The Labyrinth at the Delaware Art Museum in the
Anthony N. Fusco Reservoir

Welcome.  We invite you to walk. The labyrinth now found in the Anthony N. Fusco Reservoir, toward the back of the Copeland Sculpture Garden, is part of a world-wide revival of an ancient tradition.  What is a labyrinth?  A labyrinth is not a maze;   it is a path to be walked, not a puzzle to be solved.  There are no dead ends.  If you follow the single, folded path, you will arrive in the center.

Labyrinths are found in many cultures:   Native American, Scandinavian, Greek, Indian and more.  They have been used in cathedrals as aids to meditation, carved into sand to catch the wind, used by artists as symbols of the psyche, and engraved on canyon walls for reasons we have yet to fathom.

Labyrinths are now found on college campuses and campgrounds, in hospitals, at festivals, in conference centers and cathedrals—anywhere that people want an opportunity to slow down, to let their minds settle, to step out of the current of their lives and into the quietude of another time.

If it is true, as the children’s story says, that A Hole is to Dig, then “a labyrinth is to walk.”   We invite you to walk our labyrinth.  No special instruction is required.  There is no wrong way.  Slow walking calms the mind, relaxes the body, and—some say—frees the spirit.  Brisker walking concentrates the mind.  You may stop and stand at any point.  Spend as much time in the center as you like.  Leave by retracing your steps or by walking directly to the edge.

How did this labyrinth come to be here?  This installation is sponsored by the Delaware Art Museum and was constructed by the members of the Labyrinth Committee and volunteers, ages 2 to 72, who laid out the path and set the Delaware River stones in this classic pattern.

What is the history of the location?  This space served Wilmington as a reservoir for many years.  It was then drained and the walk-in path was installed in anticipation of an uncompleted sculpture.  The space remained quiet for a number of years, while the Museum sought another use for it.  What you see is the first stage in what we hope will become a permanent, fully paved installation.