The Dixon Gallery and Gardens specializes in collecting Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings and decorative arts, including artists of these schools that are not as recognizable to the general public, such as French artist Jean-Louis Forain (the museum recently acquired 56 of his works). Housed in the former home of Margaret Oates Dixon and Hugo Norton Dixon, the 17-acre wooded site includes incredible gardens originally designed by Hugo Dixon’s sister to resemble the English landscape parks and French and Italian garden styles of the 1930s.
The Dixon was certified in 2006 as a level 2 Arboreteum, with sixty different identified and labeled trees on the grounds. Visitors can take a self-guided tour of the many large and intimate spaces of the gardens, or a gardening class, or—if the timing is right—visit the annual tulip celebration weekend, when more than 20,000 tulips are in bloom.
Dixon Gallery and Gardens Information
- Hours: Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday 1-5 p.m.; closed Mondays.
- Admission: Adults are $7. Students and seniors are $5. Tuesdays are “Pay-What- You-Can Days”. Discounts are offered for groups. Museum members are free.
- Free Days: Admission is free on Saturdays from 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
- Subscription/Memberships: Individual membership starts at $45 and includes free museum admission, discounts on admission to special gallery and gardens programming, and events and special invitations to “Members Only” exhibition events.
- Other Benefits: Membership at the Family level ($60) and above allows members to receive reciprocal privileges at over 200 museums, gardens, and conservatories in the U.S. or Canada.
