This weekend New York celebrated Independence Day. July 4th holiday seemed like a perfect opportunity to go on a little weekend away out of the city. Unfortunately most New Yorkers had had the same idea and booked ahead of the day before when we had tried to, so instead we settled for a day trip to Dia: Becon.

Dia Art Foundation first opened Dia:Beacon, Riggio Galleries in 2003 on the Hudson River in Beacon, New York. The amazing space is nearly 300,000 square foot and was once a historic printing factory and was built to house a renowned permanent collection of major works from the 1960s to the present.

The journey took about an hour on the train from Grand Central station which is one of my favorite spaces in New York. The train ride felt almost like we were on a boat with the serene river following the tracks.

On the walk from the station to the gallery we passed raspberry bushes which we picked and ate as we walked along, a very nice introduction to Beacon. 

The gallery had some incredible works on display and the spaciousness and natural light of the building provided a grand experience in which to experience the work. What struck me was the way the works perfectly fitted within their environment in the gallery, works such as Sol LeWitt: Drawing Series... was beautifully drawn directly onto the walls, or Imi Knoebel: 24 Colors—for Blinky whose colored shapes where reflected onto the shiny wooden floor. Of course some of the works on long term view where site specific such as Michael Heizer's North, East, South, West, 1967/2002.

So many of the works touched me but my favorite piece was Robert Smithson, Gravel Mirrors with Cracks and Dust, 1968. (unfortunately I wasn't able to acquire many pictures of this) It was one of those moments like seeing the magic of fireflies at dusk in Thompson Square Park recently, I felt so grateful to be in its presence.