The Cosmic Experience of Yayoi Kusama at the New York Botanical Garden

Rain or Shine 

I have been planning to visit the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) for some time. The New York Botanical Garden is located at 2900 Southern Blvd, The Bronx, NY 10458, and hours of operation are Tuesday-Sunday 10 am-6 pm. I was waiting for the day to reserve my tickets when the weather would be perfect but was going to go rather rain or shine. You can’t predict the weather when you are purchasing tickets in advance. I drove over two hours to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania and it rained that day. Fortunately, the sun came out, and we had a lovely. day.

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I purchased our tickets in March when I saw the first ad on my Facebook feed. KUSAMA, Cosmic Nature. Anything with the words cosmic, nature, and art brightened my eyes with enthusiasm. I purchased my tickets for a Sunday in April at 4 pm.

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Visiting the Gardens

I thought reserving tickets on a Sunday late in the day would have less of a crowd. For the next month, I watched the weather each week. It was one week before my visit and it was rain in the forecast for the entire week including the day I planned on visiting. I checked the website to see if I could change the date.

There are NO REFUNDS and I kept replaying in my head if I wanted to take the drive over to The Bronx or not. It was only an hour’s drive and all highway, so I did not care about that. I wanted to be able to enjoy my visit and if it would be a downpour if I went.

The day came for our visit and it was pouring with rain the night before. When I woke in the am the sun was beaming. I was ecstatic and was heading out to The Bronx. The weather was overcast. The sun would peek his head out here and there; it was cloudy, and the weather was warm.

As long as it was no rain, I was fine with that. I was so happy that I continued with my plan and went to the garden. With a beautiful exhibit like this, NYBG was busy. The garden practices all COVID rules and regulations. People were wearing masks and social distancing. Please check their site to see any changes. 

I brought my daughter along, my travel buddy and we spent 2 hours at the gardens. They close on time at 6 pm. I think you need 3 or more hours to visit the entire grounds. The garden is 250 acres outdoors, so wear comfortable walking shoes when visiting. If you are like me and like taking pictures, I would bring some nice shoes with you in a bag. 

KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature

I did not notice how fast the time was passing, we just made the last exhibit inside the greenhouse before closing time. Again, they are strict with time and close exhibits at 6 pm. When we were done, I noticed people standing outside. They made it too late and were not let in. We purchased tickets for both indoor and outdoor installations. Give yourself enough time to see everything and look at the map before your visit to mark the things you want to see.

Japanese Contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama has an amazing exhibit. Visit the NYBG and experience this wonderful art capturing Kusama’s concepts of her childhood that she spent in greenhouses and the fields. The colors, patterns, and life cycles of plants and flowers are simply breathtaking. I enjoyed the huge and colorful statues. I felt like Alice in Wonderland stepping into a garden fantasy dream.

We enjoyed a fabulous time walking the grounds of the garden. We went inside LuEsther T. Mertz Library Building and saw Ms. Kusama’s private gallery of her original art collection. I love bringing my daughter to expose her to the talents of others and to give her inspiration. I saw a few favorites.

I do advise going early before closing time to enjoy all the installations. The beautiful waterfalls, flowers, and sculptures throughout the gardens were amazing to see. If you are not tired from walking in the garden. The Bronx Zoo is just walking distance minutes away.