With COVID-19 vaccinations ramping up and the official start of spring just around the corner, it seems a natural time to cautiously ease back into “normal” public life or something more closely resembling it. Longer days and fairer weather also, of course, means more time spent outside with sculpture gardens, open-air art spaces, and museum grounds offering an ideal bridge between indoor gallery-going and reconnecting with the great outdoors during a season of renewal and rebirth.

Many museums have also reopened their indoor galleries and it appears that many more will—including in Los Angeles, where museums have been fully closed for over a year—over the coming weeks. But for those who would rather limit their art-related experiences to the outdoors for the time being while also enjoying the mild weather, below are a few parks and cultural institutions across the country worth checking out. Keep in mind that health and safety regulations vary by state, county, or city, and many venues, even outdoor ones, are operating at a limited capacity and/or have special safety guidelines in place. Securing advance tickets is often but not always required and face masks still remain mandatory. So be sure to check out the latest visitor information before you slip on those walking shoes, pop an antihistamine (‘tis the season), and head out outdoors

Besthoff Sculpture Garden — New Orleans

The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA)’s 11-acre Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden is open to visitors Wednesdays through Sundays at 50 percent capacity to prevent overcrowding. While the garden is always worth a visit, NOMA also just announced the arrival of a new acquisition to the existing collection of over 90 works: The Seated III, a sculpture by contemporary Kenyan-American artist Wangechi Mutu. “This significant work by Wangechi Mutu takes its place within the garden landscape as yet another point of conversation and contemplation for our visitors,” said Susan Taylor, NOMA’s Montine McDaniel Freeman Director, in a statement. “While on view at The Met in New York, Mutu’s figures invited visitors to rethink the history of the museum’s collection, the historic tradition of facade sculpture and the role of Black women in society. In NOMA’s Besthoff Sculpture Garden, The Seated III will have a similarly dynamic relationship to the museum’s history and collection.”

Clark Art Institute — Williamstown, Massachusetts

Designed by Reed Hilderbrand and spread across 140 bucolic acres, the Berkshires campus of the Clark Art Institute is worth spending an entire day exploring. (The Clark’s famed indoor galleries are also open as well with advanced ticketing and other COVID-19-related restrictions/precautions in place). Spring is the perfect time to catch Ground/work, the Clark’s inaugural outdoor exhibition, which runs through mid-October. “In development for several years, this exhibition comes to fruition at a moment of dislocation, isolation, and uncertainty,” explains the exhibition text. “The familiar experiences of being outdoors and encountering works of art have taken on new meaning in our unexpectedly changed world, offering the comforts of nature and culture, community and solitude, engagement and reflection.”

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art — Bentonville, Arkansas

While certain features of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art remain temporarily shuttered or are operating at a reduced capacity, a bulk of Northwest Arkansas’ famed American art destination is now accessible to the public with various safety guidelines in place. For those looking for fresh air and exercise amid natural trappings, spring is a fantastic (and less sweltering) season to explore Crystal Bridge’s 120-acre grounds, which feature over 4 miles of Ozarkian walking trails ranging in difficulty and length, from a quarter-of-a-mile to nearly a mile-and-a-half. The second annual North Forest Lights, an “enchanted” nighttime walking experience featuring five light installations, has been extended through April 4 with enhanced safety measures in place.

Glenstone — Potomac, Maryland

While the indoor galleries at the Glenstone, a private contemporary art museum outside of Washington, D.C., remain closed until further notice, all 300 trail-laced acres of the museum’s expansive grounds recently reopened on March 4 to guests along with outdoor dining and limited indoor facilities. Access to Glenstone remains free although getting snagging a scheduled spot remains something of a competitive sport. “We know that time in nature can help us process, heal, and reset,” said Glenstone director and cofounder Emily Wei Rales in a statement. “We welcome the community to return to Glenstone to explore the grounds and outdoor sculptures, while continuing to keep themselves and their neighbors safe.”

