Multi-million-dollar Purdy Center now open at Brookgreen Gardens

Multi-million-dollar Purdy Center now open at Brookgreen Gardens

Ground was broken nearly two years ago, and now one of Brookgreen Gardens‘ largest projects in its 94-year history has officially opened.

The Purdy Center will serve as the new Welcome Center for Murrells Inlet-based Brookgreen Gardens and will provide additional event and educational program space, and include a new Contemporary Conservatory.

More than 500 people attended the official ribbon-cutting on Monday, Jan. 12, to celebrate the opening of the long-anticipated opening of the center.

The largest in a series of capital projects taken on by Brookgreen in recent years, The Purdy Center has transformed the campus, welcoming guests from around the world and enabling Brookgreen to expand horticulture programs. Outside its famous beaches, the Hammock Coast’s most visited and famous attractions is undoubtedly Brookgreen Gardens, which Anna and Archer Hyatt Huntington opened in 1931.

With The Purdy Center, Page Kiniry, Brookgreen’s president and CEO said, something unique has happened at Brookgreen for the first time: bringing a small part of the thousands of acres of gardens inside a facility.

The “opening of the Purdy Center represents both an investment in Brookgreen’s future and a celebration of its enduring mission,” Kiniry said. “This space allows us to welcome visitors in a way that is inspiring, accessible, and reflective of the extraordinary art, history, and natural beauty that define Brookgreen.”

Now guests can enjoy an accessible, year-round garden to explore tropical biomes, including a butterfly garden to educate children and families. The Conservatory Great Hall is the public centerpiece of the project and features skylights, clerestory windows, and accordion doors opening onto an expansive courtyard. With ever-changing botanical displays, a floor-to-ceiling Green Wall will showcase tropical plants, and an array of hanging baskets and planters, the newly opened space is a seamless extension of the Gardens.

New sculpture installations now on view in the Conservatory include Gaia by Dora Natella, CEO by Glenna Goodacre, and Heron by Babette Bloch, further integrating Brookgreen’s renowned sculpture collection into the Conservatory setting. The Purdy Center will also feature 12 sculptures by Paul Howard Manship from his 1932 Bird Series, which will be on display in the Conservatory Great Hall. A part of the Brookgreen collection since 1935, this will mark the first time the series has been displayed together. 

Outside, the Conservatory Veranda, an elevated terrace featuring a Kalwall shade in the shape of butterfly wings, pays tribute to Anna Hyatt Huntington’s original design of the formal Gardens in the 1930s. Furthermore, a landscaped Courtyard serves as a gathering space for Brookgreen’s programs and tours, doubling as a private event space for special occasions.

The Center is named for Hammock Coast residents Verl and Sandra Purdy, who divide their time between homes in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Peninsula at Inlet Point South at Litchfield, South Carolina. The center is named in honor of their leadership support of the campaign and love of the Gardens as honorary trustees.

Brookgreen Gardens, a National Historic Landmark, broke ground on The Purdy Center in February 2024. It’s considered the capstone project within Brookgreen’s broader initiative, the Campaign for the Next Generation, aimed at expanding its art, nature, and history programs for future generations. This initiative includes new and renovated facilities, as well as supporting endowments.  

“The Purdy Center … welcomes a new era of education, cultural enrichment, and horticultural exploration,” said Page Kiniry, president and CEO of Brookgreen Gardens. “This new Welcome Center and Conservatory will dramatically enhance the experiences and educational opportunities we provide to members.”

Brookgreen is home to the largest and most significant collection of American figurative sculpture in the country. It is a leader in sculpture conservation, environmental conservation, and the protection of the plants, animals, and history of the South Carolina Lowcountry. The Campaign for the Next Generation, funded entirely by gifts and grants, has expanded Brookgreen in four key areas – this new Contemporary Conservatory and Welcome Center, new art facilities, expanded Lowcountry history exhibits, and a new exhibit in the Lowcountry Zoo.

For more information on Campaign for the Next Generation, visit www.brookgreen.org/campaign-next-generation.

When Archer Huntington and his wife, the noted sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington, purchased property in South Carolina in 1930, the original idea was to build a retreat from the world while Anna, who had been diagnosed with tuberculosis, recovered her strength. However, 18 months later, on July 13, 1931, the property was incorporated under the laws of South Carolina as a private, not-for-profit corporation and called “Brookgreen Gardens, A Society for Southeastern Flora and Fauna.”

From its inception, Brookgreen had a three-pronged purpose: first, to collect, exhibit, and preserve American figurative sculpture; second, to collect, exhibit, and preserve the plants of the Southeast; and third, to collect, exhibit, and preserve the animals of the Southeast. Collecting and exhibiting, it became the first public sculpture garden in America. Today it is the finest outdoor museum of its type in the world.

Archer Milton Huntington was one of the wealthiest men in America. He was the foremost Hispanic scholar of his time, a poet, industrialist and founder of Brookgreen Gardens and several cultural public institutions.

Anna Hyatt Huntington was an award-winning sculptor. At a time when few women were successful artists, she had a thriving career. She created the first public monument by a woman in New York City, Joan of Arc. The vision for Brookgreen Gardens was at first to contain just her sculpture but was quickly expanded to envision a permanent collection that would represent the best of American sculpture from the 19th century to the present.

— By Mark A. Stevens, director of tourism development for the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce