Atlanta Botanical Garden brings 'Niki' back for encore exhibition

Atlanta Botanical Garden brings back 'Niki' exhibit

"Niki in the Garden" is an encore exhibition set to open at Atlanta Botanical Garden this Saturday, May 9. Paul Milliken stopped by Wednesday morning to check it out. 

ATLANTA, Ga. - The traditional gift for a 50th anniversary is gold — but this spring and summer, Atlanta Botanical Garden is celebrating its half-century mark with a collection of colorful sculptures.

This morning on Good Day Atlanta, we spent a few hours at Atlanta Botanical Garden getting a preview of "Niki in the Garden," the encore exhibition set to officially open Saturday, May 9, and run through Sept. 6. The exhibition will feature 41 sculptures by legendary French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle, in what Garden leaders say is possibly the largest showing of the artist’s work ever presented in North America. The bulk of the colorful sculptures are coming to Atlanta on loan from the Niki Charitable Art Foundation, and others have been sourced from private collections. 

Longtime Atlanta residents will immediately remember the previous "Niki in the Garden" exhibition at Atlanta Botanical Garden, which opened to major acclaim in 2006. President and CEO Mary Pat Matheson says celebrating the 20th anniversary of that success with an encore exhibit just made sense — especially as the Garden continues to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

So, let’s talk about that history for a moment. Residents first proposed a botanical garden back in 1973, and in 1976, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Inc. was incorporated. If you were an early visitor, you might remember that the Garden’s first office was a double-wide trailer…and by 1983, the number of annual visitors had grown to 50,000. (By the way, according to the Garden’s annual report, 805,662 visitors stopped by the Garden’s two locations in Midtown and Gainesville in 2024!)

Atlanta Botanical Garden is located at 1345 Piedmont Avenue Northeast, and "Niki in the Garden" is included in the price of admission. For more information on purchasing tickets and visiting, click here. And click the video player in this article to check out our morning enjoying the incredible work of Niki de Saint Phalle!