Storm King Art Center — An Open Air Museum
My husband and I visited this open air museum for the first time in the Summer of 2020, smack in the middle of the pandemic. It would be here that we’d celebrate our wedding anniversary. For us, eating out at a nice restaurant followed by a play or jazz show in NYC was not in the cards for 2020. But we found Storm King Art Center — a place that inspired and brought us some peace.
Located about one hour north of Manhattan in the Hudson Valley, this beautiful outdoor sculpture park combines two experiences in one — amazing art in a beautiful outdoor setting. Set on about 500 acres, Storm King Art Center is named after its proximity to Storm King Mountain. It contains what is perhaps the largest collection of contemporary outdoor sculptures in the United States.
HISTORY
Founded in 1960 by Ralph E. Ogden as a museum for Hudson River School paintings, it soon evolved into a major sculpture venue with works from some of the most acclaimed artists of the 20th century.[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_King_Art_Center
Due to the support of Ralph E. Ogden and H. Peter Stern, co-owners of the Star Expansion Company, based in Mountainville, New York.Founded, this museum was opened to the public in 1960. Their company donated 300 contiguous acres, as well as 2,100 acres of Schunnemunk Mountain.
ART AND LANDSCAPE
Walking around the trails and open space, you encounter one amazing sculpture after another. Their scale and beauty is something to see.
What I found so beautiful about this place was the perfect way in which the sculptures of all different sizes were placed around the acres of property. It felt like the sculptures belonged here.
“The late landscape architect William A. Rutherford was commissioned to develop Storm King’s 500 acres. The design is a subtle pastoral landscape, including vistas, hills, meadows, ponds, stands of trees, allées, and walking paths, scaled to embrace both small- and large-scale works of art in a variety of mediums.” www.stormking.org
PICNIC TIME!
Although there is not a restaurant on site, there are well maintained picnic areas on site. We packed an anniversary lunch of breads, cheeses, olives and other goodies and ate looking out over the landscape. What an amazing day!
TOWN OF CORNWALL
Before or after your visit to the museum, you can visit the Town of Cornwall. Although Storm King Art Center is the largest cultural destination here, you may wish to walk around and grab a bite to eat in town.
If interested in visiting more of what the city of Cornwall offers, I suggest looking at https://www.cornwallchamber.org/ for details.
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