In 1967, Mr. and Mrs. Norton Walbridge, significant donors to the Museums's European and American galleries, began to collect for the Museum an important group of sculptures that demanded exhibition spaces beyond the walls of the building. Due in large part to the arrival of this major contribution in the late 1960s, the May S. Marcy Sculpture Court and Garden, located adjacent to the Museum, was created as a grand outdoor exhibition space. The gifts of outdoor sculpture were timely, keeping the Museum current with the sculptures of large scale being created by contemporary artists.

Among the first of the monumental works was David Smith's Cubi XV. Majestic in its simplicity and created just before the artist's untimely death, Cubi XV is a classic modernist masterwork. Another defining gift was the 1991 presentation of the bronze Reclining Figure: Arch Leg by twentieth-century British master Henry Moore. This work immediately took its place as the focus of the Sculpture Garden, surrounded by other Walbridge gifts, including works by Miró and Calder. Inspired by the sculpture collection the Walbridges were contributing, the Museum acquired important sculptures by Nevelson, Hepworth, Nagare, and Zúñiga.

The Sculpture Court and Garden are open Tuesday-Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Hours may change due to daylight and weather conditions.) Admission is free.