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Hudson Valley Home – Storm King Art Center

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Nestled amongst the rolling hills next to Storm King Mountain in the Town of Cornwall, the Storm King Art Center is an outdoor museum and sculpture park, like nothing I have ever seen before. With massive sculptures and art installations spread throughout open fields and forested areas over several hundred acres, it showcases art on a scale that is hard to describe.

The first time we visited Storm King, was as a day-trip from NYC, when we still lived in the City (the Art Center is roughly 60 miles north of NYC). Since moving to the Hudson Valley, it has become one of my favorite places to take out of town guests.

A view of Storm King Art Center across a green field with several large sculptures made from black metal. Field is dotted with several trees, forest and mountains are in the background.
View up and through a large triangular black sculpture towards a bright blue sky. Green field, trees, and mountains in background.
View up and through red sculpture made of angled red tubes. Sky and trees can be seen in backgroun.

Visiting the Park

One of the things that I love most about Storm King is how the art is integrated within the beauty of the landscape, as if both the sculpture and the land are Art. There are many permanent installations that have not changed over the years that I have visited, but still I find that every time there is something new, either that is part of a shorter term installation, or that I missed before, because of how so many pieces of art are tucked away in hidden fields or forests.

I like to explore the Art Center on foot, setting out across the expansive grassy areas on foot, or wandering on the meandering paths, but this is not the only way to explore. There is a motorized tram that runs on a route that circles the park with frequent “stops” to hop on and hop off, and there are also bicycle rentals onsite.

Green grass field with body of water in middle and grassy area with trees on far side. A shiny metal wing-shaped sculpture on posts sits on the grass.
View facing up a grassy hill towards large black triangular sculpture in distance. Tree line and blue sky in background.
Dark bronze colored metal statute balanced on what appears to be legs and feet standing on a head-shaped piece of metal on grassy field.

Visiting Tips

From visiting the Storm King over a number of years, here are some things that I wish I had known before my first visit:

  • The Center is a popular destination for visitors from New York City as well as out of state, so best to arrive early in the morning or visit outside of the high summer season or fall leaf season.
  • There are bike rentals onsite, but you are not permitting to ride personal bikes.
  • Bring water: It can get quite hot during the summer, with many areas of limited shade with a long distance to the closest water fountain.
  • There is a cafe that operates on a seasonal basis with limited food options.
  • There are covered and uncovered picnic tables, and laying down a picnic blanket is also allowed (but dont bring a camp stove or plan to cook).
  • The Center closes for the during the late fall and winter and reopens in the spring
  • Storm King does not allow pets (other than service animals).
Brown/black metal sculpture made of large cylindrical tubes stacked horizontal, vertical, and at an angle on green grass field. Wooded area directly to right on statute, forest, and mountains in background.

Follow our exploration of the area around our Home in the Hudson Valley including favorite day trips and excursions an easy drive from New York City with more posts from Hudson Valley Home

in the garden – bluestone garden path build

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Marking and Selecting Stone

For our bluestone garden path build we went to several local landscaping supply spots to look at the stones available. One of our considerations was whether we would be able to lift and set these stones ourselves. I also had lots of inspiration boards with smaller puzzle pieced stone and the stacking stone palettes were not ideal for this application bc they would require a lot of leveling sand and still not be flat. So we opted for these bluestone palettes which featured irregular but fairly consistent stone. And for a more consistent transition from vegetable garden gravel to grass we added a row of brick pavers.

We used measuring tape and landscaping “marking” spray paint to layout out the outline of the path in preparation for our stone being delivered.

A pallet of stacked bluestone rocks used for the garden path project
A pallet of stacked bluestone rocks used for the garden path project sits on our driveway. A view of raised garden beds, trellis, and a wooded area in. background
Brick edging along the side of the garden and path area. White stones surround raised garden beds.
Pathway is laid out using marking spray paint on the grass along the side of the deck and house.
View from above, showing the path marked out with marking paint, deck with patio furniture, and orchard with fruit trees lined up in rows.

Puzzle Pieces – Placing Stone

I started with laying out the stones, opening the palette and choosing a stone, walking it over and then as the puzzle progressed moving things as needed. At the same time we removed old landscape edging and replaced it with steel edging along where rocks and grass met to prevent grass from jumping into garden beds. We also realized the area in front of our Bilco/Basement entrance might get more worn since we store tools down there so we added an offshoot to the path in front of it.

We also added a stone patio for our picnic table. I used the straight edges of stones along the exterior of path and angled stones to create a mosaic on the interior.

I’ll make a separate post about the patio space bc that was tedious and laborious in different ways.

Stones are laid out like a puzzle on the grass fit together within the footprint of the path running past the deck, side of house, and bilco door.
Stones are laid out like a puzzle on the grass fit together within the footprint of the path running past the deck, towards the bilco door.
Stones are laid out like a puzzle on the grass fit together within the footprint of the path running around to the side of the house between raised flower beds.
View from above of stones laid out like a puzzle on the grass fit together within the footprint of the path running past the deck, side of house, and bilco door.
Stones are laid out like a puzzle on the grass fit together within the footprint of the path between raised beds on side of house.
Stones are laid out like a puzzle on the grass fit together within the footprint of the path. A green cart stands to the side
View from above of stones laid out within the footprint of the path, running by a tree, with piles of stone.
Stones are laid out on the grass in footprint of path, running between two raised garden beds
Collage of three images showing progression of path from an aerial view near back deck.

Digging It In

After letting the stones sit for a few days the grass underneath made a nice outline. Allowing me to lift them and then come through with a half moon edger to cut out the sod and insert stones. It took me about 1.5-2 weeks to lay all these stones in.

Stones sit on grass for a few days creating an outline in the grass to be dug.
Stones are dug into the ground in the pathway. A wheelbarrow is full of removed sod. Shovel and other tools are on the grass.

First Winter

The stones absorbed the heat so there was beauty to the path even on frosty or light snow mornings.

View from above. Finished path in the autumn running between flower raised beds.
View from above. Finished path in the autumn past deck. A light frost is on the ground.

You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.

Johnny Cash

Follow our journey in growing and share in our experience and lessons learned from nature with more posts from In the Garden

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