Howard Finster's Paradise Garden

Summerville, Georgia, United States

Public art

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

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Paradise Garden in Summerville, Georgia, is the folk-art environment of self-taught artist and Baptist preacher Howard Finster (1916 to 2001), with more than 20 structures including the World Folk Art Church. Explore Georgia says a nonprofit foundation operates it for the county development authority.

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Howard Finster's Paradise Garden

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Site-level location · 34.4761° N, 85.3491° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Paradise Garden is the home and life's work of Howard Finster, a Baptist preacher turned self-taught artist, a folk-art environment in Summerville, Georgia.

SPACES, the archive of art environments, says Finster began a "museum park" in Trion, Georgia, in the late 1940s, meant to hold an example of every tool and product known to man. He later moved to Summerville, bought a small property and made the Plant Farm Museum and Inventions of Mankind there. A 1975 Esquire article called the site a "Garden of Paradise," and Finster adopted the name Paradise Garden.

Explore Georgia says that in 1976, while painting a bicycle, Finster reported a vision telling him to "Paint sacred art." It credits him with 46,991 numbered artworks, and describes a garden of 2.5 acres with more than 20 structures, including the World Folk Art Church. SPACES lists a bottle house, a tower of rusted bicycle frames, cement mountains, hand-painted religious signs and tools set into concrete paths. The AJC, in a 2021 photo caption, called the grounds four-acre.

Explore Georgia says the Chattooga County Development Authority bought the property in 2011 with an Appalachian Regional Commission grant and leases it to the nonprofit Paradise Garden Foundation, which operates, maintains and restores the site. Rough Draft Atlanta reported in September 2023 that the annual Finster Fest drew more than 2,400 visitors to the garden. Rough Draft Atlanta reported in April 2026 that the garden had closed to visitors in early April while the Paradise Garden Foundation worked on conservation of the Mosaic Garden, the original entrance. Explore Georgia lists visiting days and admission.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

A folk-art environment of hand-built structures, concrete mounds, mosaics and painted signs. Explore Georgia lists self-guided tours, a gift shop, restrooms and parking. The Paradise Garden Foundation, a nonprofit, operates it, and its Finster Fest has been held annually.

ACCESS

Summerville, Georgia. Explore Georgia lists 200 N. Lewis Street. It is run by a nonprofit foundation, with admission and set visiting days listed by Explore Georgia, and is not a freely open public space.

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