‘We’re About A Place’

(Photos by Sea Smiles Photography)

Page Kiniry wears many hats as president and CEO ofbrBrookgreen Gardens, the botanical and sculpture garden in Murrells Inlet.

Her job encompasses art, tourism, conservation, history, and much more.

That’s because Brookgreen Gardens, founded in 1931 by Archer Huntington and his wife, sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington, has many attractions tucked into its 9,100-acre expanse, from sculpture to zoo animals to historical exhibits.

“I think it’s what makes Brookgreen really unique,” Kiniry said recently, chatting in her office on a sunny day in early autumn. “We’re about a place. The sculpture relates to our founder, who was a sculptor, and our national historic designation is because of her importance as an American sculptor and the number of women in our collection that were renowned sculptors.”

As Kiniry sees it, the blend of attractions comes together to tell a story of the region.

“I think you can go to lots of different institutions, they’re all wonderful, but they’re not telling you a story about what happened and what is happening, what’s new. Our motto is, ‘Ever Changing, Simply Amazing,’ so there is always something new and exciting,” she said.

Kiniry, a native of Annapolis, Maryland, came tobrBrookgreen Gardens in 2017 after a stint as executive director of the Virginia Living History Museum in Newport News. That museum was also a Huntington property, so it was an easy transition for her.

She previously worked at a marine research institute.

“I have a science background, but I have a degree in art history as well, and my master’s is in museum studies, so all of that combined to be the perfect background for this place,” she said.

Although Brookgreen Garden has been a Murrells Inlet mainstay since its founding 94 years ago, the place enjoyed a renaissance of sorts during the Covid lockdown in 2020, Kiniry said.

“We were lucky to be open because of the social distancing we can have on 9,000 acres,” Kiniry said. The beaches were closed for a time, and there were few other options for places to go during the lockdown, and many people discovered they could enjoy nature and art while keeping their distance from others.

A silver lining to the problems wrought by Covid was that many people developed a new appreciation for nature and art.

“It was a time when a lot of the artists we work with were particularly inspired because they had time to do their work,” Kiniry said. “We’ve had several exhibits since then of very productive artists in our Rosen Galleries with the National Sculpture Society and others. So I do think it changed us in some ways that have made those connections to Brookgreen Gardens because we’re looking for a place for respite, for relaxation, for wellness.”

Brookgreen’s sculpture collection features a mix of works by iconic artists such as Frederic Remington and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, along with contemporary sculptors such as Tuck Langland and Greg Wyatt.

When Kiniry arrived in 2017, her first projects were a master plan, to assess the needs of the campus, and a capital campaign to fund those needs.

“The plans that we put in place eight years ago is what is being built right now, and that’s so gratifying and so amazing to see them coming to life.”

Brookgreen has a longstanding program that brings in artists from around the world to teach students who come in for weeklong sessions to learn the sculpture process. There’s a new studio that is allowingbrBrookgreen to grow the program, Kiniry said.

“It keeps us connected into the sculpture world as well. And also with materials, with conservation opportunities because we have a collection now with thousands of sculptures that are entrusted to us in perpetuity. So having a conservation lab was a really important part of our capital plan going forward. We have to take care of what’s here.”

Brookgreen Gardens also has a zoo, whose population includes foxes, endangered red wolves, bald eagles, river otters, goats, alligators, and more.

And in January 2026, Brookgreen Gardens will open the Purdy Center, which will house a welcome center and conservatory garden, allowing the site to expand its art facilities and Lowcountry history exhibits, including information on the region’s Gullah Geechee heritage.

In addition, there will be a “tropical, changing indoor sculpture garden,” Kiniry said. “We think it’s the first changing sculpture garden that’s an indoor facility in the country, which for us is very fitting because we’re the first sculpture garden in America.”

Having an indoor sculpture garden will offer visitors a chance to enjoy the facility during all types of weather, Kiniry said.

One of the biggest yearly events at Brookgreen Gardens is Night of a Thousand Candles, a holiday lights display that goes on from late November to early January each year. The event, which brings in more than 100,000 people each year, features more than 2,700 hand-lit candles and millions of sparkling lights illuminating the gardens and the sculptures.

It’s become so popular that many guests ask for the schedule a year in advance, Kiniry said.

While Night of a Thousand Candles is an annual favorite, the gardens bring in hundreds of thousands of visitors during the rest of the year as well. One draw is that an admission ticket is valid for seven days, which allows tourists who are visiting the area for a week to return multiple times.

For Kiniry, the biggest challenge in keeping Brookgreen Gardens up and running is the weather. While hurricanes are a yearly concern, a 2024 tornado took out a swath of trees along with the butterfly exhibit.

“That one in particular caused more damage than any of the hurricanes we have had since Hazel (in 1954). There are still trees that we’re taking out of the pine forest that we protect. We can prepare for floods, we can prepare for some weather events, but protecting the sculpture collection, the buildings, and the animals here … that’s probably the thing that keeps me up at night,” Kiniry said.

It’s exciting to see what Brookgreen Gardens has become in recent years, but Kiniry is also looking to the future. Her vision, she said, is to continue to grow all of the things in Brookgreen that make it such a distinctive attraction.

“We are a collecting institution, a museum, so we have some very specific goals about continuing to grow our collection. People say, ‘Oh, that’s a finite number.’ Nope, we are continuing to grow that collection, American figurative sculpture in particular. But then also, the historical artifacts of the residents of this area, which include the Gullah Geechee as well as the plantation-era owners.

“We have some Native American artifacts. In order to support that, continuing to do the work in archaeology, we partner with Coastal Carolina (University) to explore the history of this property. So those will always be an important part of who we are as an institution. But we also have to make a living, so the tourism part and our business operations are (also) a pretty essential part of my job.”