On a recent visit to Minnesota to visit some old friends who have re-located there I was lucky enough to spend an afternoon at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden experiencing some of the iconic artworks on display there. Fortunately for me I was there in the summer so didn't have to experience the bitter cold of a Minnesota winter and could enjoy strolling around the garden in the sunshine. The garden has more than 40 permanent sculptures that have been on display there since its opening in 1988, but it also has a number of temporary artworks on display that change over the seasons. Minneapolis is not a typical tourist destination in the US for Europeans like me, but if you happen to find yourself in the Twin Cities take some time to enjoy the art in the Sculpture Garden. And while you are there don't miss the Walker Art Center which is just across the road and just as worth a visit (also has a very good café for lunch).

The 11 acre garden near the centre of the city is dominated by a monumental 16 metre long aluminium and steel structure called "Spoonbridge and Cherry" by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Oldenburg is known for his oversized renditions of ordinary objects and a spoon has been a recurring motif in his drawings and plans over the years. When he was invited, with his wife Coosje van Bruggen, to design a fountain-sculpture for the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, the spoon emerged in gigantic proportions. So huge, in fact, that it had to be constructed in a shipyard. Van Bruggen contributed the cherry in playful contrast to the Garden's formal layout. She also designed the fountain's pond in the shape of the seeds from the linden trees bordering the garden's avenues.

Among the many fine sculptures on permanent display are bronzes by Georg Kolbe and Henry Moore. Moore's "Reclining Mother and Child" is typical of the sculptor's distinctive style of combining form and subject matter. This abstract sculpture suggests a child in the protective embrace of its mother. The solid contour surrounding the hollow area representing the torso of the reclining woman.

Inside the garden's conservatory stands an astonishing 22 foot high glass fish by Frank Gehry. The architect and artist was inspired to create "Standing Glass Fish" from his childhood memories of live fish bought by his grandmother on Thursdays and allowed to swim in the bath before becoming supper on Friday.

But my favourite sculpture has to be the elegant bronze horse "Woodrow" by Deborah Butterfield which looks like it is made from natural tree bark and branches. Originally Butterfield made horse sculptures out of real mud and branches as a reflection of how much a horse is part of his environment. For "Woodrow", the artist took a selection of sticks, tree branches, and bark that she cast in bronze, then assembled and welded together into the form of a horse. (Now there's a thought for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square).