“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.” – Henry David Thoreau

When I retired from full-time teaching a few months ago and now make my own schedule working part time as a program supervisor for student teachers, my husband and I set aside the best weather day of the week to go out exploring. We’ve covered a lot of territory since mid-February, utilizing The Trustees Reservations as well as Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation properties. Today’s adventure took us slightly out of state to the Andres Institute of Art sculpture park in Brookline, NH.

The Andres Institute is spread out over Potanipo Hill, a 613′ high mountain in southern New Hampshire. It is situated on the native lands of the Pennacook, Wabanaki, and Abenaki peoples.

The trails are of moderate difficulty and my health app equates the 613′ to the summit as 13 floors climbing. The hike is made easier by all the sculptures along the way. Frequent stops to look at art gave my asthma plenty of chances to regulate – my kind of uphill hike!

The view from the summit made me very glad we went to the the top.

The sculptures are a sight to behold, strategically placed in small clearings along the woodland trails. Because I can’t include ALL the photos I took today, here are some of my favorites:

Browse the slide show below to see the carvings on the individual rocks nestled in the structure:

Dick and I were both intrigued by Perseverance of Serenity – Kevin Duffy, Massachusetts, walking around it several times to get perspective and discern which end is up.

The illusion of bubbles is so well done in this piece:

We found the sculptures to be thought-provoking. We enjoyed looking at them and talking about what they might represent and the meaning they convey before we looked at the name plates, which often gave clues as to the artist’s intention.