Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens facts for kids

South end of the gardens looking north at PepsiCo world headquarters, past the expanse of the south lawn. You can see part of Alexander Calder's red "Hats Off" and, far away, David Wynne's "Grizzly Bear".

The Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens is a cool outdoor art collection. It has 45 sculptures spread out at the PepsiCo main office in Purchase, New York. You can see amazing works by famous artists like Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, and Alberto Giacometti.

This collection also features art from other important 20th-century artists such as Henri Laurens, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Richard Erdman, Jean Dubuffet, and Claes Oldenburg. The "gardens" are mostly like a big park. They have green lawns, tall trees, calm ponds, and pretty fountains. There are also special landscaped areas with shaped hedges, colorful flower beds, and ponds with water lilies.

Donald M. Kendall, who started these gardens and used to lead PepsiCo, wanted the sculptures to fit perfectly with the landscape. He believed the art would help show the company's spirit of "stability, creativity and experimentation." The gardens cover about 168 acres (0.68 km²) of carefully looked-after land.

Exploring the Sculpture Gardens

The PepsiCo headquarters building is huge and sits in the middle of the gardens. It's surrounded by big lawns, streams, and many different types of gardens. The building itself looks like seven squares connected together, forming a cross shape when seen from above.

When you arrive, a long driveway leads to the building. You'll see the PepsiCo flag and the United States flag flying together. In the center of the building's courtyard, there's a large fountain with a sculpture called "Girl with a Dolphin" by David Wynne. All around the main building, you'll find large sculptures and smaller, peaceful gardens with ponds. The wide-open south lawn lets you see how big the headquarters building really is.

Visiting the Gardens

The sculpture garden is open to everyone! There's no charge to get in, and parking is free. A visitor's booth is open in the spring and summer. If it's closed, you can get a map from a security guard at the main entrance.

The gardens are usually open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. from April to October. From November to March, they are open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can take a Metro-North train to White Plains or Rye and then take a taxi. Bus number 12 from the White Plains train station also stops at the headquarters.

Right across the street from PepsiCo, you can find even more modern art at the Neuberger Museum of Art. It's located on the campus of Purchase College.

Artworks You Can See

The sculpture gardens are home to 45 amazing artworks. Here are some of the artists and their sculptures:

• Judith Brown, "Caryatids"
• Alexander Calder, "Hats Off"
• William Crovello, "Katana"
• Robert Davidson:
  • "Frog"
  • "Totems"
• Jean Dubuffet, "Kiosque l'evide"
• Richard Erdman, "Passage"
• Max Ernst, "Capricorn"
• Alberto Giacometti:
  • "Large Standing Woman II"
  • "Large Standing Woman III"
• Gideon Graetz, "Composition in Stainless Steel No. 1"
• Barbara Hepworth:
  • "Meridian"
  • "The Family of Man"
• Henri Laurens
  • "Le Matin"
  • "Les Ondines"
• Jacques Lipchitz, "Towards a New World"
• Seymour Lipton:
  • "The Codex"
  • "The Wheel"
• Aristide Maillol, "Marie"
• Marino Marini, "Horse and Rider"
• Joan Miró, "Personnage"
• Henry Moore:
  • "Double Oval"
  • "Locking Piece"
  • "Reclining Figure"
  • "Sheep Piece"
• Louise Nevelson, "Celebration II"
• Isamu Noguchi, "Energy Void"
• Claes Oldenburg, "Giant Trowel II"
• Arnaldo Pomodoro
  • "Grande Disco"
  • "Triad"
• Art Price, "Birds of Welcome"
• Bret Price, "Big Scoop"
• George Rickey, "Double L Excentric Gyratory II"
• Auguste Rodin, "Eve"
• Victor Salmones, "The Search"
• George Segal, "Three People on Four Benches"
• Asmundur Sveinsson, "Through the Sound Barrier"
• David Smith, "Cube Totem Seven and Six"
• Tony Smith, "Duck"
• Kenneth Snelson, "Mozart I"
• Wendy Taylor, "Jester"
• David Wynne:
  • "Dancer with a Bird"
  • "Girl on a Horse"
  • "Grizzly Bear"
  • "The Dancers"
  • "Girl with a Dolphin"

History of the Gardens

The sculpture garden was started by Donald M. Kendall. He was the CEO of PepsiCo when the company moved its main office from Manhattan to Purchase in 1970. Kendall wanted to create a "museum without walls" where employees and the public could enjoy art. He personally chose the sculptures for the collection. When the new site opened on October 2, 1970, Kendall said he wanted it to be "one of the greatest modern sculpture exhibits in the world."

The first landscape design was done in the late 1960s by E. D. Stone Jr.. He planted about 6,000 trees and thousands of flowers. At first, there were only eight artworks. But everyone loved the idea so much that Kendall decided to add more. He continued to oversee the collection even after he stopped being CEO.

Later, from 1981 to 1985, a landscape designer named Russell Page made changes to the gardens. He wanted them to blend even better with the sculptures. Since 1985, another designer, Francois Goffinet, has been in charge of developing the gardens. The sculpture garden was closed for updates from 2012 to 2017.

Caring for the Art

Taking care of outdoor sculptures is a big job! Staff regularly check the artworks for any damage. Things like birds nesting in sculptures or chipmunks exploring them can be a challenge. Even carpenter bees tried to chew into one of the wooden "Totems" sculptures!

Weather can also affect the art. For example, the "Grizzly Bear" sculpture faces big temperature changes. The sun can heat the black rock to 120 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, and then it can drop to 40 degrees at night. This constant change puts a lot of stress on the stone. Water gets absorbed and then pushed out, which can cause problems over time. The maintenance team writes weekly reports on each sculpture to make sure they stay in good condition.