Take a swing this summer at the Nelson-Atkins Art Course

If you’ve stretched out on the south lawn of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art on a summer day, you’ve likely noticed the seasonal addition of mini golf nestled between the hedges. The nine-hole Nelson-Atkins Art Course pays homage to the museum’s vast permanent collection.  

Creative courses like this have become a trend at museums and art centers across the country, including The Sheldon in St. Louis, Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and Indianapolis Museum of Art, to name just a few. 

Launched in 2019, the playful spin on fine art features slightly abstract reimaginings from the galleries, as well as more direct replicas like the course’s final hole—a miniature model of the museum’s original 1933 building and south lawn, complete with shuttlecocks.  

“The artists were given free reign to pick the work of art and build the piece that inspired them,” says Nichele Anderson, Nelson-Atkins’ director of earned income. “We wanted to present a way to experience the art in a different format. This is more interactive than you could be in the galleries.”

Anderson’s favorite part of the course is the eighth hole, designed by Jacob Hodson and Jesse Crupper. Derivative of Evelyn Hofer’s Girl with Bicycle—a portrait of a child beside a towering high nelly, set in Dublin against a backdrop of brick buildings—the Art Course rendition incorporates a stationary bike on the putting green. Participants are encouraged to hop on and pedal, creating a moving obstacle for their teammates.

Like a curated gallery, installations rotate annually. Some holes are inspired by recently featured exhibitions while others rotate in and out of storage. This year, the museum dusted off a design from the vault inspired by a whopping piece from the museum’s contemporary collection, Luis Tomasellos’ geometric Chromoplastic Mural. 

The experience takes about 45 minutes to complete, and tee times are in high demand—reservations often need to be made weeks (or even a month) in advance. Art Course is open Thursday through Monday during the museum’s regular operating hours throughout the summer, with reduced weekend hours beginning Sept. 1. For hot summer days, the concessions cart on the terrace hits the spot, offering cold beers, sodas and snacks.

Tickets are $18 for adults and $12 for kids (with discounts for museum members), and private rentals have also become increasingly popular. For an immersive experience, mini golfers can embark on a scavenger hunt to find the artwork throughout the museum’s galleries and sculpture garden that inspired each hole—and redeem a prize from the gift shop when finished.

“Our course is a great family activity and summer activity,” Anderson says. “It’s a great way to get the kids engaged with the art and meet them where they are.”  

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