The Pedvāle Open Air Art Museum ( Latvian: ) is a State Historical Monument near

Sabile Sabile (; german: Zabeln) is a town in Talsi Municipality Talsi Municipality ( lv, Talsu novads) is a municipality in Courland, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Abava parish, Balgale parish, Ģibuļi parish, Īve paris ...

Talsi Municipality Talsi Municipality ( lv, Talsu novads) is a municipality in Courland, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Abava parish, Balgale parish, Ģibuļi parish, Īve parish, Ķūļciems parish, Laidze parish, Lauciene parish, L� ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. It was founded in 1992 by Ojārs Arvīds Feldbergs as a setting for

environmental art Environmental art is a range of artistic practices encompassing both historical approaches to nature in art and more recent ecological and politically motivated types of works. Environmental art has evolved away from formal concerns, for example ...

Abava River Valley

The museum preserves the cultural landscape of the

Abava River The Abava is a river in Latvia and the largest tributary of the Venta. It flows through Tukums, Talsi and Kuldiga districts. Fifty percent of the basin is covered by forests. Its valley was submitted for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritag ...

valley.

Art at Pedvale

The museum has a permanent collection of more than 150 outdoor sculptures by an international group of artists. It was the site of the 7th International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art in 2014.

White Princess

The park is said to be the residence of the White Princess, a Latvian ghost. She is more often felt than seen, and it said to draw people to come back, or to stay at Pedvāle.

Flora and fauna

The park contains native Latvian plants and animals, to fulfill its mission to preserve the scenic landscapes of the Abava Valley. Blooming wildflowers include

lupin ''Lupinus'', commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet etc., is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centers of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centers occur ...

s, which are in bloom for the summer solstice. Amimals include the hedgehog,

Eurasian beaver The Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber'') or European beaver is a beaver species that was once widespread in Eurasia, but was hunted to near-extinction for both its fur and castoreum. At the turn of the 20th century, only about 1,200 beavers survi ...

, and deer. Birds include the stork and cuckoo. 03

Awards

The museum shared the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

award for preservation and development of the cultural landscape in 1999. UNESCO Laureates 1999
/ref> In 1999 the activities at Pedvāle museum were recognized and awarded the UNESCO Melina Mercuri International Prize for the Safeguarding and Management of Cultural Landscapes.

References

External links

Pedvāle Open Air Museum Home Page

Review from the International Sculpture Center
Sculpture gardens, trails and parks in Europe Art museums and galleries in Latvia 1992 establishments in Latvia {{Courland-geo-stub