I have met the Storm King, and you don’t wanna mess with him. He guards the gates of Storm King Art Center like the Sphinx from his lawn chair at the bicycle rental kiosk. If you incorrectly answer his riddle for admission, your fate is sealed: expulsion or death. Your choice. I mercifully passed his test by sacrificing the ladies I brought with me and was thus spared. He could only hurl empty threats in my direction as I entered his kingdom.
Okay, so maybe he was just a grouchy man who woke up on the wrong side of bed and we his first customers of the morning. But the majestic Storm King Art Center plays on one’s mind in such a fashion. It’s bigger than life and sets the stage for the impossible becoming possible. There’s nothing quite like meandering beneath gigantic sculptures to make you feel as significant as an ant. I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if King Kong came swinging down the maple tree alley or a fire-breathing dragon flew over the surrounding hills. It’s a village of Big Art, reminding you just how small you are in the big picture, a paradoxically soothing realization.
Frederick Remington wrote, “Big art is a process of elimination. Cut down and out. Do
your hardest work outside the picture, and let your audience take away something to think about – to IMAGINE.” Storm King is the very incarnation of this advice.
Founded in 1960 by Ralph Ogden and Peter Stern, Storm King is 500 acres of woods, fields, lawns, wetlands and water with sculpture scattered throughout, a treasure hunt for Big Art. Rolling vistas intertwine with open expanses and wooded retreats lending an element of surprise, a playground for the gods. There’s a swing set and playscape by Alexander Calder, kick balls and a croquet set by Henry Moore, a bunch of cool Legos by David Smith, and huge seesaws, playhouses and slides by an array of artists. (Metaphorically of course). Giant toys abound.
There’s loads of factual information in the brochure and on the guided tours and in the fabulous programs, but that’s not my thing. I’ve absorbed it and discarded it, prepared and improvised. I prefer their “Field Guide For Young Explorers” if you’re lucky enough to find one tossed aside by a bored kindergartner as I did. I just like to lose myself in the beauty of the place for a few hours on a regular basis, and always during Mini Adventure Time (weekdays from drop off until pickup) where I have it more or less to myself. It’s new each season whether dipped in fall, dusted in snow or dotted with wildflowers. The land itself is a medium creating ever-changing art out of the earth. It’s only an hour’s drive from Rye, but worlds apart.
I naturally gravitate toward the road less travelled, so Moodna Creek Trail is my favorite, a wooded path along the creek skirting the eastern and southern edges of the property. The Café (open 11-4:30) makes a fine sandwich to stick in your backpack for the trail, and a fine cuppa joe for the quick drive home. I regularly break the “no food allowed outside the designated picnic areas” rule, but I leave no trace behind for fear of the Sphinx and his minions. Just keep moving and you’ll be fine.
I enjoy popping into the Museum Building to see what’s happening and to buy yet another Rainbow Maker in the Museum Store. When time allows I like to explore the
nearby village of Cornwall-on-Hudson, ripe with history. Next trip up I intend to check
out the Black Rock Forest and Storm King State Park (Storm King is the mountain upon
which the state park and the art center sit and after which they are named). There’s just
never enough time in one trip to squeeze it all in.
So riddle me this, Mr. Storm King: What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three in the evening?” Oedipus answered, “Man: crawling in childhood, walking in mid-life and using a cane in old age”. My answer, “Man on a Mini Adventure: four car tires in the morning, two bicycle wheels at noon and pickup by 3pm”, completely satiated with perspective in check.
STORM KING ART CENTER
1 Museum Road, New Windsor, NY
845.534.3115
http://www.stormking.org
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