Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Taktsang Lhakhang, also known as the “Tiger’s Nest”.
Bhutan • 11 days, 10 nights
Festivals & Temples of Bhutan
from
Macchu Picchu
Peru • 10 days, 9 nights
Peru: Machu Picchu & the Last Incan Bridges
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Saint Anthony’s Sign of the Cross
The plane as it lies
Douglas C-47B Crash Site
Museum of Perfume
Charlotte Temple’s Grave
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The sign declares this the number-one gumbo shop in town.
Gumbo Hut Shioya
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Omni Parker House Hotel
The Omni Parker House: Inside the History of Boston’s Most Iconic Hotel
about 3 hours ago
The cute capybara.
Animal Takeover: Brace Yourself for Adorable Hordes
1 day ago
The Codex Gigas (the Devil’s Bible) open to the portrait of the devil.
Codex Gigas: Who Drew the Devil in This Massive Medieval Bible?
2 days ago
USDA and Washington State agriculture officials tagged this Asian giant hornet. Sept. 10, 2021.
What Ever Happened to the Murder Hornets?
3 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Ohio Columbus The Topiary Park

The Topiary Park

Georges Seurat’s pointillist masterpiece has been recreated in Ohio in topiary form.

Columbus, Ohio

Added By
Afjsdoiuqnnn
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
The Topiary Park   Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The Topiary Park   Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Topiary Park   Wiki Historian N OH
If you’re in a topiary garden, you’re gonna see some frames   Erica Cherup
The “River Seine”, topiary sculptures on far side   Erica Cherup
Various topiary sculptures and pond, with lone remaining Deaf School building (now a Visitors’ Center) in the background   Erica Cherup
“As He Saw It” plaque   Erica Cherup
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte   Georges Seurat
Topiary Park After Dark   Dave Lundy
  ski queen / Atlas Obscura User
Topiary Park   lisakoepke / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

If you like post-impressionist painting, landscape architecture, gardening, horticulture, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, or just things that look like other things, then you’ll love Topiary Park.

Located in downtown Columbus, the seven-acre Topiary Park is, well, a topiary park that fully recreates the scene depicted in Georges Seurat’s famous painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. The unique project was the brainchild of Columbus sculptor James T. Mason, who had the idea when his then-wife Elaine asked him to make a topiary sculpture for their backyard. Ultimately spiraling well beyond backyard-project scale, the couple pitched the idea to the city of Columbus, and work on the installation began in 1989 with the creation of artificial hills and the digging of a pond to stand in for the River Seine. James shaped the bronze frames and planted the associated greenery, and Elaine served as the original topiarist.

The site selected for the park had previously been the home of the Ohio School for the Deaf, which was founded in the 19th century and was, at the time, one of only five such institutions in the United States. The school grew so rapidly that by 1953 it had outgrown its constrained downtown location and moved to a larger property in the city’s North Side. The original buildings remained intact, though abandoned and decaying as the surrounding neighborhood went through a period of decline in the ensuing decades. A community revival in the late 1970s saw efforts to preserve and landmark the school buildings, but a suspicious fire in 1981 destroyed all but one of them, which was finally designated a historic site in 1982. The rest of the newly vacant property was turned into a park which is today still officially known as Old Deaf School Park, but has come to be known popularly as Topiary Park.

The art installation was officially dedicated in 1992 and consists of 54 people, eight boats, three dogs, a monkey, and a cat, all in the form of topiary sculptures made of yew trees. Visitors can take in this peculiar garden from a bronze plaque that marks the point-of-view of the original painting, or wander among the living sculptures, joining them in their picnicking, sunbathing, and general reverie. Topiary Park is — fairly specifically, and somewhat surprisingly — the only topiary representation of a painting in the world.

Related Tags

Topiary Gardens Parks Reproduction Landscapes Paintings Plants

Community Contributors

Added By

Afjsdoiuqnnn

Edited By

RHyzer, lisakoepke, ski queen, Michelle Cassidy...

  • RHyzer
  • lisakoepke
  • ski queen
  • Michelle Cassidy
  • jmpeters67
  • srcogsil

Published

March 16, 2016

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://columbus.gov/recreationandparks/parks/Topiary-Garden-(Deaf-School-Park)/
  • http://touringohio.com/central/franklin/columbus/topiary-garden.html
The Topiary Park
480 E Town Street
Columbus, Ohio, 43215
United States
39.961149, -82.987617
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Ohio Statehouse Fossils

Columbus, Ohio

miles away

Gavel Sculpture

Columbus, Ohio

miles away

Scioto Lounge Deer Sculptures

Columbus, Ohio

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Columbus

Columbus

Ohio

Places 14

Nearby Places

Ohio Statehouse Fossils

Columbus, Ohio

miles away

Gavel Sculpture

Columbus, Ohio

miles away

Scioto Lounge Deer Sculptures

Columbus, Ohio

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Columbus

Columbus

Ohio

Places 14

Related Places

  • Garden of Dreams.

    Kathmandu, Nepal

    The Garden of Dreams

    This elegant neoclassical garden is a peaceful oasis in the middle of the Nepalese capital.

  • Kyoto Garden.

    London, England

    Kyoto Garden

    A little slice of Japan and its aesthetics in London's Holland Park.

  • New York, New York

    The Ramble Cave

    Hidden in Central Park's Ramble is a troublesome cave buried just beneath the surface.

  • Parque Francisco Alvardoa

    Zarcero, Costa Rica

    Parque Francisco Alvarado

    This Costa Rican topiary park is a surreal garden of unearthly delights.

  • Bordeaux twin city garden celebrating Casablanca

    Bordeaux, France

    Twin Cities Gardens

    These gardens whisk you away to Japan and Morocco—without leaving Bordeaux.

  • Some two dozen white tubes sit in front of a triangle lattice wall

    Ibiza, Spain

    Bibo Park Ibiza Botánico Biotecnológico

    This Ibiza botanical garden showcases some wild machines that run on plants, literally.

  • Reader Rock Garden

    Calgary, Alberta

    Reader Rock Garden

    A Victorian garden in a harsh climate at the border of the prairies and foothills of the Canadian Rockies.

  • Hidden Paths & Trails

    Seattle, Washington

    Dunn Gardens

    A lush Seattle garden designed by the same landscape architects responsible for New York's Central Park.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.