Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens facts for kids

The Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens is an amazing outdoor art collection located at the PepsiCo company headquarters in Purchase, New York. It features 45 sculptures by famous modern artists like Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore, and Alexander Calder.

This special collection also includes art by Henri Laurens, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Richard Erdman, Jean Dubuffet, and Claes Oldenburg. The "gardens" are mostly like a big park with green lawns, tall trees, peaceful ponds, and splashing fountains. There are also carefully designed gardens with shaped bushes (topiary), neat hedges, colorful flower beds, and ponds filled with water lilies.

The sculptures are meant to fit perfectly within the 168 acres (0.68 km²) of beautiful landscape. The gardens were designed with the sculptures in mind. Donald M. Kendall, who started the gardens and used to lead PepsiCo, wanted this place to show "stability, creativity, and experimentation." He believed it would reflect his vision for the company. Even after he stopped being the company leader, Mr. Kendall stayed involved with the art and gardens.

Exploring the Sculpture Gardens

The PepsiCo headquarters is a huge, three-story building in the middle of the site. It's surrounded by bushes, large lawns, and streams on both sides. There are also many gardens and ponds. The parking areas are hidden behind trees, mostly on the east side.

From above, the main building looks like seven squares connected at their corners, forming a cross shape. In the center of this cross is a courtyard. At the front of the building, a long driveway leads up to the entrance. Here, the PepsiCo flag flies next to the United States flag. A grassy area with rows of trees stretches into the open part of the courtyard. At its center, a large fountain features David Wynne's sculpture, "Girl with a Dolphin." The other parts of the courtyard have sunken gardens with trees, bushes, and small ponds, along with smaller sculptures. Around the building, you can see many large sculptures and beautiful gardens.

The huge lawn on the south side lets you see the entire building and its impressive height. This view is different from the north (entrance) side, where trees and flatter ground make the building seem less tall.

Visiting the Gardens

The sculpture garden is open to everyone! There's a visitor's booth open during spring and summer. If it's closed, you can get a map from a security guard at the headquarters entrance. It's free to enter, and parking is also free.

As of July 2025, the sculpture garden is open on weekends from March 30 to November 16, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It's also open on some holidays like Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, and Indigenous People's Day.

You can get there by taking Metro-North trains to White Plains or Rye stations, then taking a taxi. The No. 12 bus from the White Plains train station also stops at the headquarters.

Right across the street from PepsiCo, at Purchase College, you can find even more modern art at the Neuberger Museum of Art.

Famous Sculptures You Can See

The sculpture gardens are home to 45 amazing artworks. Here are some of them:

• 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 created because Donald M. Kendall wanted it. He was the CEO of PepsiCo when the company moved from Manhattan to this 168 acres (0.68 km²) site in Purchase in 1970. Mr. Kendall wanted to create a "museum without walls" where employees and the public could enjoy art. He personally chose the sculptures. When the new site officially opened on October 2, 1970, Kendall said he wanted to create "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., whose father designed the headquarters building. He had about 6,000 trees and thousands of flowering bulbs planted. At first, there were only eight artworks. Employees loved the idea so much that Kendall decided to add more. He continued to oversee the collection even after he stepped down as CEO.

From 1981 to 1985, landscape designer Russell Page redesigned the gardens to make them fit better with the sculptures. He added cozy gardens and walking paths. Since 1985, another landscape designer, Francois Goffinet, has been in charge of developing the gardens.

The sculpture garden was closed for updates and improvements from 2012 to 2017.

Caring for the Art

Keeping the sculptures in good condition is a big job! An employee checks the sculptures every week, driving around in a golf cart with tools like brooms, brushes, and a ladder. Nature and pollution can be tough on the artwork. For example, birds sometimes build nests in a sculpture by Louise Nevelson. Chipmunks like to explore the hidden spaces of Judith Brown's "Caryatid," which is made from welded steel car parts.

Once, carpenter bees started chewing into Robert Davidson's "Totems," a 45-foot (14 m) tall wooden sculpture. Cleaning off bird droppings is a constant task. The large "Grizzly Bear" statue by David Wynne can even be harmed by temperature changes. The conservator (someone who takes care of art) said that when the sun hits the black rock, it can get very hot, then cool down a lot at night. This extreme change puts stress on the stone.

In 1991, the maintenance staff wrote weekly reports on each sculpture, noting any damage they found.

South end of the gardens looking north at PepsiCo world headquarters. You can see part of Alexander Calder's red "Hats Off" and, in the distance, David Wynne's "Grizzly Bear" (on the left).