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New York City is a hub for art but if you want to get out of the city for a day or weekend, there are some great outdoor sculpture parks within a two-hour radius of the city. It’s hard to describe the feeling of wandering around these giant landscapes and spotting the curious mirage-like works of art in the distance as you make your way to get a closer look. These New York sculpture parks (and one in New Jersey!) bring you to artful destinations and are still only a day trip away. Just head to the Hudson Valley, drive a bit upstate to Saugerties or out to the New Jersey countryside…even hop the Long Island Railroad over to Nassau County or further and be home the same day.
LongHouse Reserve was created by the late Jack Lenor Larsen, an internationally known textile designer, author, and collector. The Reserve sits on land that surrounds Larsen’s modernist home and gardens. Spread out over 16 acres, there are nearly 60 works of art from famous names like Buckminster Fuller, Yoko Ono, and Willem de Kooning. You can visit April through December, Wednesdays through Sundays from 12:30 and 5 PM. It is encouraged that tickets be purchased in advance.
No Car? No worries! Catch the LIRR to get to the Nassau County Art Museum. The Museum’s outdoor sculpture park collection features over 40 pieces by more than 30 sculptors. It’s located throughout 145 acres of fields, woods, ponds, and formal gardens of the William Cullen Bryant Preserve. With sculpture created over the past 100 years, the collection is a unique opportunity to explore how sculptors respond to innovations in technology and materials over the last century. Walking maps encourage you to consider how the art and artists develop and use different styles during the evolving history of the collection. There is also a wonderful museum on the grounds. Check the website for LIRR directions to visit by public transportation.
If trying to figure out the conceptual theories of contemporary land sculpture is not your thing, or you just want to experience the serenity that embodies the ancient art of imperial garden design, J.P. Humes Japanese Stroll Garden is your ticket to paradise. An outing to J.P. Humes Japanese Stroll Garden is synonymous with decompression and offers a different experience than other New York sculpture parks. The garden is a work of art with sculptural forms and elements built into the intentional design of the paths, water features, and tea house. Wondering what a Japanese stroll garden is? A Japanese stroll garden is a large garden of connecting pathways that have stones intentionally placed to step slowly, often surrounding a pond and waterfall, designed to discover a new garden scene at each turn. The J.P. Humes Japanese Stroll Garden is owned and managed by North Shore Land Alliance. The garden is open mid-April to late October. Saturday and Sunday, 11:30am to 4:30pm.
Sagaponack Sculpture Field is located on the southern fork of Long Island on privately owned property that is open to the public. Here, visitors can enjoy a unique collection of works by artists like Oded Halahmy, Joel Perlman, Audrey Flack, and Hans Van De Bovenkamp. The Field is owned by Louis K. Meisel, an art dealer who coined the term “photorealism” and opened one of the first art galleries in SoHo.
This 50-acre outdoor sculpture park Opus 40 in Saugerties, New York is the lifework of visionary artist Harvey Fite. Made using the ancient Mayan method of stacking and fitting stone, Fite worked only with traditional quarryman’s tools for thirty years creating this land art. It is a remarkable sight to behold, traverse, hike, and scramble through.
Opus 40 started in 1938 after Fite purchased an abandoned bluestone quarry. He became a pioneer in the contemporary earthworks movement with the building of his work. The compound exists of several walkways, memorial stones, natural pools, stairs, and a subterranean passageway. Features include a 13-foot monolith and an amphitheater. Many of Fite’s stone sculptures dot the sculpture park. One area of the site encourages visitors to create their own stacked sculptures from the hundreds of stones scattered about.
There are some interesting added experiences when you visit Opus 40. They include a one-room museum that houses all the various hand tools that Fite used to build and sculpt, as well as other artifacts from the history of the site. Larger tool relics adorn the building facades and are beautiful for their incredible patina (well, rust really!), size, and design. Below the museum, which is on the second floor of the main barn is a sweet and nicely curated shop. Books about Opus 40, various local products like honey and modern apothecary items, and a line of tarot cards by the mesmerizing Hudson Valley art duo of Kahn & Selesnick are for sale. Opus 40 outdoor sculpture park is located in Saugerties NY, about a 90-minute drive from Midtown. It is also possible to take a bus to Woodstock and then a car service or cab to Opus 40.
Rockland Center for the Arts (RoCA) was originally known as the Rockland Foundation, founded in 947 by a group of community leaders and renowned artists, including Aaron Copland, Paulette Goddard, Kurt Weill, Lotte Lenya, Maxwell Anderson, Burgess Meredith, and Helen Hayes. The sculpture park is a relatively new edition to the Center, as it opened in 2005. More than 30 sculptures can be found throughout the 10-acre sculpture park which is situated near the historic Buttermilk Falls. As the only outdoor site in Rockland County that hosts rotating exhibits of sculpture, the Park provides artists with opportunities to create and exhibit large-scale artworks and to conduct workshops. You can visit free of charge any day of the week from sunrise to sunset. Check out more to do in Nyack in our getaway guide!
