From its founding, teaching gardens have been integral to the MMoFA aesthetic experience. The irresistible combination of art and nature provides a venue for quiet contemplation, special occasions, Museum events, a rental facility for special occasions including weddings and family reunions, and a lush setting to enjoy contemporary works of art.

In 2007, MMoFA introduced its world tour of garden styles to aid interpretation of visual art and celebrate the global scope of the Museum's art collection. The expanding gardens, under construction, will feature fascinating works of art set among regional botanicals and cascading fountains all in the heart of the historic town district. So treat your senses to the sights, sounds, and smells of MMoFA's magical contemplative place. And refresh your day with “a sublime walk into the history of art and beauty.”

Paradise Garden: A Medieval Mary Garden

Few images in art history are more familiar than the Madonna with Christ Child, often surrounded by flowers. To delight the senses, offer spiritual refreshment, and preserve the rich flower language of medieval religious art, MMoFA presents it Paradise Garden. Featured garden symbols include the enclosed garden "hortus conclusus," a cascading fountain, raised beds, turf bench, garden Rosary with petite rose arbor grotto, and focal sculpture "Madonna and Child." More

Harmony in Gold and White: A James Whistler Butterfly Garden

In many parts of the world, butterflies appear only in warm seasons. MMoFA visitors can go butterfly hunting all year long. Visitors might spy a delicate jewel toned butterfly alighting in the Museum’s Whistler Butterfly Garden. Or they may spot an ethereal shimmering work of art inside MMoFA created by the American born 19th century art genius James Abbott McNeil Whistler and signed with his famous butterfly signature. More

The Chapel: Robert Sowers Window

In 1960, American Airlines commssioned a massive abstract stained-glass mural from Modern master Robert Sowers for the John F. Kennedy Airport in NYC. Fabricated of over 30,000 red, sapphire and white glass tiles organized in 900 panes, the 317-foot-by-23-foot translucent wall of glass illuminated the interior space and insulated people from the intense heat of the south-facade. The Guinness World Book of Records declared it the largest stained-glass work in the world. It is referenced in every major book on Modern stained glass. And for 48 years, the Sowers mural formed an iconic part of the New York landscape. In 2008 more