Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is a leading cultural institution integrating horticulture, art, and education on a 158-acre campus in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Featuring a major international sculpture collection, innovative indoor and outdoor gardens, and a landmark tropical conservatory, Meijer Gardens serves millions of visitors with exhibitions, public programming, and research initiatives. Recognized globally and honored by USA TODAY as the nation’s Best Sculpture Park (2023–2025), the organization advances its mission to promote enjoyment, understanding, and appreciation of gardens, sculpture, and the natural environment.

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

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Todi Arts Studio, former home and studio of Beverly Pepper, at Villa Zefiro provides residencies to established and globally respected sculptors and arts professionals, giving them a quiet place to work on a new project or idea or simply to be inspired by the beauty and tranquility of the Umbrian countryside and the magnificent hill town of Todi.

Todi Arts Studio Curatorial Residency - Summer 2025

AICA - International Association of Art Critics

College Art Association

International Sculpture Center (ISC) : Member, Board of Trustees

Nick Cave - "Amalgam (Origin)"

Natural Wonders: The Sublime in Contemporary Art: Thirteen Artists Explore Nature's Limits

David Smith: The Nature of Sculpture

JAUME PLENS

Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature’s Underworld

Loaded: Guns in Contemporary Art

Unique by Design: Contemporary Jewelry in the Donna Schneier Collection

On Body and Soul: Contemporary Armor to Amulets

Busted : Contemporary Sculpture Busts

Forest of Dreams: Contemporary Tree Sculpture

Suzanne Ramljak is Director of Curatorial Affairs at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, where she has worked since 2022. Ramljak was formerly Curator at the American Federation of Arts, New York, overseeing the development of traveling museum exhibitions and scholarly publications. She previously served as Editor of "Sculpture" magazine, published by the International Sculpture Center, and was Editor of "Metalsmith" and of "Glass Quarterly" magazines. 

Ramljak has worked in the curatorial departments of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the University of Michigan Museum of Art. Her many curated exhibitions include "Romancing the Brain"; "Case Studies: Art in a Valise"; "Natural Wonders: The Sublime in Contemporary Art"; and "Mark Dion & Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature’s Underworld". Among the exhibitions she has curated since coming to Meijer Gardens are "Forest of Dreams: Contemporary Tree Sculpture"; "David Smith: The Nature of Sculpture"; "Busted: Contemporary Sculpture Busts"; and "Jaume Plensa: A New Humanism".  

A contributor to numerous publications, Ramljak’s writing on art has appeared in "The New York Times Book Review" and "Utne Reader" among other periodicals and magazines. In addition to exhibition catalogues, her books include "On Body & Soul: Contemporary Amulets to Armor" and "Loaded: Guns in Contemporary Art".

Ramljak holds a BA and MA degree in Art History from the University of Michigan and completed her doctoral studies at the Graduate Center, City University of New York.

Art Criticism

Contemporary Art

Museum Exhibition Curation

Sculpture

Curating 

Editing

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Project Management

Art Curation

Lectures

Vibrant glass art takes over Meijer Gardens grounds

Color in Full Bloom: Chihuly Transforms Meijer Gardens

Massive, fantastic Chihuly exhibition opens in Grand Rapids

Michigan’s largest‑ever Chihuly exhibition marks long-awaited return to Meijer Gardens

World-renowned glass artist returns to Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

Nick Cave’s New Monument Is for the Birds—Literally

Nick Cave’s “Amalgam (Origin)” Looms Over the Frederik Meijer Gardens

'Amalgam (Origin)' becomes permanent installation at Meijer Gardens

Towering bronze sculpture from famed Chicago artist coming to Meijer Gardens

Face-to-face: Meijer Gardens’ “BUSTED” exhibit revolutionizes the way we see our shared humanity

David Smith: Sculpting space, nature, and legacy at Meijer Gardens

Suzanne Ramljak

Suzanne Ramljak in Nick Cave's Chicago studio, reviewing foundry progress of "Amalgam (Origin)"

