The long wall of the Catskill escarpment across the valley, seen from Olana

Art & Sculpture Parks

17 places 14 towns $16 one-time

The Hudson Valley's art spaces range from a 120-acre sculpture park in Ghent where sixty-plus monumental works rotate through meadow and wetland to a repurposed Nabisco factory in Beacon that's been stripped down to its skylights to show art too large for conventional ceilings. Cold Spring holds a minimalist museum devoted to Italian postwar art made from rags and scrap; Katonah rotates exhibitions constantly so nothing repeats. In Poughkeepsie, Vassar's Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center pairs Hudson River landscapes with Picasso and Matisse under Cesar Pelli's skylit roof. Nyack preserves Edward Hopper's childhood house with its narrow stairs and river light intact. Peekskill's converted warehouse and Purchase's 168-acre corporate campus sculpture garden draw visitors, as do smaller galleries on the second floors of Hudson and Peekskill storefronts. Seventeen places across fourteen towns: free outdoor loops, college museums, and independent nonprofits.

What we thought of each of these 17 places is in the guide. $16 for all 460 places.

Art & Sculpture Parks 17 places

Ghent

Art Omi / Fields Sculpture Park

Art Omi in Ghent spans 120 acres with sixty-plus rotating sculptures through meadow, woods, and wetland; summer Saturdays feature free evening concerts.

Cost: Free (suggested donation $10/person for non-members)
Hours: Sculpture Park: dawn–dusk daily; Benenson Center: Mon, Wed–Sun 9am–5pm; Tue closed
Season: Year-round; spring through fall preferred
Access: Grounds partially accessible; golf cart accessibility loops available (advance booking required)

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Beacon

Dia Beacon

Dia Beacon in Beacon: a former Nabisco factory lit by skylights, showing large-scale sculptures that need industrial-height ceilings.

Cost: $$ (adults $25, seniors $18, students $12, children 5-11 $5; free for children under 5 and Beacon/Newburgh residents)
Hours: Fri-Mon 10am-5pm (hours vary seasonally); closed Tue-Thu
Season: Year-round
Access: Fully accessible parking, galleries, bathrooms; elevators to all levels; wheelchairs available

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Poughkeepsie

Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center (Vassar College)

Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar in Poughkeepsie holds Hudson River School painters, Picasso, and Matisse. Admission has been free since 1993.

Cost: Free
Hours: Tue-Sun 10 AM–5 PM; Thu 5–7 PM (June–Aug) / 5–9 PM (Sept–May); Closed Mon
Season: Year-round
Access: Wheelchair accessible; contact for accessibility info

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Cold Spring

Magazzino Italian Art

Magazzino Italian Art in Cold Spring holds arte povera, postwar Italian art from rags and scrap, plus endangered Sardinian donkeys roaming the grounds.

Cost: Free admission; ticketed exhibitions available; café membership required for Café Silvia
Hours: Sun–Mon 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Closed Tue–Thu. Reservations preferred.
Season: Year-round
Access: Limited information on wheelchair accessibility; call ahead to confirm

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Purchase

Neuberger Museum of Art

Hopper, O'Keeffe, and Pollock fill these Purchase galleries, part of Roy Neuberger's collection of mid-century American art. Admission free.

Cost: Free
Hours: Summer (May 20–Aug 17): Thu–Sun 12pm–5pm, closed Mon–Wed. Regular season: Wed–Sun 12pm–5pm, closed Mon–Tue
Season: Year-round
Access: Fully wheelchair accessible; elevators, accessible parking, gallery stools available

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Saugerties

Opus 40

Opus 40 in Saugerties: one man's 6.5-acre earthwork, built over 37 years from an old bluestone quarry with dry-stone technique learned in Honduras.

Cost: $20 adult admission
Hours: Thu–Mon 10am–5pm (last entry 4pm); closed Tue–Wed. Seasonal: Apr–Nov only
Season: April–November
Access: Trails unpaved; limited wheelchair accessibility

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Free to read

Top pick New Windsor

Storm King Art Center

Mark di Suvero's steel beams squared off against the sky, Maya Lin's grass waves rolling toward the tree line, Andy Goldsworthy's stone wall wading into a pond and climbing back out the other side: 500 acres where the ground itself does half the work.

Cost: $20–$28 general admission (advance recommended); free for members, Orange County students up to 21, care attendants
Hours: Wed–Mon 10am–6pm (closed Tue); last entry 5pm. Seasonal closures possible (check ahead)
Season: Year-round, weather dependent; most popular spring through fall
Access: Largely accessible; free wheelchair rentals, accessible tram, various terrain options, touch tours available

Heads upLarge site; plan 2–4 hours. Bring water, sunscreen, hat. Storms close the grounds immediately. Parking included with admission; on-site only. Advance tickets recommended on nice weekends. Rain gear essential (place is open rain or shine). Not all terrain accessible to all mobility aids; staff can suggest routes. Closed Tuesdays.

