jamesdeluxe
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2020
As a replacement for my cancelled golf round yesterday morning (after following faulty weather guidance from @jasonwx), my wife, son, and I drove north in the early afternoon for our latest chapter of "I can't believe I've lived in this region for 25 years and never did this." Storm King Arts Center is a 500-acre outdoor sculpture museum located right alongside the NYS Thruway, which means that I've driven past it countless times over the decades.
Even though the center is known in these parts as a well-regarded attraction, it never occurred to us to go for a visit until our local librarian mentioned offhand to my wife that they offer free passes for patrons, which saved us $80 in admission. I'm pretty unschooled in modern sculpture; however, it looked like a nice couple hours of strolling amongst the hills, manicured meadows, forests, creeks, and ponds, and enjoying the surrounding landscape.
We picked a perfect day with gorgeous late-autumn colors. Throughout, you get a 360-degree feeling of the property sitting in a valley that's surrounded by sizable hills.
This is called Mozart's Birthday.
This one is a big favorite here, called Storm King Wavefield by Maya Lin. There are signs asking visitors NOT to walk on top of the "waves" (to avoid compacting the soil and crushing the grass) so of course, as you can see in this pic, that's exactly what most people do. Here are more photos of it with interesting back-story details -- apparently, it was created on top of a former gravel pit.
This was an interesting exhibit -- you walk on a trail through the forest for a quarter mile and there are more than 30 bronze objects scattered throughout the trees.
The caretakers don't remove the fallen leaves or other natural detritus so you have to look carefully, especially this late in the year, to find the objects.
Late-afternoon shadows:
Another popular artwork, Three-Legged Buddha by Zhang Huan:
My wife correctly identified the sculptor of these works from her undergrad art history class.
Halfway through, you can take a break here:
It was hard not to be impressed by how they created these vast spaces here:
More gorgeous blending of late autumn colors and shadows:
They say that you can walk through the entire property in less than 90 minutes; however, we spent two hours and only saw two-thirds of the artwork.
In short, a very pleasant outing -- highly recommended for locals and tourists alike. Even if you're not someone who frequents art museums (I generally don't), the setting alone made this a worthwhile experience.
Even though the center is known in these parts as a well-regarded attraction, it never occurred to us to go for a visit until our local librarian mentioned offhand to my wife that they offer free passes for patrons, which saved us $80 in admission. I'm pretty unschooled in modern sculpture; however, it looked like a nice couple hours of strolling amongst the hills, manicured meadows, forests, creeks, and ponds, and enjoying the surrounding landscape.
We picked a perfect day with gorgeous late-autumn colors. Throughout, you get a 360-degree feeling of the property sitting in a valley that's surrounded by sizable hills.
This is called Mozart's Birthday.
This one is a big favorite here, called Storm King Wavefield by Maya Lin. There are signs asking visitors NOT to walk on top of the "waves" (to avoid compacting the soil and crushing the grass) so of course, as you can see in this pic, that's exactly what most people do. Here are more photos of it with interesting back-story details -- apparently, it was created on top of a former gravel pit.
This was an interesting exhibit -- you walk on a trail through the forest for a quarter mile and there are more than 30 bronze objects scattered throughout the trees.
The caretakers don't remove the fallen leaves or other natural detritus so you have to look carefully, especially this late in the year, to find the objects.
Late-afternoon shadows:
Another popular artwork, Three-Legged Buddha by Zhang Huan:
My wife correctly identified the sculptor of these works from her undergrad art history class.
Halfway through, you can take a break here:
It was hard not to be impressed by how they created these vast spaces here:
More gorgeous blending of late autumn colors and shadows:
They say that you can walk through the entire property in less than 90 minutes; however, we spent two hours and only saw two-thirds of the artwork.
In short, a very pleasant outing -- highly recommended for locals and tourists alike. Even if you're not someone who frequents art museums (I generally don't), the setting alone made this a worthwhile experience.
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