Suzanne Ramljak and Nick Cave viewing the newly sited "Amalgam(Origin)" at Meijer Gardens

Suzanne Ramljak in "David Smith: The Nature of Sculpture" exhibition at Meijer Gardens 

chihulys-glass-abloom-at-meijer-gardens

Expansive Indoor–Outdoor Experience Spans 158-Acre Campus

  Frederik Meijer Gardens is hosting CHIHULY at Meijer Gardens through Nov. 1, 2026 - the only temporary Chihuly exhibit in the country and one of only two in the world this year. Most creative passions have their roots in childhood—and such is the case with Dale Chihuly’s great love of flowers. The artist fondly recalls his mother’s large and exuberant garden in Tacoma, Washington, known as one of the most beautiful in the neighborhood. Memories of his mother’s garden have influenced much of Chihuly’s work, with the bursting colors and blooming forms matching the fecundity of flora.
 

 Another inspiration for Chihuly’s flowering glass forms is the famed Blaschka Collection of glass flowers at Harvard University’s Museum of Natural History, which he encountered while studying sculpture on the East Coast. His avowed love of Vincent van Gogh’s vibrant flower paintings provides another source for Chihuly’s expressive floral artworks.
  

Michigan’s largest‑ever Chihuly exhibition marks long-awaited return to Meijer Garden MLive/Grand Rapids Press April 30, 2026

“The exhibition offers an unprecedented opportunity to lose yourself in Chihuly’s career and in individual pieces,” said Suzanne Ramljak. “It’s hard to describe how experiential it is.”  Chihuly’s many exhibitions in conservatories and botanical gardens—including repeatedly at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park—further testifies to the ways his art speaks directly to nature. Meijer Gardens’  presentation of CHIHULY at Meijer Gardens features a number of the artist’s floral-based series, including his Venetians, Ikebana and Fiori. Below are images of a few of the blooming glass pieces visitors encounter inside the CHIHULY: Radiant Forms indoor gallery exhibition (which runs through Jan. 10, 2027), while his outdoor installations revel in the company of flowers. 

VENETIANS Chihuly’s opulent Venetians series, begun in the late 1980s, is both a celebration of the Italian city that fueled his glass art and of nature’s endless bounty. Several of these baroque vessels are adorned with vegetative forms and stylized flowers in colors that rival that of a garden palette.




IKEBANA  In 1989, Chihuly began his Ikebana series inspired by Japan’s traditional art of flower arranging. Chihuly’s bold variations on this tradition features sculptural vases of every imaginative shape, containing expressive flowers not to be found in any handbook of botanical species. Chihuly continued his exploration of Japanese flower arranging in a number of innovative glass-on-glass paintings, which are also on view in the Radiant Forms exhibition. 










FIORI AND MILLE FIORI  Chihuly’s profusion of floral forms continues in his Fiori (Italian for “flowers”) and Mille Fiori (“a thousand flowers”) series. Whether shown as singular stalks or amassed on a platform as a riotous glass garden, the artist’s Fiori both celebrate the vitality of nature and the endless creative possibilities of glass.

 When Chihuly’s ongoing series of Fiori are set outdoors—in the landscape as with Mottled Trumpet Flowers or gathered within a floating Fiori Boat—his opulent floral forms gain dynamism through the interplay with living organisms. 

 CHIHULY at Meijer Gardens Presented by Macatawa Bank runs through Nov. 1 for the exterior portion. General admission tickets include access to all outdoor Chihuly installations across the campus. The indoor CHIHULY: Radiant Forms exhibit runs through Jan. 10, 2027 and requires a separate timed-entry ticket ($9 adults, $5 children ages 3–13 and members receive a 10% discount). For exhibition tickets and a schedule of related events and programs, visit MeijerGardens.org/Chihuly.   Suzanne Ramljak is Director of Curatorial Affairs at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, where she has worked since 2022. Ramljak previously was curator at the American Federation of Arts, New York, overseeing the development of traveling museum exhibitions and scholarly publications.  View her profile. If you are looking to cover CHIHULY at Meijer Gardens, connect with Suzanne below. 

