Visit an Outdoor Sculpture Garden

Some families are cut out for visiting art museums…. ours unfortunately is just not. I spend most of the time with my heart in my throat- chasing them around, begging them to “shush”, and to not touch anything. So when I learned that there are fantastic outdoor sculpture gardens that I can visit with my kids where they don’t have to whisper and while they still aren’t supposed to touch- I don’t need to worry that someone is going to put fingerprints on a priceless piece of artwork (for goodness sake- the sculptures are outside in the elements!)… I was sold!

What’s amazing is that these parks and gardens are everywhere- you just may never have heard of them! The International Directory of Sculpture Parks and Gardens provides a listing by state along with links to each attraction. Some are free, and may be housed on a corporate or a college campus, while others may charge for admission.

Aside from taking tons of pictures, it can be fun to pack along some small sketch pads and pencils for the kids to draw what they are seeing, and if you can take along some modeling clay so the kids can make models of the sculptures.

Today I would like to feature two outdoor sculpture gardens that are located within a 2 hour drive of New York City:

The Donald M. Kendall Pepsi Sculpture Garden

Located at the corporate headquarters for PepsiCo in Purchase, NY, this fantastic collection of artwork and beautiful gardens is free to the public. Created by Donald M. Kendall the former chief executive of the company in the 1970′s, it features 45 sculptures by some of the best-known artists of the 20th century, and is housed on 168 acres of gorgeous green lawns, ponds, trees, and gardens.

*this picture courtesy of Peter Rivera on Flickr

*this picture courtesy of Nrbelex on Flickr

Storm King Art Center

Widely considered to be one of the world’s leading sculpture parks, Storm King Art Center is located in New Windsor, NY on 500 acres of beautiful landscaped fields, hills, and woodlands. What is most notable about the artwork on display here- is the gargantuan size of the sculptures. It totally captivates the kids and revs up their own imagination of what is possible.