Grounds for Sculpture — Hamilton, New Jersey

Grounds for Sculpture, New Jersey’s fairground racetrack complex-turned-42-acre sculpture park is open to reservation-holding visitors and, through the end of March, offering discounted $10 tickets. While all indoor exhibitions and buildings remain closed and numerous safety protocols are in place, the spring calendar isn’t lacking in events for members and guests alike including Slow Art Day (April 10), a botanical drawing class (April 17), and wellness-focused outdoor programs like meditation sessions and tai chi classes. In addition to the museum’s permanent collection, on view through August 9 is Rebirth: Kang Muxiang, a six-sculpture work by Taiwanese artist Kang Muxiang created with retired elevator cables from the 509-foot supertall, Taipei 101.

Josephine F. Ford Sculpture Garden ­— Detroit

While the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is back open with reduced hours and an advanced-ticketing system, spring is the perfect time to enjoy the open-air pleasures of Josephine F. Ford Sculpture Garden located just up the street from the museum on the grounds of the College For Creative Studies at Wayne State University. The two-acre site includes a dozen works from DIA’s permanent collection—Richard Serra, Beverly Pepper, and Anthony Caro are among the artists represented—and is the city’s first public sculpture garden.

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden — Minneapolis

As Minneapolis begins to thaw out, the city’s titular 11-acre sculpture garden is always a good bet for a socially distanced springtime stroll—plus, the generous operating hours of 6 a.m. to midnight make it easier to check out the works of Oldenburg, LeWitt, Calder, Noguchi, and others while avoiding potential midday crowds. Worth noting: the sculpture garden’s public bathrooms remain closed but the facilities at the adjacent Walker Art Center are open for use during the museum’s adjusted hours. Admission to the garden and the Walker galleries are, as always, free. (Advanced tickets are required for the latter.)

Olympic Sculpture Park — Seattle

For those not quite ready to venture into the recently opened (with strict advance ticketing and safety measures in place) Seattle Art Museum to see the new Jacob Lawrence exhibition in person, SAM’s open-air sister institution, the Weiss/Manfredi-designed Olympic Sculpture Park, remains open daily although the nine-acre park’s PACCAR Pavilion remains closed until further notice. Socially distancing and mask-donning is encouraged for those enjoying springtime strolls through the park’s sweeping, sculpture-studded landscape alongside Elliot Bay.

Socrates Sculpture Park — Queens, New York

If you haven’t caught Monuments Now at Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, Queens, you had better get moving, as certain parts of the three-part exhibition, including works by the 2020 Artist Fellows and “Socrateen” student artists, will remain on view through as late as April 4. On May 15, Planeta Abuelx, a solo exhibition of new work by Brooklyn-based artist Guadalupe Maravilla that “addresses and applies holistic healing practices” opens at the five-acre sculpture park-slash-community hub on the East River. The park is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to sunset and adheres to NYC Parks’ COVID-19 safety guidelines.

Storm King Art Center — Mountainville, New York

Advanced ticketing for the Storm King Art Center’s regular season has opened up for April 7 through April 19 visits with tickets for future spring dates being released in bi-weekly blocks. In addition to the 500-acre open-air museum’s expansive permanent collection of contemporary late-scale sculpture, upcoming exhibitions opening this spring and beyond include Fallen Sky by Sarah Sze and Rashid Johnson’s The Crisis, both opening on May 22. (The special Sze exhibition coincides with the unveiling of a new site-specific permanent work, also named Fallen Sky, that will become part of Storm King’s permanent collection.) In addition to decent walking shoes and water bottles, visitors are encouraged to bring—and use—face masks and hand sanitizer.

Wynwood Walls — Miami

One of the rare benefits of the pandemic: the sometimes oppressive throngs that flock to cultural hotspots—particularly ones where rapid-fire selfie-taking is involved—have been dramatically thinned out due to newly instated timed ticketing systems meant to keep visitors at safe distances from each other. Such is the case with Wynwood Walls, the famed open-air urban art museum in Miami’s bustling Wynwood Art District that reopened last December after being closed since March 2020. With a (paid) timed ticketing scheme now in place, visitors can still enjoy the site’s over 50 murals and sculptures from a slew of internationally renowned street artists with decreased chances of someone inadvertently walking into the perfect Instagram shot.