Brookgreen Gardens, a Cultural Council Non-Profit Partner, was founding In 1931 by Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington.  A non-profit 501(c)(3) garden museum, Brookgreen aims to preserve the native flora and fauna and display objects of art within that natural setting.  Today, Brookgreen Gardens is a National Historic Landmark with the most significant collection of figurative sculpture, in an outdoor setting by American artists in the world, and has the only zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums on the coast of the Carolinas.

Visitors can visit the Gardens and zoo year round.  Other activities Brookgreen Gardens hosts includes Gullah presentations, tours of the old plantations that make up the Gardens (by boat and land), and seasonal festivities, such as a local favorite Nights of a Thousand Candles.  Memberships are offered at various levels and include some exciting benefits like passes for your guests.  The Lowcountry Zoo houses local animals including alligators, otters, bald eagles, owls, turkeys, deer, foxes, herons, egrets, ducks and more!  In 2003, Brookgreen Gardens opened a new zoo exhibit, Domestic Animals of the Plantation, which offers visitors a glimpse of the farm animals used on local plantations in the 1800s.  Many of the domestic animals are considered rare breeds as they are not hybrid descendants used on farms today.

Brookgreen Gardens was truly the first public sculpture garden in America, and has in its collection more than 1,200 pieces by over 350 artists.  The sculpture found throughout the premises is a collection of American figurative sculpture.  The Huntingtons were avid arts patrons, and Anna, a practicing sculptor, designed the original layout of the Gardens, still a key component to its beauty.  Brookgreen Gardens is a National Historic Landmark, and is accredited by the American Association of Museums.

Located on Highway 17, between Murrells Inlet, SC and Litchfield, SC, right across from Huntington Beach State Park, if you are driving this stretch of road you will not miss Brookgreen Gardens for it's magnificent, monumental Fighting Stallions sculpture, by Anna Hyatt Huntington, right out front.

For more information, visit www.Brookgreen.org.