April through November may seem like a long time, but its July already, so you should save a date (or better two dates) for visiting Storm King Art Center in NY. An hour drive from the city and you get to leafy Hudson Valley. Near Cornwall, you will find a vast outdoor sculpture garden. Bold idea of two business partners Ralph E. Ogden and H. Peter Stern grew from 30 acres in 1960 to 500 acres today. Walking through this open-air museum you will appreciate nature’s eloquent beauty and won’t even notice that the landscape was gently redesigned each time the place was expanded or a new sculpture arrived.
Hills, valleys and trees were remodeled and moved for the newly acquitted objects to root into the Art Center grounds. William Rutherford Sr. worked on the Storm King landscape for 40 years and passed away in 2006, but his brilliantly crafted landscape is a piece of art, a land sculpture, displayed in the museum. It is truly a bliss to walk around this park and if you want to fully appreciate the place, it is better to leave high heels and tight shoes at home, since you will need 4-5 hours to see just a half of it. Consider the fact that here you can find works by the most acclaimed contemporary artists (Alexander Calder, David Smith, Henry Moore, Richard Serra, Roy Lichtenstein, Maya Lin and many more, about 100 pieces in total) and you will realize that you need at least a couple of days to do it justice. You can rent a bike or catch trams, they run continuously throughout the day on a 20 or 30-minute schedule. One of the Storm King’s many advantages is a wise sculpture arrangement, the alleys don’t get crowded even on the weekends and you can meet deer, groundhogs, foxes, turkeys and geese.
If you are tired, visit the café or take a blanket, spread it on a big picnic area loan and relax. A lot of blankets, rather mats, can be seen on a Saturday morning, when the Storm King Art Center holds yoga classes. On a Sunday afternoon, not each week though, you can listen to live music. The Art Center hosts a fantastic Solstice Celebration each year, lucky attendees do not only enjoy a private tour and haute cuisine dinner, but also spend the night dancing under the stars. Currently the Storm King Art holds two outstanding exhibition by Lynda Benglis and Luke Stettner which will be on view till November. But obviously even without any special activities, this breathtaking but relaxing, exciting but peaceful open-air museum will certainly stay in your heart and be remembered as one of the greatest places to breathe fresh and artistic air.
