Grounds For Sculpture (GFS) in Hamilton has received a $25,726 FY25 Cultural Trust Institutional and Financial Stabilization Grant from the New Jersey Cultural Trust. This new funding helps support installing a professional database with informational signage for GFS’ living horticulture collection that will include tagging, cataloging and tracking vital specimen history, health, and locations at the sculpture park. As the first grant awarded to GFS’ horticultural department, this support underscores the vital role that horticulture represents at the 42-acre nonprofit, which became a Level II Arboretum by The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and The Morton Arboretum in 2024.

“This significant grant funding allows us to implement this new database system that will help our team manage the extraordinary living collection at Grounds For Sculpture,” said Janis Napoli, Grounds For Sculpture’s director of horticulture. “We are excited to enhance our ability to document, track, and care for our horticultural specimens, ensuring that future generations can continue to experience and learn from the ever-evolving landscape in our gardens. We are grateful to the New Jersey Cultural Trust for their support in advancing our mission.”

GFS recognizes the importance of retaining institutional knowledge about the park’s creation and its specimens, along with plant updates and the management of specialized collections, such as the deciduous conifer collection. A catalog system supported by this grant will house much of this information and assist in the daily management of the organization’s vast gardens. The sculpture park will install a professional garden database and associated tools and develop a process to maintain and create new records for existing specimens and a protocol for documenting new additions to the living collection.

In 2024, GFS was accredited as a Level II Arboretum by The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and The Morton Arboretum for achieving particular standards of professional practices deemed important for arboreta and botanic gardens. The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program is the only global initiative to officially recognize arboreta at various levels of development, capacity, and professionalism. In addition to the recent upgrade, GFS is also recognized as an accredited arboretum in the Morton Register of Arboreta, a database of the world’s arboreta and gardens dedicated to woody plants.

“These grants are a historic investment in New Jersey’s cultural community that will resonate for years to come,” said Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way. “The Cultural Trust’s unique grant programs support projects that strengthen the foundations of our state’s cultural organizations — organizations that in turn anchor local economies, improve the health and vitality of our communities, and contribute immeasurably to New Jerseyans’ well-being and quality of life.”