As of Nov. 18, 2009, the ice skating rink's season opening has been postponed.

The Buzz: The National Gallery's Sculpture Garden is one of the Mall's peaceful sanctuaries -- offering bench seating, lush landscaping and a view of 17 contemporary sculptures. A fountain marks the center of the garden for most of the year, but an outdoor skating rink takes its place from November until March.

The Collection: The garden's sculpture collection includes Sol LeWitt's "Four-Sided Pyramid," a blocky, geometric form, and Claes Oldenburg's "Typewriter Eraser, Scale X," which playfully depicts the antiquated object. Perhaps most striking is Alexander Calder's bright red abstract work, "Cheval Rouge (Red Horse)."

Background: In his original design for Washington, architect Pierre L'Enfant envisioned an oasis where the National Gallery's Sculpture Garden now stands. But the garden as we know it didn't officially open until 1999.

The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation provided funds for the garden in 1996. A skating rink was incorporated into the design since one had been operating at the site since 1974.

Ice Skating: For information about Ice Skating costs and rentals, see the Skating Rink tab above.

Directions/Parking: Parking is scarce, but two- and three-hour parking can be found along the inside of the Mall. The closest Metro stops are Judiciary Square (Red Line), Smithsonian (Blue and Orange lines) and Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter (Yellow and Green lines). The Circulator bus stops at 4th Street and Madison Drive and at 7th Street and Constitution Avenue NW.

--Julia Beizer (July 10, 2007)