Tree Garden at Anne Hathaway’s Cottage

The sculptures in Shakespeare’s Tree Garden at Anne Hathaway’s Cottage were funded by American Friends and the Newington-Cropsey Foundation as a result of an initiative begun in 1999 by the Trust. This joint project commissioned six art students from the United States and the United Kingdom to create Shakespeare-inspired sculptures specific to this site. The students were selected by the Foundation’s Academy of Art director, Greg Wyatt and Terry New at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The students received scholarships and direction by their respective instructors and the pieces were cast in bronze in New York and London foundries. American Friends intends to complete the program with ten sculptures for the garden, to date seven are permanently placed.

The plaque at the entrance to the Tree Garden indicates "it was created out of a neglected field by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, with the support and cooperation of the Tree Council and with the help of various persons and organizations. The garden was officially opened in May1988. About forty of the trees mentioned in Shakespeare’s writings are featured in the garden, together with a few other trees, shrubs and roses".

The sculptures and the artists are:

Hamlet: What Wilt Thou Do For Her? by Michele Firpo-Cappiello
Brutus by Isaac Graham
History Play by Jane Lawrence
King Lear by Eve Pomerantz
Falstaff: What is Honour? By Niels Helvig Thorsen
Titania by Gemma Smith