Last weekend I finally managed to visit a place I had been longing to explore: Storm King Art Center, located at Old Pleasant Hill Road in Mountainville, NY.  It’s a short ride from NYC (1-1/2 hours) and makes a day trip from the city or from other parts of the Tri-State region.  If you’re a modern art fan, you’ve probably been to the Dia in Beacon.  It’s an equally satisfying visit and we met many NYC natives up for a visit.

Storm King is a 500-acre sculpture garden that includes works from very famous sculptors and artists such as Henry Moore, Roy Lichtenstein, Mark di Suvero, Alexander Calder, David Smith, Sol LeWitt, Alexander Libermann, Louise Nevelson, Isamu Noguchi and Magdalena Abakanowicz, amongst many others.  The landscape is breath-taking and tranquil.  You can walk from masterpiece to masterpiece, or take a 35-minute shuttle ride around, complete with an audio tour (which is what we decided to do with our kids in tow as there is a lot of land to cover), and gaze at the art with mountains and fields of waving native grasses and woodlands in the foreground.

Founded as a public nonprofit museum in 1960, the park has expanded the collection  and acquires them carefully, with attention to the interaction of sculpture within the existing landscape.  The result is a very serene experience.  The art is VERY minimalist and you do need to have a taste for this type of art, but seeing them outside with the sky as its backdrop is extraordinary.  They are spread out and located in various sections of the park.  The focus of the collection is on monumental sculptures by these famous artists.  Our favorites were “Adonai” by Alexanader Liberman, “Frog Legs” by Mark Di Suvero and the “The Three Legged Buddha” by Zhang Huan.

Storm King is a really good day out for the family.  My children were intrigued by the size, shapes and positioning of each piece.  We followed along with the map and navigated our way around the park very easily.  There’s a small indoor museum that we quickly explored before we left.  Next time I’d like to take a picnic and spend a longer time there, but our visit enabled us to experience the beauty of Storm King.

Parking is free. Admission is $12 for adults, $8 for students.  They do have a cafe but you can pack a picnic.