Park opens for the Season

Date: May 5, 2015
Contact: Gregory C. Schwarz, [phone]

Cornish, NH:Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, a national park for the arts, opens for the season on Saturday, May 23, and will be open daily, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through October 31. The site features the studios, home, gardens, and artwork of Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), one of America's greatest sculptors.

Over 100 of Saint-Gaudens's sculptures on the grounds and in the galleries, from heroic public monuments like the Shaw Memorial, to expressive portrait reliefs, and the 1907 Twenty–dollar gold piece, considered America's most beautiful coin. Saint-Gaudens's home "Aspet" contains its original family furnishings, and guided tours of the house and galleries are given throughout the day. The 190-acre park also includes formal gardens and woodland nature trails. Visitors can also enjoy summer concerts every Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. from June 28 through August 30. The concerts include a range of music from Irish and classical to opera and Dixieland jazz.

The park has a free iPhone and Android app, available to download from the iTunes and Google stores.The Saint-Gaudens app includes audio tours of the park's historic buildings, images and information about Saint-Gaudens's artwork, and a guide to the trail system.

Each year the park has a sculptor-in-residence throughout the season, demonstrating figurative sculptural techniques. The 2015 Sculptor-in-Residence, Cliff Page, will teach a series of sculpture workshops on Saturdays, ranging from introductory classes in figurative sculpture to sculpting life size portrait heads.

On Memorial Day, Monday, May 25 at 2:00, the park will present a special illustrated program on Civil War General John Logan. General Logan was the creator of Memorial Day and Augustus Saint-Gaudens sculpted a stirring public monument to Logan in Chicago.

Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site is located off NH Route 12A just north of the Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge. Admission is $7.00 per person;children ages 15 and younger are admitted free. As a Federal Fee Area, the America the Beautiful, annual, senior, and access passes are honored. For further information on seasonal offerings, contact Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, 139 Saint-Gaudens Road, Cornish, NH, 03745, telephone [phone], or visit the park web site at:www.nps.gov/saga, and join us on Facebookat www.facebook.com/SaintGaudensNPS.