Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens


253 Barcelona Road, West Palm Beach, FL 33401

561-832-5328

The Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens was established in 1977 by resident sculptor Ann Weaver Norton. Within an urban sanctuary of two acres, the compound comprises Norton’s historic home, exhibition galleries, artist studio, nine monumental sculptures and rare palm and cycad and pollinator gardens for public enjoyment as a natural green oasis.

Close-up of Ann Weaver Norton carving “Seven Beings” in situ c.1962. Photograph courtesy of Ann Norton Sculpture Garden.

Born in Selma, Alabama, Ann Vaughan Weaver drew from the time she was five-years old and received her first sculpting tool at age 8. After graduating from Smith College, Ann moved to New York to study at the National Academy of Design, the Arts Student League of New York and Cooper Union. She studied with artists William Zorach, Leon Kroll, and Jose de Creeft. She apprenticed with John Hovannes and was a studio assistant to Alexander Archipenko. While in New York, Ann’s work was well received, and she participated in group shows at the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. She was the recipient of two Carnegie Traveling Fellowships. During her career she participated in solo and group exhibitions at the Schneider Gallery, Rome; The Musée Rodin, Paris; Bodley Gallery, New York; Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York; Lowe Museum of Art, Miami; The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach; and the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach.

“Seven Beings” completed in 1965 by Ann Weaver Norton in honor of her husband Ralph Norton. Photograph by @Capehartphotography, courtesy of Ann Norton Sculpture Garden.
Ann Norton’s Artist Studio east side landscape angle. Photograph courtesy of Ann Norton Sculpture Garden.
Ann Norton’s Artist Studio Interior. Photograph by @Capehartphotography, courtesy of Ann Norton Sculpture Garden.

A passionate environmentalist, Norton turned her property into an urban sanctuary for birds and wildlife. The gardens comprised of native plants, and over 250 varieties of palms and cycads from all over the world, were created as a setting for her monumental sculptures of both stone and brick. In 1977, Norton established a foundation, which ensured the long-term preservation of her house (now Nationally Registered), studio, gardens, and art for the enjoyment and education of the public.

Located in the historic El Cid Historic Neighborhood of West Palm Beach, with expansive views of the Intracoastal Waterway, the home was designed in 1925 by well-known architect Maurice Fatio and features coquina pathways, pecky cypress ceilings and beautiful gardens. In 1935 Norton Museum of Art founders, Ralph and Elizabeth Norton, purchased the home and selected Marion Sims Wyeth to redesign it in the Monterey Revival Style as seen today. In 1948, the widowed Ralph Norton married Ann Weaver, sculptor instructor at the Norton Museum. That same year Norton invited Wyeth to design Ann’s studio. The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

Ann Norton’s monumental, silent, mysterious sculptures built in situ over a period of 15 years were intended to be discovered as surprises amidst the dense, jungle-like vegetation. The Gardens, designed by world-renowned botanist Sir Peter Smithers as a rare palm garden, represent Ann’s commitment to conservation and the preservation of a quiet retreat in the midst of a burgeoning city.

Eight brick monolithic sculptures stand throughout the garden; powerfully symbolic, allegorical even, of the architecture of the South, of the influence of both Gothic and Romanesque façade and tower, of abstracted form married to realistic meaning.

Most are sculpted from handmade North Carolina brick, all with architectural elements; some with cantilevered appendages, some fluid apertures of ancient Sanskrit, others enigmatic, undulating and inimitable.