I've lived here for 18 years. I never knew about the Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Garden on PepsiCo's world headquarters campus, until last week. The other day, I paid it a visit. (Click the image of the brochure for the map of the grounds.)
What a lovely place, and how lucky those who work there are to have such a thing right outside their office buildings! Thirty-five 20th-century sculptures ring the building, and ten smaller ones reside in the central courtyard. The campus is landscaped with ponds, streams, fountains, trees, grasses, and lilies, and the courtyard's art is mixed with shrubs, small trees, and pools.
And the artwork is wonderful! These are not insignificant pieces by unknown artists or the CEO's nephew. The list is a "who's who" of 20th-century sculptors: Alberto Giacometti, Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, Claes Oldenberg, Max Ernst, Jean Dubuffet, Joan Miró, and Auguste Rodin, to name a few. And the landscaping is as much a work of art as the sculpture is. There's a copse of trees that looks like it should have a horse and rider interleaved in it, as in Magritte's painting "Le Blanc-Seing". It doesn't get much better than this, and it's free for anyone who wants to wander. One needn't so much as buy a Pepsi to see it.
Ah, if I worked there I'd be taking that walk every day at lunch, or in the morning before work. As it is, I'll be back for many more visits.
1 comment:
Barry, that's a very nice post. I was PepsiCo's manager of the Purchase facility in the 1980's, and the sculpture garden and the landscaping all came under my budget. I got to walk there every day - - - as my job! I am now an engineering consultant in my own company, and I miss the Garden. Glad that it is still wonderful!
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