The Dia: Beacon

The economic crisis in New York City has hit hard. Things aren’t all dim, however. Instead of stressing out, New Yorkers should appreciate things that are located right in their back yard; take less vacations and more stay-cations.

Last weekend I took a road trip on a beautiful windy summer afternoon to The Hudson River in Beacon, New York to visit the Dia: Beacon, a contemporary art museum that is filled with goodness, beauty, and light. The first thing that hits a city dweller when you enter the 240,000 square foot open space (an old Nabisco factory) is, ‘Wow, imagine if you had this as your apartment back in New York City?’ There is something that feels so tranquil and airy inside, not to mention it houses some of the most amazing contemporary art pieces in the world. On one side of the museum, the windows face the Hudson and as you walk through the galleries (each devoted to an artist) you almost become lost in a world of art. In these situations, I never use a map because half the fun is not knowing where you are and what room you will enter next like when we turned the corner and entered the Andy Warhol gallery. Dumbfounded, we stood surrounded by 72 of his extraordinary paintings entitled Shadows that hung side by side around the whole room.

What I really appreciated about the Dia: Beacon is that the definition of art was really challenged by a lot of the pieces. While roaming around, we stumbled into a room filled with wooden boxes and look at each other and whisper, ‘Wait, is this an instillation or is this space under construction?’ It turned out we were fooled and this particular art piece was by the artist Donald Judd. Standing surrounded by these boxes all we could do is shake our heads smiling remarking how brilliant it is. Although they discourage photos, we were able to grab a couple of snaps here and there.

One of the most outstanding sculptures are Richard Serra’s Torqued Eillipses. These massive steel pieces invite the viewer to walk inside them. Being the only one in this gallery at the time we had fun testing the acoustics - clapping high and clapping low to see how it sounded.

My favorite of all the artists were John Chamberlain who sculpted with crushed automobile parts painted gorgeous bright hues welded and torqued together. His piece entitled Privet is 62 feet long and 12 feet tall is a wall of painted steel and chrome.

After our art escapade, we browsed through all the bookstore flipping purchasing postcards and books of the artists that we discovered at the museum. As we were ‘shooed’ off the museums quarters, we relished at this little piece of art heaven in Beacon. The Dia is a great excuse to travel outside the city for both New Yorkers and visitors. For those without a car, it is conveniently located steps away from the Hudson Valley MTA railway station.

The Dia: Beacon, 3 Beekman Street, Beacon, NY 12508. + (845) 440-0100; http://www.diaart.org/