Wave Hill Mural (detail) by Maira Kalman

The Perkins Visitor Center—Wave Hill's most significant capital project in more than two decades—opened July 2004. Designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, the centrally located Perkins Visitor Center welcomes arriving visitors with interpretive information, provides additional restrooms built in compliance with the American with Disabilities Act and houses an expanded Wave Hill Shop. Pentagram Design planned the interior exhibit space, as well as institutional signage and identity.

A highlight of the Center is a mural by artist, designer and author Maira Kalman. In this commission for permanent display, Maira captures the essence of Wave Hill with humor and inventiveness, "I'd like visitors to feel romantic, curious, inspired, expressive, actively engaged in the beautiful gardens." A resident of Riverdale from age 5 to 17, Maira's creative process began with "trips to Wave Hill through all the seasons to photograph, sketch, interview, go through archives, stumble about and observe." Her wide-ranging influences include a tour with Director of Horticulture Scott Canning; the Family Art Project's Pollinators Parade, an excursion to the gardens at Sissinghurst and a month traveling in India. Maira Kalman's work includes 12 books for children and adults, stage designs in collaboration with choreographer Mark Morris; fabric designs for Kate Spade and Isaac Mizrahi; the book (un)Fashion, co-written with her late husband, designer Tibor Kalman; and numerous illustrations for magazines including The New York Times and The New Yorker.

The Perkins Visitor Center is named to honor George W. Perkins and the enduring support of his family through three generations. Beginning in 1895, Mr. Perkins had the foresight to conserve property along the Hudson River, including what is now Wave Hill, while helping to preserve the magnificent Palisades. Wave Hill proudly dedicates this new building to the Perkins family, whose extraordinary contribution of their Bronx estate to the City of New York in 1960 laid the foundation for the public garden and cultural institution we now enjoy.

The team from Robert A.M. Stern Architects was led by Robert Stern, lead designer; Gary Brewer, Project Architect and Associate Partner; and Julie Nymann, Project Manager. Capital funding and administration was provided by the City's Department of Cultural Affairs and the Department of Design and Construction. Bovis Lend Lease oversaw daily construction activity. The Visitor Center design team also included Michael Beirut, Tracey Cameron and Tamara McKenna of Pentagram Design, the firm that designed the interior exhibit space, as well as new institutional signage and identity.

Wave Hill expresses gratitude to the underwriters of the Perkins Visitor Center, especially the City of New York, George W. Perkins, Jr. and Penelope P. Wilson. Generous support was also received from the Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation, Booth Ferris Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Barker Welfare Foundation, Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, The Hagedorn Fund, Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust, The Zipp Family Foundation and an anonymous donor.