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ART & SOUL
A sculpture park in the Hudson Valley is a natural antidote to the urban malaise of NYC Believe it or not, there are some daytrips worth leaving Manhattan for – especially in the suffocating humidity of the New York summer. Storm King Art Center is a sculpture park an hour north of New York City in the bucolic Hudson Valley. Think B&Bs, charming towns, wineries and outdoorsy activities. It’s the perfect weekend escape for harried New Yorkers and space-craving antipodeans. From Salisbury Mills station in Mountainville it’s a cab to the art centre. We carpool with fellow travellers, as cab companies are limited: Bob’s Taxi or Tony’s Taxi. The lack of plurality is literal. It’s an enchanting welcome via a long gravelly driveway framed by verdant trees. The surrounding mountains form a storybook backdrop to rolling emerald hills, pastoral forests and pristine woodlands. Perfectly manicured lawns are dissected by meandering paths, meadows and an impressively long stone bench (which I later find out is actually a sculpture by British artist Andy Goldsworthy). Storm King was founded as a non-profit museum in 1960 by businessmen Ralph E. Ogden and his son-in-law, H. Peter Stern. Then strangers to the art world, a significant purchase of monumental pieces by sculptor David Smith in 1967 forced the large-scale works to be taken out of their urban context and re-imagined in nature, planting the proverbial seed for the outdoor park. There’s a designated picnic area, but we opt for the outdoor cafe operated by sustainable caterers Fresh Company, who source
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ALFRESCO GALLERY Part of Three-Legged Buddha by Zhang Huan.
produce locally. Options are limited but everything is organic. Lunch is hummus on rustic ciabatta with seasonal relish. The hop-on, hop-off shuttle with audio guides wins over bike rental. More than 100 contemporary works are peppered throughout the sprawling 200ha landscape, carefully sited to maximise perspective and picturesque vistas. Some, such as Roy Lichtenstein’s pop-art Mermaid canoe, stick out like a sore thumb. But Maya Lin’s undulating, site-specific Wavefield is so inconspicuous, one could be forgiven for thinking it’s just part of the natural terrain. Prep your visit around special events, such as poetry readings, concerts, moonlit walks, yoga and the magical Summer Solstice farmsourced dinner and cocktail party. Cheers to art. CARLI PHILIPS Storm King’s 2013 season runs ’til December 1. Visit stormking.org. FOLLOW CARLI ON TWITTER @CARLIPHILIPS
27/05/13 9:11 AM