Gifts to The Gardens at MMA help cultivate a vibrant, welcoming space for all in the heart of downtown Jackson. Your donation supports seasonal plantings, public art, and garden programming, ensuring our grounds remain a place a beauty, creativity, and connection.
The Art Garden at the Mississippi Museum of Art is a 1.2-acre park located in the heart of downtown Jackson. Surrounded by the city’s foremost cultural organizations, all of which contributed invaluably to its development, The Art Garden is designed to engage visitors not only with visual art, but with all the arts. Home to the second largest native plant display in the state, this versatile, open, outdoor space features a welcoming lawn, seasonal foliage, permanent art installations, and water features. The Museum also hosts exhibitions, festivals, outdoor films, musical performances, and other cultural events in The Art Garden. Check our events calendar for information about ongoing events. Download a map of The Art Garden.
Sculptures of The Art Garden
Plants of The Art Garden
Central to The Art Garden is a native plant garden designed by landscape architects Ed Blake, Robert Poore, and architect Madge Beemis, featuring examples of our state’s beautiful native plants. This unique display consists of different-sized metal trays with varying soil depths for plant roots to filter water into Town Creek, which runs beneath the garden. Ninety percent of this abstract meadow design contains plants native to the Southeastern U.S.
The Gallery Garden results from an imaginative renovation of the pedestrian walkway that connects the Museum’s main entrance (north) and The Art Garden to the Museum’s West Street entrance (east). This walkway now serves as a dynamic link between these two spaces, offering a vibrant gathering spot for meaningful artistic expression in the heart of Jackson’s cultural complex.
The first garden at the Museum, established in 2011, was a generous gift from Mrs. Gloria Walker in memory of her late husband.
Comprised of Southern heritage plants and trees, seasonal foliage, public outdoor art, water features, and a welcoming community patio, the Walker Garden provides a refreshing retreat in the heart of downtown. This lush, green space invites visitors to reflect, be inspired, and find wonder. The Walker Garden not only celebrates Mississippi’s beauty but also its rich artistic history by incorporating cuttings from the gardens of well-known Mississippians such as William Faulkner and Eudora Welty.
The Walker Garden is the setting for exhibitions, festivals, outdoor films, and musical performances. In addition, this garden provides our local community locations for hundreds of professional photographs, en plein air painting, family celebrations, prom, and graduation photos.
Created in collaboration with The Garden Club of Jackson, this garden offers a dedicated space where staff and members can harvest blooms without affecting the Museum’s other gardens. It is filled with resilient flowers such as zinnias, sunflowers, lilies, cosmos, coneflowers, daisies, salvia, larkspur, sweet peas, and snapdragons. The Payton Cutting Garden adds a burst of color to a sunny wall in The Art Garden.
Enhance your garden with selections from our exclusive collection, available at our Spring Plant Sale. Our inventory consists of plants not commonly found in commercial nurseries, meticulously propagated from The Art Garden’s plants or seeds, or carefully curated from MMA staff-approved vendors.
This is a great opportunity to cultivate desirable landscape specimens, unique cultivars, and rare and native plant varieties, all specifically chosen to flourish in our local environment.
Garden Circle Members enjoy early access to these sales. If you’re not yet a Garden Circle Member, learn more about the benefits and how to join HERE.
Like the Museum itself, The Art Garden is an inviting space in which everyone can engage comfortably with art. Given our proximity to the Jackson Convention Complex, The Art Garden welcomes thousands of first-time visitors to the city. Sample Mississippi’s rich artistic heritage while strolling, sitting, or sunning in this beautiful public green space in the heart of downtown Jackson.
Private Events
Since opening in 2007, the Museum has become one of Jackson’s premier venues for hosting private events of all types and sizes—from large galas to intimate gatherings. Our versatile facility rental options include the expansive 1.2-acre green space, The Art Garden as well as the cozy and inviting Walker Garden. For information about booking your next event, call 601-960-1515.
Photography
Photography is warmly welcomed within our premises at any time. However, we kindly ask that no confetti or glitter of any kind be used during photography sessions. This ensures the preservation of cleanliness and the upkeep of our space for the benefit of all visitors. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
We sincerely appreciate any support extended to our non-profit organization, whether through donations or a portion of sitting fees. Your contributions enable us to further our mission effectively and make a meaningful impact. Donate here.
Want to gain further knowledge of, and engagement with, the gardens at MMA ? MMA’s Garden Circle welcomes gardeners and gardening enthusiasts of all levels to join us in supporting the Museum’s gardens. Consider joining the Garden Circle. Learn more here.
Annual benefits of the Garden Circle include:
Local support of The Art Garden is generously provided by
C Spire
BankPlus
Gloria Walker
The Selby and Richard McRae Foundation
U.S. Department of HUD
State of Mississippi
