Now is the perfect weather for a day spent outdoors with the family. Why not also make it a fun, educational day and head over to the Storm King Art Center in the Hudson Valley? Located about an hour north of New York City, this sprawling indoor and outdoor museum is well worth the trip—and revisits. Take a look at our list below of their offerings, both permanent and for this summer only.
Visit the Permanent Collection
With over 100 large-scale sculptures from post-World War II and onward displayed across its 500-acre landscape, Storm King’s permanent collection is a must-see for families with inquisitive young ones.
Children can explore movement in art with kinetic sculptures like George Cutts’ Sea Change (1996), as well as distinct shapes, lines, colors, and materials in works such as Alexander Calder’s The Arch (1975), Alexander Liberman’s Adonai (1970-71) and Iliad (1974-76), Maya Lin’s Storm King Wavefield (2007-8), and more. One sculpture in particular that kids will love is Isamu Noguchi’s Momo Taro (1977-78), as it relates to a fun Japanese folktale about a boy who is born in a giant peach.
Visit the Temporary Exhibitions
For a change of pace, visit this year’s temporary exhibition at Storm King, Zhang Huan: Evoking Tradition, which includes six large-scale sculptures outdoors, and ash sculptures, maquettes, drawings, and videos in the galleries of the Museum Building.
Also be sure to see the playful Outlooks: Virginia Overton project, which stretches 500 feet across a large farm field. Not only is it visually beautiful, but also interactive: visitors can engage with it by listening and speaking into it at either end, the sound carrying across the Storm King landscape.
Tour the Grounds
On June 29, there will be a special, interactive tour of the sculptures for children and families, led by celebrated educator Wally McGuire. Visitors of all ages will be encouraged to participate in conversation about the works.
Take Classes
If your child is interested in learning even more, enroll them in one of Storm King’s two week-long classes this summer. In Project Write, for ages 9-12, students will explore place-based writing surrounded by Storm King’s sculpture and landscape, as well as receive insight from the Hudson Valley Writing Project’s Master Teachers.
Middle School students can work with scientists and artists in the hands-on class The Art of Scientific Observation, which includes daily explorations of flora and fauna, sculpture and landscape. Budding scientists will also get to make their own field journals, filled with sketches, notes, and more!
Shop
No trip to a museum is complete without stepping into the museum store. Visitors can buy sculpture-related clothing, books, gifts, and even limited edition works of art such as Maya Lin’s Seven Square Inches of Water (2014). Children can enjoy kid-oriented items like Herve Tullet’s interactive book for ages 3-6, The Game of Sculpture, which encourages them to create their very own artworks.
