Around Raleigh there are many gardens with various art installations. Sometimes they are just civic pieces were the city or county has dumped a piece of art or sculpture somewhere only for the sake of saying they have public art somewhere, and then other times pieces are thoughtfully placed.
Here are a few examples throughout the City of Raleigh.
A fountain in the gardens of The Executive Mansion of North Carolina. That is a robust Japanese Climbing Hydrangea (Schizophragma hydrangeoides) behind it.
Not really a garden but I love the dinosaur trail at The NC Museum of Life and Science. It is actually in Durham. (http://lifeandscience.org/dinosaurs)
Andy Griffith statue at Pullen Park.
Graffiti along Hillsborough Street in Raleigh. Its not in a garden but I love this heart.
Another piece of art in the Gardens of the NC Executive Mansion.
A giant dragon snakes its way through the lawn in The JC Raulston Arboretum at NCSU.
A snow covered Buddha at dusk in my garden.
A fountain at WRAL’s Azalea Gardens.
The 13-foot tall Redbird Sculpture at Fred Fletcher Park and Water Garden. This is a stylized group of Flamingo flowers (Anthurium).
Even a fence may be considered art if it has some unique or geometric characteristics.
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Arthur in the Garden! 
Thanks for such a lovely field trip! I really enjoyed it 🙂 ~maria
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Thanks!
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Love that dinosaur (Styracosaurus?)! There should be more dinosaur statues in the parks. They make me nostalgic for when my boys were young dino fanatics.
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What an interesting post. I love the Andy Griffith statue. Would love to visit Raleigh! 🙂
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come on down!
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Very nice photos. Nice statuary of Andy and Opie…though I wonder if you could shed any light on where the name Opie comes from? Was it short for Opadiah or was it for O and P, for Oscar Peter or something like that?
Cheers.
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I am not sure. You have some good guesses. I looked on Wikipedia: “There are two explanations of the name’s origin. One is that Opie Taylor was named by Andy Griffith after bandleader and radio actor Opie Cates.[1][2] The other is that he was named for Opie Shelton (1915–1999), a childhood friend of Griffith, who went on to become president of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.:”
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Thanks. Opie is still an interesting name. I appriciate your foot work 🙂
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I lived in NC for about a year and a half, and went to the Andy Griffith museum in Mt. Airy. I had not known he was considering a religious path before acting. I also remember listening to a recording of him trying to explain football to someone that doesn’t know what it is. I don’t remember the logistics of it, but remember it being funny.
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