Storm King’s Summer Solstice Celebration Was Sun-Soaked and Art-Filled

Storm King Summer Solstice

When summer parties are predictably held on rooftops and waterfronts, Storm King Art Center upped the ante with its annual summer solstice celebration. On the second-longest day of the year, the upstate museum welcomed guests to its rolling acres, inviting them to socialize against green hills and beneath hulking sculptures. Along with a set of mesmerizing performances, attendees like Lolita Cros, JiaJia Fei, and co-chairs Alex Gilbert and Patrick Parrish were treated to sips of Hudson Whiskey and hors d’oeuvres like pea tartlets and oysters.

At pre-dinner cocktails, set around artist Jean Shin’s Allée Gathering maple picnic table, the creative bent of the crowd was evident: the field was full of varied pleats and prints. Ballerina Eva Alt performed barefoot on the grass to music by violinist Margot before running into the reeds. Guests then meandered to the banquet-style dinner tables, set in the shadow of Mark di Suvero’s interactive steel sculpture, She.

The meal was inspired by the artists of Storm King, whose works led chef Shelley Boris and her fellow menu mastermind Gail Simmons to mood-words like “heritage, heirloom, family, and tradition.” That meant tapping into personal history, as well as drawing on Hudson Valley farmers. Wild hive polenta was made with locally produced honey, and the dessert—a Quebecois chomeur pudding—drew on Simmons’ Canadian upbringing.

As activist orchestra The Dream Unfinished played, cups of coffee were cradled, and the sun finally disappeared, summer—and the curious, communal energy that accompanies it—felt like it had officially arrived.

Originally Appeared on Vogue