The Sculpture Garden’s sunken Lower Gallery is an open air space used for temporary exhibitions and art-making activities. Measuring 41 feet by 90 feet and located in the middle of the garden, the space is distinctly enclosed by walls, but still visually accessible from the other two areas. A special gravel floor designed with drains and water taps and a grid of electrical outlets has been installed for possible use by artists. The surrounding walls can be repainted or resurfaced, accommodating the artistic choices of contemporary fine artists such as Amy Pleasant (whose installation Suspended occupied the space for much of 2009 and 2010) and colorful populist graffiti artists who took over the space during recent Art On The Rocks events.

The Museum invites sculptors from all over the country and the world to come live and work in Birmingham, using the city’s active industrial sites and dormant foundries as their studios. Oftentimes the resulting work is installed in this space while Museum visitors on look.