For a low-key experience that packs a big art punch visit the one-hundred-twenty-acre contemporary sculpture and architecture park Art Omi in the Hudson Valley. The huge, meandering landscape makes for long, peaceful walks through grassy hills and woodland. Be sure to have the map on hand since there are no paved walkways between the monumental works of art and architecture. Along with the large-scale works in nature, there is a 1,500-square-foot gallery. Not only does the park feature some of the best in modern sculpture, it includes innovative artistic architecture to ponder.
Art Omi is a super accommodating place. It is one of the few sculpture parks that allow dogs! Yes, that’s right, well-behaved and leashed pups are permitted to join you on the outside journey of sculpture discovery. Individuals with mobility impairments seeking to tour the park should call (518) 392-4747 to coordinate suitable arrangements. Two weeks’ notice of a visit is recommended. It is open in all weather, all year long (and that includes free cross-county groomed ski trails when weather permits).
Storm King Art Center is tried and true when it comes to sculpture parks. The 500-acre grounds have been championing large-scale sculpture and site-specific earth works including commissions since 1960. Works by big names such as Andy Goldsworthy, Alexander Calder, and Louise Bourgeois have been on display along with pieces added or exchanged yearly.
One nifty feature at Storm King is a bike rental program. Bike Rentals are open for on-site rental only (no advance reservations). All bikes have a front basket and come with a printed map showing paths. Considering Storm King is one of the largest sculpture parks in the country, this could be a great choice to cover the expansive grounds. The Storm King Museum Building (re-opening June 12) is an inside gallery on the grounds that hosts exhibitions of smaller works and supporting materials. Storm King is open Wednesday – Monday, 10AM – 5:30PM. Advance tickets are required for all visitors, including members.
It’s hard to believe, but there is another unique outdoor sculpture park just fifteen minutes away from Opus 40. Brunel Sculpture Garden in Boiceville, New York is a surreal array of sculptural forms, gardens, and buildings. The park was designed and created by the New York City photography industrialist Emile Brunel who made his fortune with the early development of the one-hour photo process.
By the mid-1920s Brunel headed to the Catskills and purchased an old hotel and the surrounding sprawling property. The hotel, Le Chalet Indien became a celebrity destination for the likes of Eleanor Roosevelt, Max Ernst, Irving Berlin, and a slew of actors, writers, artists, and politicians. Brunel used the grounds as his sculpture studio, creating work featuring his personal interest in the Native American aesthetic. The eclectic collection of sculptures are scattered throughout the property among lovely botanical gardens. Today the gardens and sculptures are open to the public by donation. While visiting, you can also check out the Ashokan Reservoir, the site of many towns that were drowned to create New York City’s water supply.
The first thing you see when you click on “visit” on the Grounds For Sculpture website is “Looking for the perfect day trip?” Well actually, yes, we are! And if you are ok with an approximate 90-minute drive from Manhattan, you are in for a treat in the opposite direction from our other recommendations. Be prepared to see world-class sculptures among a living library of native and exotic trees and flowers.
Founded by sculptor and philanthropist Seward Johnson, Grounds For Sculpture opened in 1992 on the former NJ State Fairgrounds, With 300+ sculptures installed over the 42 acres, the founder’s vision to “fill people everywhere with the emotional sustenance derived from the powerful and restorative connection between art and nature.”. He even created a bizarre collection of sculptures he called Beyond the Frame, which are lifesize 3D replicas of famous impressionistic paintings and other iconic scenes that viewers can get up close and personal with. Imagine grabbing the table next to the couple in Edouard Manet’s Chez Pere Lathuille.
Aside from the whimsey of Beyond the Frame, most of the artwork at Grounds for Sculpture is made by internationally recognized sculptors. With collaborators such as Gloria Vanderbilt, who worked with Johnson on the unique environment Forest of the Subconscious, to sculptures by world-renowned artists like Kiki Smith, who grew up in NJ, and George Segal, to the charming Rats Restaurant with award-winning views, there is so much to see and do among the paths, reflecting pools and meadows that you may want to leave extra early to fit it all in. Entry to Grounds For Sculpture is by advance timed ticket only and capacity is limited. Both Members and the public are required to reserve timed tickets online to visit. The Garden is open Thursday through Sunday 10AM to 6PM.
Next, check out 21 Drive-In Movies in New York State
This article was written by Lisa Bouso and includes contributions by Nicole Saraniero.
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