Riker Hill Art Park

The Art Park provides studio space for working artists in various medias including painting, ceramics, glass blowing, woodworking, and sculpture.

[1][2] Dinosaurs and Colonial Squatters Riker Hill, in western Essex County, has a history rich with Mesozoic monsters, colonial-era witchcraft, and 20th century defense.

The United States Army's Nike Air Defense System comprised a chain of anti-aircraft missile sites encircling major US cities, intended to intercept Soviet transcontinental nuclear bomber aircraft.

Riker Hill's elevation, one of the highest in the county, provided the optimal location for one of the project's radar installations with a clear line of sight for the defense of the New York Metro area.

Dubbed "Control Area, Nike Battery NY-80," the radar station was responsible, in the event of an air attack, for tracking enemy aircraft and transmitting guidance information to missiles after launch.

A tremendous amount of resourceful work would need to be undertaken to transform the barren and ascetic facility built for destructive war into a lively place of creative expression.

In the first three years five outdoor sculptures were donated to Riker Hill ("Urban Bones," "Graceful Stones," 'Creation," "Colored Landscape," "Bicycle Flute"), giving it a true art park atmosphere.

By the mid-1990s Riker Hill was a fully functioning and comprehensive art facility featuring 35 studios including glass blowing, clay, photography, jewelry, weaving, steel sculpting, painting, and woodworking.