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ORIGAMI IN THE GARDEN

A traveling exhibition featuring origami designs turned into large-scale metal sculptures, displayed throughout the Botanic Garden

"Painted Ponies" metal sculpture featuring three origami horses in various sizes arranged in the gravel space in front of the ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden's Japanese Garden gates, photographed on a bright day in early fall. From left to right: The white horse faces left and is the middle-sized, with a small blue one next to it, and finally the largest is a bold red who faces right and has unpainted Japanese characters on its right flank.

ORIGAMI IN THE GARDEN

ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden | October 8, 2026 through March 28, 2027

Albuquerque is the 31st stop for this traveling exhibit featuring stunning, large-scale metal sculptures inspired by the delicate art of origami, created by Santa Fe artist Jennifer and Kevin Box. For 6 months, guests can enjoy 14 outdoor sculptures and four indoor works ranging from a tiny mouse measuring just seven inches to “Hero’s Horse”, a towering white Pegasus that stands more than 12 feet tall and weighs 1,350 pounds!

Modeled from real paper origami artwork, the pieces are created using the techniques of lost-wax casting and fabrication and elevate the precision of origami in high-quality metals. The exhibit features Box’s own compositions as well as collaborations with world-renowned origami artists Tim Armijo, Te Jui Fu, Beth Johnson, Michael G. LaFosse, and Robert J. Lang.

“We are extremely honored to have this exhibit on display, practically in our own backyard! This year we celebrate 20 years of marriage and living and creating in New Mexico. Thank you to ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden for the opportunity to show folks from the state and beyond our life’s work,” said artists Jennifer and Kevin Box in a joint statement.

Jennifer and Kevin created ORIGAMI IN THE GARDEN in 2013. The first traveling exhibition opened at the Santa Fe Botanical Garden in 2014, and it has been experienced by over 3 million visitors in gardens and museums throughout the United States ever since! A permanent Origami in the Garden sculpture garden can also be found seasonally in Cerrillos, New Mexico at the artists’ private sculpture garden, Box Studio Sculpture Garden.

A photo looking up at large metal sculpture made to look like an origami pegasus sits on top of a large, dark base with the shining sun and blue sky above itFun Facts about the installation at the ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden

★ The smallest outdoor piece in the exhibit is the Armijo’s Mouse in Who Saw Who, which is a mere 7” long on a small stone

★ The tallest and heaviest piece in the exhibit is Hero’s Horse which stands over 12’ tall on its base and weighs in at 1350 pounds

★ Inside Out (inside the High Desert Rose Garden Atrium) features what Kevin Box refers to as the “Stars of the Show,” a selection of models that have been folded and unfolded to reveal the complex patterns hidden beneath the surface of the origami

★ 7 artists collaborated to create all the artworks in this exhibition

★ There is a documentary out now that shows who, how, what, and why this exhibit exists

★ Every sculpture begins with a humble square or rectangular piece of paper

★ The sculptures are created from origami, origami is created using paper, and paper is made from plants!

CostA small metal sculpture made to look like an origami mouse sits on a rock at the Botanic Garden

This exhibit is included with regular admission and viewable during opening hours. You can reserve your tickets online up to two weeks in advance at artsandculture.cabq.gov

Presented in part by

Logo for Jackalope home decor

JoAnne Evans & Patricia Hart

Catherine Oppenheimer

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