Visitors Center at the Art Omi Pavilions

The Pavilions at Art Omi provide a venue for 12–16 distinguished artists and collectors to create permanent, standalone exhibitions of their work in settings they control and help design. Situated on a hillside spanning approximately 190 acres near Chatham, New York, the Pavilions are part of a regional art route that includes Storm King, Dia, Art Omi in Ghent, The Clark, and MASS MoCA.

Anchoring the Pavilion experience, the Visitors Center welcomes art lovers, provides workspace for staff, and supports Art Omi’s ongoing art education initiatives. The 5,700-square-foot building includes a café, gallery, offices, and education center. Its distinctive overhanging roof shelters a flexible outdoor terrace for public events and informal gatherings, with expansive western views of the Catskill Mountains.

Conceived as a gateway to the path linking the artists’ pavilions, the building frames views and reinforces the site’s linear ridge, heightening awareness of the natural setting and inviting visitors to explore further. Its materials are sustainable, elemental, and contextually resonant. A timber structure brings warmth to the interior and evokes the surrounding forest, while zinc standing-seam cladding echoes the tonality of the shale substrate that surfaces the walking path. Together, the building and the broader project bring art, architecture, and landscape together for public benefit.