Chihuly’s Glass Abloom at Meijer Gardens

why-nick-caves-first-public-outdoor-sculpture-found-its-home-at-meijer-gardens

Suzanne Ramljak explains the cultural, artistic, and regional significance of a landmark permanent installation

The permanent installation of Amalgam (Origin), Nick Cave’s first public outdoor sculpture in the world, marks a major moment for contemporary art in the Midwest and a defining milestone for Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. As the curator who guided the project from concept to completion, Suzanne Ramljak offers essential insight into why this work matters now, how it fits within Cave’s evolving career, and what it signals about the growing role of public art in shaping cultural identity.

 The sculpture’s installation in October coincides with a pivotal period in Nick Cave’s career. On Feb. 13, he debuted “Nick Cave: Mammoth,” a monumental new body of work on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum through Jan. 3, 2027. Not only is it Cave's first solo exhibition in Washington, D.C., but it is the museum’s largest ever single-artist commission. And this spring, the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago opens with a major, immersive installation by Cave, placing his work at the center of a national cultural moment. 

Against this timely backdrop, Meijer Gardens’ installation stands as a quiet but powerful first: the artist’s inaugural permanent outdoor public sculpture.

Understanding the Significance of Nick Cave's Work  The sculpture reflects the evolution of Nick Cave’s artistic practice, rooted in his groundbreaking Soundsuits series, a body of work first developed in response in the wake of Rodney King’s 1991 assault by police and designed to challenge viewers’ perceptions of identity, race, and community. 

Over decades, Cave’s work has moved from wearable performance art into public sculpture, allowing his socially engaged visual language to occupy shared civic space. The permanent presence of Amalgam (Origin) at Meijer Gardens highlights the institution’s commitment to showcasing art that resonates with broader cultural dialogues about resilience, protection, and collective identity.

“Nick Cave’s art is deeply rooted - in his family, in community, in craft, and in nature. His work is also grounded in concerns of social justice. The power of Amalgam (Origin) stems from this fertile mix; a blend of the personal and communal, exceptional and traditional.” Suzanne Ramljak, Vice President of Collections & Curatorial Affairs, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park   Suzanne Ramljak is Director of Curatorial Affairs  at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park where she oversees the acquisition, siting and curation of engaging sculptural exhibitions.   View her profile The timing also highlights Cave’s deep Midwest ties. He lives and works in Chicago and earned his master's degree at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The Meijer Gardens installation connects those regional roots to a global artistic trajectory, reinforcing the Midwest’s influence on contemporary art at the highest level.

Media Attention, Coverage and Cultural Momentum  Since the installation was announced and unveiled, the sculpture has drawn significant regional, national and arts-focused media attention, underscoring its cultural weight and public resonance. Coverage has highlighted the work’s monumental scale, its distinction as Nick Cave’s first permanent outdoor public sculpture, and Meijer Gardens’ role as a national destination capable of supporting ambitious and timely contemporary art. 

   Media narratives consistently framed the installation as both a major moment for Grand Rapids’ cultural landscape and a signal of Meijer Gardens’ growing influence within the national arts conversation.

The range of coverage points to interest from music, arts, lifestyle, and cultural outlets, suggesting the installation’s appeal to a variety of audiences.

     That level of attention reflects not only the significance of the work itself, but also the curatorial vision guiding its placement and permanence, a process led by Suzanne Ramljak.

