The Beat #6: Storm King, Frisbee, Agua Fresca, Serge Mouille Lighting

Illustrations by Greg Chinn at The Local Brand Co.

Storm King

The holy grail for lovers of land art, monumental art, and plain old big sculpture, the Storm King Art Center in New York’s Hudson Valley has captured our imagination for years. Founded in 1960, this 500-acre outdoor museum is home to works by Isamu Noguchi, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Richard Serra, Andy Goldsworthy, Alexander Calder and scores of notable artists. An hour’s drive from Manhattan, it’s a slice of art heaven in the Hudson Valley.

Wham-O Frisbee

It’s hard to imagine a time before the Frisbee existed. The ubiquitous plastic disc has been a part of American summers since 1957, when Wham-O released it as the “Pluto Platter,” hoping to cash in on the UFO craze of the late ’50s. In ’58, the company changed it to Frisbee to honor the originator, William Frisbie, who unintentionally invented the toy when university students turned the pie tins from his popular Frisbie Pie Company into flying toys, shouting “Frisbie!” as they threw them.

Agua Fresca

From fruit to rice to flowers, there’s an agua fresca that will perfect your summer experience. This seemingly infinite variety of fresh water drinks originated in Central America and Mexico (although horchata can be traced back ancient North Africa) and has grown increasingly popular internationally in recent years. The best agua fresca is made from scratch, and the best flavor is up to your taste. We love peach, tamarind, hibiscus, guava, mango and horchata — which is worthy of its own separate entry. Sweet or tart, creamy or bright, it’s sure to perk you up on a hot day.

Serge Mouille Lighting

In 1935, when 13-year-old Serge Mouille disappointed his parents by enrolling in the School of Applied Arts’ silver workshop, none of them could imagine what the future held. By 1956, Mouille’s elegant lamps and light fixtures were displayed alongside work by Noguchi, Perriand and others in Steph Simons’ Paris design gallery. Their popularity soared to the point that actor Henry Fonda showed up on Mouille’s doorstep, demanding a custom lamp (which he eventually got). After a battle with tuberculosis and turning to teaching, Mouille stopped making his fixtures — which were never mass produced — in 1961. Coveted today, they embody the values and aesthetics of modern design.