Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Pasties are an Upper Michigan tradition dating back to mining days.
Lehto’s Pasties
Courtyard temple only entrance via cave
Tasik Cermin (Mirror Lake) Geopark
Clyfford Still Museum
The memorial just outside the city wall.
Pilgrim Fathers Memorial
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States New York State New York City Woodstock Woodstock School of Art Sculpture Garden

Woodstock School of Art Sculpture Garden

A peaceful international sculpture garden in upstate New York.

Woodstock, New York

Added By
Aaron Netsky
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
  yekaterina728 / Atlas Obscura User
Stone Cold Bed and Birth by Colm Folan   AaronNetsky / Atlas Obscura User
The path into the woods.   AaronNetsky / Atlas Obscura User
A tree and a sculpture.   AaronNetsky / Atlas Obscura User
Stone Cold Bed by Colm Folan   AaronNetsky / Atlas Obscura User
Dragon’s Tail by Colm Folan   AaronNetsky / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

While the town is famous for being the namesake of a legendary music festival that took place sixty miles away, Woodstock, New York is more associated with the visual arts, historically and in the present day. In the nearly 40 acres of woods behind the Woodstock School of Art is a beautiful sculpture garden created by an international team of artists.

The recently renovated buildings that the Woodstock School of Art has called home since 1981 were originally built in 1939 as part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. They were constructed from timber and local Woodstock bluestone, the same stone used for the creations in the woods that border the school, and until 1979 the buildings housed the Woodstock branch of the Art Students League of New York.

In 1996, Pascal Meccariello, from the Dominican Republic, Alan Counihan, and Colm Folan, from Ireland, and husband and wife Hideaki and Eiko Suzuki, from Japan, were part of the Woodstock School of Art Sculpture Residency. They each picked various sites in the woods behind the school and created beautifully intricate sculptures, mostly of stacked bluestone, reminiscent of walls, huts, arches, and towers. As they looked for spaces in which to work, the artists helped discover little waterfalls in the woods that the people who worked at the school had not been aware of.

For some, working with the bluestone was very different than what they were used to, and a few of them made use of other materials, natural and manufactured, from leaves to metal, and even the stream and waterfalls. To walk through and sit among the sculptures and the trees is a peaceful experience, and looking up and to the north, one sees another wonder of Woodstock, Overlook Mountain.

The trail is intended for student and instructor only to use as an outdoor classroom.

Related Tags

Sculpture Gardens Art Sculptures

Know Before You Go

From the Woodstock Village Green head east on Route 212/Mill Hill Road for 1.4 miles, the school will be on your left. The sculpture park entrance is marked with a sign behind the parking lot to the right of the main school building. The sculptures are not clearly marked.

While in Woodstock, climb Overlook Mountain, shop and eat in the Village Green, and check out the many little waterfalls. There is usually an exhibit at one of the galleries in town, so take in some art. There may be musicians in the Green, so take in some music.

Community Contributors

Added By

AaronNetsky

Edited By

Blindcolour, rosetatarsky, ninadoyle171, yekaterina728...

  • Blindcolour
  • rosetatarsky
  • ninadoyle171
  • yekaterina728
  • beccaglatz

Published

September 1, 2016

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9ePL5bfV3s
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Students_League_of_New_York#Other_facilities
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodstock,_New_York
  • http://www.davidoffartinitiative.com/artists/pascal-meccariello
  • http://www.sculptureinthewild.com/alan-counihan.html
  • https://www.artsy.net/artist/hideaki-suzuki
  • http://woodstockschoolofart.org/about/who-we-are/
Woodstock School of Art Sculpture Garden
2470 NY-212
Woodstock, New York
United States
42.042497, -74.091257
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Woodstock Artists Cemetery

Woodstock, New York

miles away

Overlook Mountain House Ruins

Woodstock, New York

miles away

Opus 40

Saugerties, New York

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Woodstock

Woodstock

New York

Places 3
Stories 1

Nearby Places

Woodstock Artists Cemetery

Woodstock, New York

miles away

Overlook Mountain House Ruins

Woodstock, New York

miles away

Opus 40

Saugerties, New York

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Woodstock

Woodstock

New York

Places 3
Stories 1

Related Places

  • Other iconic sculptures include a stylized revisitation of the Greek myth of Leda and the Swan by Colombian sculptor Fernando Bottero.

    Orlando, Florida

    Lake Nona Sculpture Garden

    A public, open-air art exhibit featuring world-renowned sculptures hides in plain sight on the outskirts of Orlando.

  • The Awakening by Lorri Acott, one of the nearly 100 pieces on display.

    Little Rock, Arkansas

    Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden

    Art blooms at this unique outdoor gallery along the banks of the Arkansas River.

  • Knislinge, Sweden

    'Fideicommissum'

    A bronze, peeing self-portrait protests unequal inheritance rights.

  • The majestic, moss-hung oasis of Brookgreen Gardens’ Live Oak Allée.

    Murrells Inlet, South Carolina

    Live Oak Allée at Brookgreen Gardens

    Take a stroll through this centuries-old tunnel of enormous moss-hung evergreens, nestled among the grounds of America’s first public sculpture garden.

  • Yermo, California

    Liberty Sculpture Park

    A collection of anti-communist sculptures stands watch in the Mojave Desert.

  • Portugal

    Bacalhôa Buddha Eden

    Explore a remarkable 35-hectare sculpture garden located an hour outside of Lisbon.

  • Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    'The Constellation'

    This massive piece of artwork weighs more than 250 tons, and was designed as a tribute to the first president of the United Arab Emirates.

  • Sprawling cast of wooden figures across a 90-acre estate.

    Cushing, Maine

    Langlais Sculpture Preserve

    A nature and outdoor art preserve features the large-scale, abstract works of a renowned Maine folk artist.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.