Outdoor Arts Destinations in Westchester

The weather is prime for discovering outdoor arts destinations in Westchester. The County has an abundance of accessible arts locations that allow residents and visitors to explore through self-guided walking tours and yearlong viewing opportunities. ArtsNews rounded up a list of some of these locations to visit in Westchester, including sculpture collections, gardens and locations with open grounds. Rather than individual events, these are destinations that are open for a significant portion of the year.

Sculptures on the Cuomo Bridge Pedestrian and Bicycle Path (Tarrytown/Nyack)

Freestanding sculptures, creative bicycle racks and a massive mural line the pedestrian and bicycle path of the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge (formerly the Tappan Zee Bridge). Many of the ten art installations, designed by eight emerging New York State artists, echo the industrial aesthetic of the bridge, incorporating refurnished steel and metals into the sculptures. Among the installations, Ilan Averbuch’s Tappan Zee sculpture pays homage to the bridge’s history before its installation, celebrating the historic Lenape people; Chris Soria’s The Flux of Being mural explores the rich biodiversity of the Hudson River; David Greenberg references the history of stone quarrying with its functional bike racks; and Wendy Klemperer’s Leaping Sturgeon brings attention to the State’s efforts to repopulate an endangered species. Self-guided walking tours begin along the Rockland Landing and end past the river on the Westchester Landing.

Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Garden (North Salem)

Visitors to the Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Garden may feel that they have briefly escaped the hustle and bustle of their everyday lives. Guests are invited to journey through the museum’s garden, supplied with paths that are intended to promote contemplation and tranquility. The outdoor space, which is open from April through December, features a lotus-filled pond, springtime cherry blossoms, bamboo fields, benches for contemplation and more. While visiting, guests can also view the museum’s gallery spaces and find out about Hammond’s art classes and events as well. To learn more about Hammond’s Stroll Garden, click here.

Peekskill Sculpture Trail (Peekskill)

A simple two-mile stroll in Peekskill can have perusers viewing 28 works of art. A map on Hudson Valley Museum of Contemporary Art‘s website pinpoints each public art installation, beginning just steps from Peekskill’s Metro-North station and ending at the museum. Featured sculptures, mostly along the waterfront, inform visitors on the history of Peekskill and Upstate New York, honoring the city’s Dutch roots with Daan Padmos’s Time Sharing and its industrial history with Christine Corday’s Fjorward. Several other professionally and community-curated murals and large paintings now also line the Peekskill streets.

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts (Katonah)

Alongside a whole summer season of outdoor performances and art collections, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts features gardens and open grounds that guests are welcome to stroll during open hours. Guests can visit the center’s landscape gardens and discover sound art installations through the natural settings of the grounds, using natural and human-made sounds to assimilate with the acoustic or historic qualities of its location. Caramoor also features daily indoor docent-led tours of its historic Rosen House to visit during especially cold or rainy weather.

Untermyer Gardens (Yonkers)

Nearing 43-acres of land, the Untermyer Gardens Conservancy allows free admission to its amphitheater, several walking trails, gardens and more. Guests are invited to enjoy unique botanical and architectural features such as ancient Indo-Persian gardens. The Temple of Love is a popular romantic destination looking over the Hudson River and Palisades. Untermyer also hosts several performing arts events throughout the year alongside affordable community events like Meditation and Art Journaling in Nature (9/20) and Family Fun Day (10/5).

Lyndhurst Open Grounds (Tarrytown)

Lyndhurst Mansion, beyond its century-old architecture and landscape, on its open grounds feature 67 acres of perched viewing platforms of the Hudson River, Civil War-era walkways and more. The grounds feature fountains and specialty gardens, with access to the Old Croton Aqueduct State Park trail and the Westchester RiverWalk around the property. Guests can guide themselves on a walking tour with grounds admission, passing through a rock garden, apple orchard and greenhouse on the way. Alongside Classic Mansion tours, Lyndhurst also hosts several outdoor events, including sunset jazz concerts in the summer and its annual Crafts at Lyndhurst festival in the fall.

Just Outside Westchester:

Storm King Art Center (New Windsor)

Storm King Art Center offers a massive 500 acres of modern and contemporary large-scale sculptures and earthworks. Recent permanent exhibitions include Martin Puryear’s multi-circular red brick sculpture, Lookout and Lee Ufan’s stainless steel pole and white gravel art piece Relatum—Horizontal and Vertical.