Sculpture Park at Omi International Arts Center | Ghent, NY

Last year, we went to the renowned Storm King Art Center down in Orange County; this year we’re exploring more of our new home, Columbia County. In the nearby town of Ghent is The Fields Sculpture Park at Omi International Arts Center, which contains dozens of large-scale works from modern artists, on over 100 acres of fields and woodlands.

Many of these works are impressive by virtue of their size, others by the messages they convey. Some, like the top photo, appear to defy gravity. It’s fascinating to see how these artists work with various materials to produce something meaningful and how each piece contrasts or fits with the natural surroundings.

We visited The Fields with Juno on a cold but mostly snow-less day in January, and then Andy went back during a snowstorm for some more interesting shots. It’s fun to compare his before-and-after photos.

Below, a steel piece by Alexandre Arrechea entitled Helmsley (based on the NYC building of the same name):

I didn’t even notice that it was a building until I researched the artist later!

Juno and I on Chaise Gabion by Celeste Roberge:

Haresh Lalvani creates aesthetically stunning sculptures derived from natural designs, generative principles and mathematical codes. His  X-Pod 138 and X-Tower are both made of stainless steel:

Nice view from inside the tower:

Jackie Ferrara’s wooden Ribbed Dome:

The next two sculptures are my favorites. It’s rare that I immediately identify with a piece of art, but as soon as I saw Alison Saar’s Summer and Winter, I said “Yup, that’s me!”.

And in the snow:

Some rather large heads by artist Philip Grausman:

Another (more snowy) perspective on the topmost photo, Forrest Myers’ Valledor, linked metal cubes:

A commonly photographed piece:

Me, on my first trip to Omi International Arts Center (yes, I shaved my head on purpose):

Everyone’s favorite place for selfies is Margaret Evangeline’s Gunshot Landscape, mirror-polished double-sided stainless steel suspended by aircraft cable in the middle of the woods. Here are some more fun then-and-now shots! Andy and I, one month into dating in July 2007:

And they seem to have raised the mirror, so we aren’t as close, but here we are in January 2012:

And January 2015!

Returning to The Fields Sculpture Park over a period of years is intriguing: seeing new exhibits, visiting old favorites, and the passing of seasons adds a whole other element to appreciating this unique open-air museum.

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The nitty gritty: The Fields Sculpture Park and Architecture OMI are free and open year round during daylight hours. It is located on County Route 22 in Ghent, NY, half an hour southeast of Albany and two and a half hours north of NYC. The park is pet and kid friendly, and requires a lot of walking (plan for at least an hour). In the summer, bicycles are available for use on designated paths and in the winter, cross-country skiing is another free option.