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Yonkers

Untermyer Gardens Conservancy

Untermyer Gardens Conservancy in Yonkers: Samuel Untermyer's Persian garden with 2,000-year-old Roman columns and Hudson River views, free year-round.

Cost: Free admission and parking
Hours: Daily; gates open 9am, closing time varies by season from 4:30pm (Nov–early Mar) up to 7pm (May–mid-Sept); check current schedule
Season: Year-round; most dramatic spring through fall
Access: Accessible; some stairs and uneven terrain; call ahead for accommodations

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Nyack

Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center

The actual Nyack house where Edward Hopper grew up, with the Hudson River light and narrow stairs that shaped his paintings of urban isolation.

Cost: $10 adults; $8 seniors; $6 visitors with disabilities; free ages 18 & under and members
Hours: Wed–Fri 1pm–5pm, Sat–Sun 12pm–5pm; closed Mon–Tue (private tours by appointment)
Season: Year-round
Access: Main floor wheelchair accessible via ramp

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Hudson

FASNY Museum of Firefighting

FASNY Museum of Firefighting in Hudson: hand-drawn rigs from the 1700s through modern engines, plus a room where kids climb into real cabs.

Cost: $$
Hours: Wed–Sun 10:00am–4:30pm; closed Mon–Tue
Season: Year-round; ideal rainy-day activity
Access: Fully accessible indoor museum; interactive discovery room

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Peekskill

Hudson Valley MOCA (HVCCA)

Hudson Valley MOCA occupies a 12,000-sq-ft Peekskill warehouse where raw concrete and steel frame exhibitions on challenging, unresolved art.

Cost: $30 general admission; $25 Peekskill residents, seniors, veterans; $20 students; free for children 0-8
Hours: Thu & Sat 11am–5pm (walk-in); Fri & Sun by appointment only, book 24 hrs ahead; closed Mon–Wed and closed Dec 13–Jan 8 for the holidays
Access: Wheelchair accessible

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Purchase

PepsiCo Sculpture Gardens (Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens)

PepsiCo Sculpture Gardens in Purchase features 45 sculptures by Rodin, Moore, Calder, and Dubuffet set among 168 acres, free on weekends.

Cost: Free
Hours: Weekends (plus select holiday Mondays) 10am–4pm, late March–late November; closed entirely in winter
Season: Late March through late November only; fully closed roughly late November–late March
Access: Well-paved trails throughout; wheelchair accessible

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Wassaic

Wassaic Project

Wassaic Project is a seven-story grain elevator gallery in Wassaic where you climb floor by floor to see experimental work by emerging artists.

Cost: Free admission
Hours: Thu–Fri 12pm–5pm, Sat–Sun 12pm–5pm; closed Mon–Wed
Season: Year-round
Access: Multi-story building; elevators available; call ahead to confirm accessible routes

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Poughkeepsie

Barrett Art Center

Barrett Art Center in Poughkeepsie is Dutchess County's oldest arts organization in an 1840s Greek Revival townhouse. Five shows yearly, many juried.

Cost: Free
Hours: Wed-Fri 10am-3pm; Sat 12pm-3pm; closed Sun-Tue except for special events
Season: Year-round
Access: Historic townhouse, contact for accessibility accommodations

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Peekskill

Flat Iron Gallery

Flat Iron Gallery in Peekskill's Flat Iron Building features 100+ regional artists since 1996. Wendie Garber runs three rooms at varied prices.

Cost: Free to browse
Hours: Fri–Sun 12–6pm; weekdays by appointment
Season: Year-round
Access: Second floor location; call ahead for accessibility information

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Katonah

Katonah Museum of Art

Katonah Museum of Art rotates three or four exhibitions yearly with no permanent collection. Fresh shows feature contemporary and historic art.

Cost: Free admission (donations welcome)
Hours: Wed–Fri 12pm–5pm, Sat 10am–5pm, Sun 12pm–5pm; closed Mon–Tue
Season: Year-round
Access: Fully accessible building and parking

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New Paltz

Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art

Samuel Dorsky Museum in New Paltz holds 5,000 objects spanning 4,000 years: pre-Columbian ceramics, Atget photographs, Ruscha prints, free entry.

Cost: Free (donations welcome)
Hours: Wed–Sun 11am–5pm; closed Mon–Tue and college holidays. In August the schedule narrows to Saturday–Sunday only.
Season: Year-round (closed college holidays)
Access: Limited information provided; check with museum

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Quartz cliffs rising from the still blue water of Lake Mohonk

In the guide

We rated all 17 of these.

The names and the practical detail above are free. The guide adds what we thought of each place, how we rated it and what to watch out for, including the ones we'd tell you not to bother with. It does the same for the other 443 places in the other categories.

You pay once. Access doesn't expire, and anything we add or correct later is included.

Towns covered

BeaconCold SpringGhentHudsonKatonahNew PaltzNew WindsorNyackPeekskillPoughkeepsiePurchaseSaugertiesWassaicYonkers

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