ANN NORTON SCULPTURE GARDEN

Side One: This home, designed by architect Maurice Fatio, was built in 1925. Wealthy Chicago industrialist and art collector Ralph Norton purchased the house in 1935, and hired Marion Sims Wyeth to redesign it with elements of Monterey Revival style architecture, which was popular in Palm Beach at the time. In 1941, Ralph and his first wife, Elizabeth, founded the Norton Gallery and School of Art, whose building was also designed by Wyeth. Following Elizabeth’s death in 1947, Ralph married Ann Weaver, who taught sculpture at the school, in 1948. Ralph commissioned Wyeth to design a studio for Ann on this property that same year. Ralph died in 1953, but Ann remained active as an artist. In addition to the house and studio, the property featured a two-acre garden with more than 250 species of rare palms, cycads, and tropical plants. Nine of Ann’s monumental megalithic sculptures are placed throughout the garden. In 1977, Ann’s vision of the symbiotic relationship between art and nature was preserved when she established Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens to ensure public access to her property as a natural sanctuary in an urban area. In 1990, the house and gardens were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Side Two: Born in Selma, Alabama, Ann Vaughan Weaver wanted to be an artist since childhood. In the 1930s, she went to New York to study art at the National Academy of Design, the Art Students League, and the Cooper Union Art School. Her work was featured in an exhibition at the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1935. She also spent time studying abroad. In 1942, she moved to West Palm Beach to teach sculpture at the Norton Gallery and School of Art. She married the school’s widowed founder, Ralph Norton, in 1948. Ralph’s death in 1953 did not diminish Ann’s desire to create art, and she had a lengthy career with multiple national and international exhibitions. Her progressive style, combined with her innovation and originality, earned her the title Master Sculptor. In 1977, Ann was diagnosed with leukemia. This prompted her to take steps to preserve her garden along with her art collection, which featured thousands of drawings, sketches, and sculptures. In 1982, Ann died in West Palm Beach; her body was later buried in Selma. In 2019, she was inducted posthumously into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, and her home was included in the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Historic Artists’ Home and Studios Program.