Opus 40

The viewer is gobsmacked when considering this single-handed achievement.

In 1938, Harvey Fite, an actor, dancer, and sculptor who established the fine arts department at Bard College in the early 1930’s, acquired an abandoned bluestone quarry in Saugerties NY, near the Village of Woodstock. Over decades, Fite worked to transform the quarry into an extraordinary six and a half-acre hand laid earthwork masterpiece, which he named Opus 40, as he planned to commit 40 years of his life to its completion. Beside the quarry he built his home and studio from recovered barn lumber.

He pays tribute to the site’s labor history in a separate building housing the Quarry Museum, where exhibits include traditional quarrying and masonry tools. Fite was fascinated with the act of labor and was committed to constructing his earthwork single-handedly and with only primitive tools, having faith and trust in his body and in the basic skills and tools used by early quarrymen.

Throughout his mid-twentieth century life and during his tenure at Bard, Fite and his wife, Barbara, welcomed visitors and artists to his site for music, performance, entertainment and artistic enrichment. Opus 40 was and remains an active, vital element in the regions artistic community. Fite passed away in 1976, 37 years into his project.

Fite’s widow established the non-profit in 1978 to showcase the 6.5 acre in-earth bluestone sculpture and its surroundings. Opus 40 has grown to nearly 60 acres of meadows, statues, paths and abandoned quarries. The family continued to use and own the house while the sculpture and grounds were open for viewing and provided a setting for diverse and dynamic musical and artistic performances, from jazz to dance, global music to local performers. In 2018 the organization hired its first professional executive director. In 2023 the non-profit acquired the 3,500 square foot house from the family, positioning the organization for the next steps in growth and development.

Today, Opus 40 is open five days a week in season for tours, general visits, and programs including hands-on workshops, nature walks, community events, and school field trips. Opus 40 offers a vibrant season of live performance — on, in, or framed by Fite’s remarkable sculpture. In all that we do, the goal is to develop direct connections between Fite’s living artwork and the public.

Art critic Brendan Gill, writing in Architectural Digest in 1989, described Opus 40 as “One of the largest and most beguiling works of art on the entire continent.” Now on the National Register of Historic Places, Opus 40 continues to engage visitors through its mind-boggling immensity and sheer spiritual beauty.