen Gardens was to be a refuge for Anna and a place to display her massive masterpieces. However, the couple soon incorporated the property as "a private, not-for-profit corporation entitled "Brookgreen Gardens, A Society for Southeastern Flora and Fauna." H4 Anna's limestone sculpture, The Visionaries, shows Anna and Archer reviewing plans for Brookgreen while surrounded by some of their favorite things.
From its inception, Brookgreen had a three-pronged purpose to collect, exhibit, and preserve American figurative sculpture as well as the plants and animals of the Southeast.
It became the first public sculpture garden in America.H4
During the Depression, Archer and Anna began to purchase sculptures by other artists. What started as a showcase for Anna’s work has grown into the largest outdoor sculpture collection in the United States, today featuring over 2,000 works of art by 430 artists.
Brookgreen Gardens is now a National Historic Landmark; in addition to the sculpture garden, this nonprofit organization also contains a zoo, a wildlife preserve, and botanical gardens.
Brookgreen's Fighting Stallions
One of the hallmarks of the collection is Anna Huntington’s Fighting Stallions. The Stallions are a centerpiece for Brookgreen Gardens, just as they are on the Quad at Texas State University.
Standing 15 feet high near the entrance to the Gardens, the Brookgreen stallions are made of aluminum — as is the casting that was created for Texas State.
