Left: “Mother Peace” 1969 sculpture by Marc di Suvero Click to enlarge.

The Storm King Art Center is a museum that celebrates the relationship between sculpture and nature. Five hundred acres of landscaped lawns, fields and woodlands provide the site for sculptures by internationally renowned artists. At Storm King, the exhibition space is defined by sky and land. Unencumbered by walls, the subtly created flow of space is punctuated by modern sculpture. The grounds are surrounded by the undulating profiles of the Hudson Highlands, a dramatic panorama integral to the viewing experience. The sculptures are affected by changes in light and weather, so no two visits are the same.

At Storm King, visitors are encouraged to enjoy nature as well as art, to meander on trails and discover sculptures, or to traverse the fields to walk among monumental works. The grounds are under a carefully supervised program of maintenance and change. Recently the Art Center has developed the North Trail and a wooded grove with sculptures, and has restored several walking paths.

The Storm King Art Center is located in Mountainville, Orange County, New York State. This is the museum building on the right.

Much of the open area in Storm King’s 500 acres were farmed for more than two hundred years, until agriculture in the Hudson Valley became harder to sustain. In the second part of the 20th century, the fields lost much of their beauty and became susceptible to invasive plants. In 1997, they started a multi-year program to reintroduce native long grasses and wildflowers into our fields, and have been helped in this endeavor by Darrel Morrison, Senior Landscape Planner & Designer for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas and the Storm King Art Center’s landscape architect, William A. Rutherford. We have already had great success with the creation of flowing islands of alfalfa, buckwheat, and oats. Wide mowed walkways meander through these fields to provide access to sculptures.

The grounds are surrounded by undulating profiles of the Hudson River Highlands, a dramatic panorama integral to the viewing experience. Visitors are encouraged to enjoy nature as well as art, to meander on trails and discover sculptures, and to traverse the fields and walk among the monumental works. Also available are self-guided tours of a major portion of the sculpture park by handicapped accessible trams. The appearance of the sculptures is affected by changes in light and weather, so no two visits are ever the same.

The focus of the Storm King Art Center’s distinguished permanent collection of modern sculpture is on monumental works from the 1960s to the present. A group of thirteen sculptures by David Smith is the core of the collection of outstanding works by modern masters such as Alexander Calder, Louise Nevelson, Mark di Suvero, Isamu Noguchi, and Andy Goldsworthy’s 2,278-ft.-long British stone wall, which disappears into a pond and snakes around trees.

This exhibition focused on the dramatic late works of one of the modern era’s greatest sculptors. Alexander Calder (1898-1976) began in 1936 to develop ideas and methods for creating monumental sculptures to be sited outdoors; after World War II, he at last had the opportunity to realize such grand-scale projects, which became a primary focus of his art for his last two decades.

This post was written with the help of the Storm King web site: http://www.stormking.org/

“The marriage of the outdoors with the creativity of man… a chance to commune with nature.” New York Times

Alexander Calder Black Flag, 1974 Sheet metal, bolts and paint, 118 x 118 x 166 inches

Alexander Calder A Two Faced Guy, 1969 Sheet metal, bolts and paint, 84 x 80 x 64 inches

Alexander Calder The Arch, 1975 Steel painted black, 600 x 498 x 418 inches

Alexander Calder Gui, 1976 Sheet metal, bolts and paint, 117 1/8 x 104 7/16 x 74 inches

Alexander Calder Sabot, 1963 Sheet metal, bolts and paint, 146 x 132 1/2 x 77 1/2 inches

Storm King Art Center Tour by tram

deletereply 2crobyn wrote on Aug 16, ’08 Hi and thanks’. Robyn

deletereply wickedlyinnocent wrote on Aug 17, ’08 That’s a very interestung place to visit, art and nature, beautiful. I’ve lways liked Calder’s works. Thanks.

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Aug 17, ’08 There’s also some very interesting pieces within the museum building, too, but It’s great to walk around and see all the scuptures outside on a nice day.

deletereply forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 17, ’08 this has been really interesting, I don’t think I’ve seen this guys work before so thanks, nice introduction.

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Aug 17, ’08 Thanks for visiting, Loretta !

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