The warm weather of New York’s spring greeted visitors as they made their way through the vast greenery and sculptures of Storm King Art Center. Tucked in the Hudson Valley just two hours out of the city, the art compound is one of the most recognizable art centers in upstate New York. With over 500 acres of land, the grounds are home to more than 120 large-scale sculptures that punctuate the surrounding landscape—and it’s finally reopening for the season.
The art center, which closed for the season in November, marked its 2026 reopening on April 1, with a VIP preview of the upcoming programming celebrated on May 16. The new season will feature works by artists Anicka Yi, Saif Azzuz, and Liz Glynn, blending art, nature, and identity with the surrounding landscape.
Since 1960, the prestigious art center has allowed artists to bring their most ambitious ideas to life, while stewarding the surrounding meadows, hills, and forest, blending nature and art into one large outdoor experience.
“The 2026 season is exemplary of what Storm King does best: championing artists as they expand the boundaries of their practice, commissioning works that unite sculpture and nature, and creating dialogue between the great mid-century artists in our collection and contemporary artists of today,” Storm King’s Executive Director Nora Lawrence, said ahead of the event.
She added, ”Anicka Yi’s project will enliven our landscape in ways we’ve only yet imagined. Saif Azzuz is creating a work that is also deeply rooted in the land and gives new life to found materials. Liz Glynn has reimagined her poignant installation in a way that evokes the passage of time and cycles of nature. It is an honor to realize these ambitious and singular works.”
When walking towards the exclusive event, visitors walked through Liz Glynn’s work Open House, which was first presented by the Public Art Fundin NYC. The series of reconstructed couches, footstools, armchairs, and arched window forms is constructed in the form of Louis XIV-style furniture, drawn from images of a Gilded Age ballroom. Recasting the opulent furniture in concrete, the artwork reimagines the objects of an exclusive interior with the materials associated with public work.
Past Glynn’s installation, visitors made their way alongside a long body of water before spotting Anicka Yi’s work, which served as the setting for the Storm King Opening celebration on May 16.
The celebration brought together an exclusive group of guests for an intimate gathering in the midst of the art complex. When walking into Storm King, the warm weather of New York’s spring greeted visitors, who made their way through the vast greenery and sculptures until reaching a quaint white marquee set up amid the nature, surrounded by Yi’s new installation.
Yi, a renowned Korean-American conceptual artist, focuses her work on olfaction and unorthodox perishable materials, informed by scientific research and perfumery. Her new work, Message from the Mud, is the artist’s first large-scale installation displayed as an archaeological dig. The excavated site features several standing acrylic cylinders filled with organic matter sourced from its surroundings.
Titled Before Skeletons, before Teeth, the opening event gathered families, children, and friends of Storm King to join in on a “prehistoric culinary experience.” Set in a quaint white marquee surrounded by nature and Yi’s work, the event offered exclusive cocktails inspired by nature like a “pond water,” a celery-forward bitter cocktail, or a non-alcoholic Kombucha alternative garnished with a carrot and cherry tomato sprig.
The event’s food offering was an artwork in itself, with a spread of snacks set up to appear like a scene of nature, filled with rocks and foliage blending together. Guests dug into the food as if gathering in prehistoric times, using leaves as vessels to hold the food. On the tablescape, food ranged from butter towers dressed with flowers, a stone altar with aged cheese and breads, as well as vibrant crudité paired with a green goddess spread.
Visitors questioned what was edible and what wasn’t—from black bread looking like coal to small chocolates resembling stones. Between the marquee and the body of art were two stations serving hot broths in coconut shells, featuring aromatics that shone through the liquid’s hours-long preparation.
When wandering away from the tent, visitors found Saif Azzuz’s work tucked atop a hill. The body of work, Weych-pues / tàkhòne (where the rivers meet), takes the form of a giant sturgeon made of steel, aluminum, and salvaged car parts from the neighboring Hudson Valley blended with materials from San Francisco. Azzuz—who held a residency at Storm King through the Shandaken: Storm King residency program and is an enrolled member of the Yurok Tribe— draws inspiration from the fish’s endurance, connecting its resilience with that of indigenous survivance.
“Sturgeons are species that are millions of years old,” Azzuz said in a press statement. “They hold so much of our stories and the stories of the land.”
For those inspired to make the trip, Storm King’s 2026 season promises no shortage of reasons to return.
Visitors wishing to visit the art center during its 2026 season can expect robust cultural programming in addition to the world-renowned permanent artworks scattered around the large outdoor complex.
Led by Storm King docents, visitors may opt in for daily walking tours, while special moonlit walking tours will also be available on select dates.
On Sundays, participants of all ages are welcomed at Storm King for hands-on, drop-in workshops, free to visitors with their regular admission. On the first Friday of June, July, and August, passersby will be able to visit the complex for free, with special programming planned for those dates. Additional live programming including concerts and performance shows will be available during the summer.