Expert Insight:  As Director of Curatorial Affairs, Ramljak brings expert perspective on:

Why Meijer Gardens was the right home for Cave’s first outdoor public sculpture How this work fits within Cave’s broader artistic practice, particularly his engagement with performance, movement, and public space What permanence means in contemporary art, especially for works often associated with temporality and performance How landscape, scale, and audience interaction shape the experience of outdoor sculpture  Her expertise situates the installation within both Cave’s career arc and Meijer Gardens’ long-standing commitment to presenting ambitious contemporary sculpture in dialogue with nature.



Why Nick Cave’s First Public Outdoor Sculpture Found Its Home at Meijer Gardens

Director of Curatorial Affairs

One of Spain’s most celebrated artists, Cristina Iglesias was born in San Sebastián and now lives in Madrid. Iglesias is a leading figure in the international art world, known for her sculptures that explore the relationship between architecture, landscape and nature. Her work often incorporates water, plants, and other natural materials to create immersive and thought-provoking viewer experiences.

Iglesias is an impresario of space and atmosphere. In projects that range from underwater sculptures to citywide installations, she choreographs the experience of our surroundings, subtly directing viewer attention and stance. This is her first United States museum exhibition in more than two decades and surveys a range of work from the past 20 years including wall reliefs, metal silk-screens, liquid sculptures, and video, and debuts a new Cave series of copper panels. The exhibition provides an immersive experience, engaging visitors in rich, multisensory typographies.

View Cristina Iglesias: Under and In Between now through September 24, 2023. 
Find more information at: https://www.meijergardens.org/calendar/iglesias#about-the-exhibition
#meijergardens

Cristina Iglesias: Under and In Between

Forest of Dreams: Contemporary Tree Sculpture offers unexpected visions of these remarkable organisms, showcasing trees in all their power, beauty, strangeness, and glory.

The exhibition features the work of 15 exceptional artists: Emilie Brzezinski, Louise Bourgeois, Nick Cave, Kim Cridler, Tom Czarnopys, Michele Oka Doner, Peter Frie, Hugh Hayden, Jim Hodges, Patrick Jacobs, Maya Lin, Robert Lobe, Roxy Paine, Rona Pondick, and Ai Weiwei.

Learn more by visiting: https://www.meijergardens.org/forest-of-dreams/

David Smith: The Nature of Sculpture is the first exhibition to explore the artist’s deep engagement with the natural world as source, subject and site for his art. Working in multiple media, formats, and scales, David Smith’s adventurous approach to three-dimensional form has permanently expanded the vocabulary and range of sculptural practice.

Spanning his full career and featuring major museum loans, the exhibition includes some 40 sculptures, along with related paintings, reliefs, and works on paper to reclaim the primacy of nature within the artist’s richly inventive oeuvre.

David Smith: The Nature of Sculpture is curated by Suzanne Ramljak, Vice President of Collections & Curatorial Affairs at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.

Learn more at: https://www.meijergardens.org/davidsmith/

David Smith: The Nature of Sculpture
Scholar Christopher Lyon, and curators Jed Morse and Suzanne Ramljak join Rail Editor-at-Large Phyllis Tuchman for a conversation.

The New Social Environment #1137
Recorded on Friday, November 22, 2024 at 1 p.m. Eastern / 10 a.m. Pacific 
https://brooklynrail.org/event/2024/11/22/david-smith-the-nature-of-sculpture/

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In this talk:



Jed Morse, Christopher Lyon, Suzanne Ramljak and Phyllis Tuchman on David Smith

The long‑awaited return of glassblowing revolutionary Dale Chihuly brings historic scale to Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, marking the third collaboration between the internationally recognized artist and the Grand Rapids venue.

The indoor exhibition, titled “CHIHULY: Radiant Forms,“ opens Saturday, May 2 and runs through Nov. 1, with other installations spread across the 158‑acre campus.

“The exhibition offers an unprecedented opportunity to lose yourself in Chihuly’s career and in individual pieces,” said Suzanne Ramljak, Meijer Gardens’ vice president of collection and curatorial affairs. “It’s hard to describe how experiential it is.”

(Isaac Ritchey | MLive.com)