The Storm King Art Center in Mountainville, New York[1] is an open air museum which has extended the concept of a "sculpture garden" to become a "sculpture landscape." Founded in 1960 by Ralph E. Ogden as a museum for Hudson Valley painters, it soon expanded into a major sculpture venue with the acquisition of works from the estate of sculptor David Smith.[2] The site is approximately 500 acres (2.0 km2) of meadow and woodland located about an hour north of Manhattan.[3] The center is so named because of its proximity to Storm King State Park and Storm King Mountain.
Dorothy Mayhall was a director there.[4]
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A permanent collection of monumental works has been sited in grand outdoor "rooms". There is a core collection of pieces by modern masters such as Alexander Calder,[5] David Smith,[6] Mark di Suvero,[7] Henry Moore,[8] Isamu Noguchi,[9] Richard Serra,[10] and Louise Nevelson.[11]
These are joined with more recent large-scale sculptures by contemporary sculptors including Magdalena Abakanowicz,[12] Alice Aycock,[13] Andy Goldsworthy,[14] Alexander Liberman,[15] Sol LeWitt, and Roy Lichtenstein.[16] Maya Lin's outdoor installation, "Storm King Wavefield" (2009), consists of seven long rows of undulating land forms, like waves.[3]
The development of the Storm King landscape has been the work of more than 40 years. Vistas of distant mountains contrast with fields of waving native grasses and woodlands. A 1935 residence[17] designed after a Norman chateau has been converted to use as the Museum Building. In addition to nine galleries it houses a museum shop and offices. There is a picnic area located in the vicinity of the artwork.
The Storm King site has been identified by collector Alan Gibbs as one source of inspiration for his private outdoor sculpture museum and landscape in New Zealand.