Shona Stone Sculpture Lands Inside a Glasshouse Garden
Five large Shona stone sculptures from Zimbabwe sit among the planting beds of the Conservatory Sensory Garden.
🪨 Five Stones in the Beds
🇿🇼 Where the Work Comes From
Soul of the Stone brings five large Shona sculptures into the Conservatory, organized with Gallery Guichard on the South Side. Shona carving comes out of Zimbabwe and works serpentine and springstone directly, with the grain of the rock steering the final form. The pieces sit inside the Sensory Garden rather than a white room. Planting beds put moss, water, and leaf shadow against polished stone, an argument the gallery wall never makes. Each work stays hand finished from block to surface.
🌿 Moving Through the Rooms
You enter through the Horticulture Hall and follow the path into the Sensory Garden, where the sculptures sit at standing height among the beds. Visitors circle each one rather than stopping at a fixed viewing angle. Staff are on the floor and will point out which stone is serpentine and which is springstone. Touching is part of the Sensory Garden design, and these surfaces reward it, unlike most exhibitions of this scale. The Palm House and Fern Room sit a short walk further in.
🚉 Arrival and Fit
The Conservatory opens at 10 in the morning on Friday, September 18, at 300 North Central Park Avenue on the West Side. The Green Line Conservatory stop leaves you at the front door, and parking sits along Central Park Avenue. Mornings hold the quietest light in the glasshouses before school groups arrive, which matters for photographs. It fits anyone who likes sculpture, plants, or a warm indoor walk on a cool day. Strollers and wheelchairs move through the main paths without trouble.
