Dia Beacon is the museum for the

Dia Art Foundation Dia Art Foundation is a nonprofit organization that initiates, supports, presents, and preserves art projects. It was established in 1974 by Philippa de Menil, the daughter of Houston arts patron Dominique de Menil and an heiress to the Schlumbe ...

's collection of art from the 1960s to the present and is one of the 12 locations and sites they manage. The museum, which opened in 2003, is situated near the banks of the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

Beacon, New York Beacon is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city located on the Hudson River in Dutchess County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population was 13,769. Beacon is part of the Kiryas ...

. Dia Beacon's facility, the Riggio Galleries, is a former

Nabisco Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco' ...

box-printing facility that was renovated by Dia with artist Robert Irwin and architects Alan Koch, Lyn Rice, Galia Solomonoff, and Linda Taalman, then of OpenOffice. Along with Dia's permanent collection, Dia Beacon also presents temporary exhibitions, as well as public programs designed to complement the collection and exhibitions, including monthly Gallery Talks,

Merce Cunningham Dance Company Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...

Events, Community Free Days for neighboring counties, and an education program that serves area students at all levels. With , it is one of the

largest Large means of great size. Large may also refer to: Mathematics * Arbitrarily large, a phrase in mathematics * Large cardinal, a property of certain transfinite numbers * Large category, a category with a proper class of objects and morphisms (or ...

exhibition spaces in the country for modern and contemporary art.

Overview

Dia pioneered the conversion of industrial buildings for the installation of contemporary art, a practice and aesthetic now widely adopted by museums and galleries internationally. Dia's most recent conversion, its museum in Beacon, is located in a former printing plant built in 1929 by

(National Biscuit Company). The museum is sited on thirty-one acres near the banks of the

, and is adjacent to ninety acres of riverfront parkland. It is a five-minute walk from the Metro-North train station in Beacon, 60 miles (80 minutes by train) north of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Dia Beacon's expansive spaces are well suited to the needs of large-scale installations, paintings, and sculptures. In keeping with Dia's history of single-artist, site-related presentations, each gallery was designed specifically for the art it contains. This includes

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

's 1978–79 multipart work ''Shadows'', displayed in a single installation measuring approximately 350 linear feet; selections from

Dan Flavin Dan Flavin (April 1, 1933 – November 29, 1996) was an American minimalist artist famous for creating sculptural objects and installations from commercially available fluorescent light fixtures. Early life and career Daniel Nicholas Flavi ...

's series of fluorescent light ''Monuments to V. Tatlin'' (1964–81);

Richard Serra Richard Serra (November 2, 1938 – March 26, 2024) was an American artist known for his large-scale Abstract art, abstract sculptures made for Site-specific art, site-specific landscape, urban, and Architecture, architectural settings, a ...

's monumental steel sculptures, ''Torqued Ellipses''; and

Michael Heizer Michael Heizer (born 1944) is an American land artist specializing in large-scale and site-specific sculptures. Working largely outside the confines of the traditional art spaces of galleries and museums, Heizer has redefined sculpture in term ...

's ''North, East, South, West'' (1967/2002). The ideal viewing conditions created by reflected north light from more than of skylights are especially evident in the galleries devoted to the paintings of

On Kawara was a Japanese conceptual artist who lived in SoHo, New York City, from 1965 until his death. He took part in many solo and group Art exhibition, exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale in 1976. Early life Kawara was born in Kariya, Japan on ...

Agnes Martin Agnes Bernice Martin (March 22, 1912 – December 16, 2004) was an American abstract painter known for her minimalist style and abstract expressionism. Born in Canada, she moved to the United States in 1931, where she pursued higher education ...

Blinky Palermo Blinky Palermo, artistic name of ''Peter Schwarze'' (2 June 1943 - 18 February 1977), was a German abstract painter. He was inspired by painters like Kazimir Malevich, Barnett Newman and Ellsworth Kelly. Life and career Palermo was born Peter ...

, and Robert Ryman. Dia collaborated with American artist Robert Irwin and architect OpenOffice to formulate the plan for the museum building and its exterior setting. The grounds include an entrance court and parking lot with a grove of flowering fruit trees and a formal garden, both of which were designed by Irwin. The adjacent Long Dock Park on the Hudson River has a site-specific work by environmental sculptor

George Trakas George Trakas is a sculptor who was born in Quebec City in 1944 and has lived in New York City since 1963. Many of his projects are site-specific art, site-specific installations, and he describes himself as an environmental sculpture, environment ...

. ;Gallery File:Diabeacon entrance 2006.jpg, Entrance File:Dia Beacon 02.JPG, Interior hallway File:Dia Beacon 12.JPG, Cafe File:Dia Beacon 16.JPG, Bookshop File:Dia Beacon 24.JPG, West garden

References

External links

*
Dia Art Foundation
{{authority control Industrial buildings completed in 1929 National Register of Historic Places in Dutchess County, New York Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Beacon, New York Art museums and galleries in New York (state) Contemporary art galleries in the United States Museums in Dutchess County, New York Art museums and galleries established in 2003 2003 establishments in New York (state)

Overview

See also

References

External links