Seven Sculpture Parks Near New York City To Visit This Summer

New York is rightfully called the center of art, but if you want to get away from the city for a day or a weekend, there are several beautiful outdoor sculpture parks nearby. Such a trip will not only allow you to take a break from the gray everyday life, but will also present you with the opportunity to see something new, unique, and extraordinary. For example, you can go to the Hudson Valley for a fresh portion of original emotions. 7 parks near New York that are worth visiting, the newspaper said "Poster".

Opus 40

This 50-acre (approximately 20 hectare) open-air sculpture park in Saughertis, New York is the lifelong creation of visionary artist Harvey Fight. Veit has worked on this piece of art for 30 years using the ancient method of folding and fitting stone.

Opus 40 was founded back in 1938 after Veit bought an abandoned quarry for the extraction of blue stone. The park consists of several walking paths, memorial stones, natural pools, stairs and underground passages.

The complex is decorated with many of Faith's stone works. In addition, visitors are encouraged to create their own unique sculptures from thousands of randomly scattered stones.

Opus 40 also has a one-room museum that preserves various hand tools that Veit used to create the park, as well as some other artifacts from the history of the place. Under the museum, on the second floor of the main building, there is a sweets and souvenir shop. The selection includes books on Opus 40, a variety of local produce such as honey and herbs, and a line of tarot cards from the mesmerizing art duo Hudson Valley Kahn & Selesnick.

If you don't want to return to the bustling city, you can stay in the guest house, which was built by Harvey Fight and his wife Barbara. Previously, they lived there, but now the premises are rented on AirBnB.

The Opus 40 outdoor sculpture park is located in Saugerties NY, approximately 90 minutes from Midtown Manhattan. If you don't have a car, you can take the bus to Woodstock, from where you can take a taxi to Opus 40.

Park site - by link.

Brunel sculpture garden

Believe it or not, there is another original outdoor sculpture park just 15 minutes' walk from Opus 40. The Brunel Sculpture Garden in Boyesville, New York features a surreal array of sculptural forms and buildings.

The park was designed and created by the brilliant New York-based photographer Emile Brunel, who made his fortune in the early development of the hour-long photography process.

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In the 1920s, Brunel left for the Catskill Mountains, acquired an old hotel and the vast estates adjacent to it. Le Chalet Indien has become a popular destination for celebrities such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Max Ernst, Irving Berlin and many actors, writers, artists and politicians

Emil used the purchased territory as a studio for creating sculptures. His work reflected his personal interest in Native American aesthetics. An eclectic collection of sculptures is housed on site amid a unique botanical garden.

Today the garden and sculptures are freely available to the public through donations. While walking in the park, it is also worth visiting the Ashokan reservoir, for the sake of which many villages and towns were flooded.

Park site - by link.

Nassau County Museum of Art Sculpture Garden

The inimitable sculptural collection of the garden consists of more than 40 works, in the creation of which about 30 sculptors took part. The vast park stretches over 145 acres (58,7 hectares) of fields, forests, gardens and ponds in the William Cullen Bryant Preserve. To get to this wonderful place, you can take the LIRR train, or use your personal transport.

Sculptures have been created for over 100 years. This place presents a unique opportunity to explore how sculptors have responded to innovations in technology and materials over the past century.

Walking maps challenge how art and artists have developed and used different styles throughout the collection's history. There is also an unusual museum in the garden.

You can appreciate the beauty of the local nature and find out in detail how to get to the park by visiting them Web site.

Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ

Grounds For Sculpture Park is 90 minutes' drive from Manhattan. It houses world-class sculptures surrounded by exotic trees and flowers.

The founder of such a wonderful place is Steward Johnson, a sculptor and philanthropist. Grounds For Sculpture opened in 1992 on the site of the former New Jersey Convention and Exhibition Center.

On an area of ​​42 acres (about 17 hectares), more than 300 sculptures are installed, which embody the founders' dream of "filling people with emotional support." Johnson even created a bizarre sculpture collection he called Beyond the Frame. They are life-size XNUMXD copies of famous Impressionist paintings and other iconic scenes that viewers can get to know better. One has only to imagine that you can sit at the same table next to a couple in Edouard Manet's Chez Pere Lathuille.

Beyond the Frame, the lion's share of the artwork at Grounds for Sculpture is created by internationally renowned sculptors. Among them is Gloria Vanderbilt, who worked with Johnson on the legendary sculpture "The Forest of the Subconscious."

After a year of closure, the interior of the museum opens with the exhibition Bruce Beasley: A Sixty Years Retrospective, 1960–2020. The Rat's Inn gourmet restaurant is also on site (reservation recommended). Entrance to the sculpture site is only possible with a pre-booked ticket, and the number of seats is limited. The territory is open from Thursday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00.

Park site - by link.

Art Omi, Ghent, New York

The park is located in the Hudson Valley on an area of ​​20 acres (8,1 hectares). It houses modern sculptures that adorn an unusual winding landscape. Here you can walk for hours through the hills and forests.

Guides recommend keeping the map handy as there are no cobbled paths between monumental art and architecture. Along with the sculptures in nature, there is a gallery with an area of ​​1500 square feet (139,3 square meters). The park features not only some of the finest sculptural works, but also innovative artistic architecture worth pondering.

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Art Omi is a rather hospitable place where you can come with your beloved four-legged friends, which cannot be done in many other locations. Persons with disabilities wishing to tour the park should call (518) 392-4747 to arrange suitable activities. Two weeks notice of attendance is recommended. Access to the park is round-the-clock, in any weather, all year round (this includes free ski runs).

If you plan to come to the park for a weekend or a holiday, you should initially register on the Art Omi website, indicating the day and approximate time of visit. One registration is required for each group of vehicles. Each guest is invited to donate $ 10, but all visitors will be happy, regardless of the donation.

Park site - by link.

JP Humes Japanese Stroll Garden, Mill Neck, Long Island

If you don't want to understand the conceptual theories of modern ground sculpture and just want to relax, feel the serenity that personifies the ancient art of imperial garden design, JP Humes Japanese Stroll Garden is your ticket to heaven. At this location, you can appreciate works of art with sculptural forms and elements built into the clever design of paths, lakes and a teahouse.

The peculiarity of the Japanese walking garden is that the connecting stone paths are placed so that you can step slowly, slowly. The area is surrounded by a pond and / or a waterfall. JP Humes Japanese Stroll Garden is owned and operated by the North Shore Land Alliance. The park is open from mid-April to the end of October on Saturday and Sunday from 11:30 am to 16:30 pm.

Park site - by link.

Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, New York

Storm King is called the center of the arts. Its area is a record 500 acres (over 202 hectares). The park was founded in 1960 and its feature was the installation of large-scale sculptures. It featured works by legendary artists such as Andy Goldsworthy, Alexander Calder and Louise Bourgeois.

Storm King features bike rental programs that are available without prior booking. Each of the units has a front basket with a printed map showing all the lanes. Considering that Storm King is one of the largest sculpture parks in the country, cycling around the area is very convenient.

There is also a Storm King Museum on site, which is slated to open on June 12th. This museum is an inner gallery that hosts exhibitions of small works. You can visit the park from Wednesday to Monday from 10:00 to 17:00. Tickets must be booked in advance.

Park site - by link.