"The first reader of the document in New York State who lived on the land where SUNY Purchase now stands." That line comes from the Neuberger Museum of Art's announcement for its Declaration of Independence exhibition. It's probably the most local thing on any Harrison calendar this year. The exhibition closes on December 20, and the museum's site says admission is currently free.
That date is one of two that set the end of Purchase's arts season this year. The PepsiCo Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens close first, on November 22. The Neuberger's current temporary exhibitions all close together four weeks later. The Performing Arts Center at Purchase College fills the weeks in between and runs right up to that same final day.
The sculpture garden's last weekend is November 21 and 22
PepsiCo's posted 2026 schedule opens the gardens to the public on weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., March 29 through November 22, plus a short list of holiday Mondays. Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples' Day was the last of those holidays. From here on it's weekends only, and the last one is November 21 and 22.
The schedule can also change without much warning. The gardens closed to the public on the weekends of September 26 and 27 and October 17 and 18 for company events. PepsiCo's sculpture gardens page says the schedule for groups and the general public is "subject to change with little or no notice." So a weekend you're counting on in November could disappear. Check the page the morning you go.
The same page links a pre-registration form and a campus access application and waiver. Look at both before you drive over, since the page sets terms for visitors and adds that no one gets into the office buildings.
The rules are stricter than at a town park, so plan around these:
- No pets, leashed dogs included
- No bicycles, skateboards, scooters, rollerblades or other wheeled or motorized equipment
- No sports or sunbathing
- Don't touch the art or feed the birds and fish
- Stay on the internal paths and respect barriers, flags and fencing
The collection was started in 1965 under Donald M. Kendall, the former PepsiCo chairman and CEO the gardens are named for. Russell Page, the garden designer, shaped the grounds into an arboretum around the art. The works PepsiCo features on its page give you a short route to walk. Arnaldo Pomodoro's "Il Grande Disco" lines up with Alexander Calder's "Hats Off" in the distance. David Wynne's "Grizzly Bear" stands on the lakeshore with Pomodoro's three-piece "Triad" behind it. Henry Moore's "Double Oval" is next to the lake behind the headquarters. In late fall, with the trees bare, more of the grounds are open to view than in July.
Weekends that cover two venues
The garden runs on weekends from 10 to 4. The Neuberger is open Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 5, and the museum's site says admission is "currently FREE for all visitors." Their hours overlap on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, so any open garden weekend before November 22 can include both stops in one outing. You can spend the late morning among the Moore and Calder pieces and the afternoon in the Neuberger galleries.
That works on every remaining garden weekend through November 21 and 22, as long as PepsiCo doesn't close one for an event. After November 22 the museum is the only one of the two still open.
December 20 ends the Neuberger's temporary shows
The Neuberger's exhibitions page lists three temporary shows that all close on December 20, 2026:
- The Declaration Distributed: Westchester County's Holt Broadside of 1776, on view since July 4
- The Guerrilla Girls Complaints Department, on view since July 2
- Guerrilla Girls: Food for Thought, on view since April 1
The only upcoming show it lists is Donna Conlon's Birds, Ants, Trees, and Trash, set for spring 2027 with no exact opening date. The ongoing collection show, Then and Now: Selections from the Collection, stays in the West and South Galleries. December 20 falls on a Sunday, so the last day of all three temporary shows is a regular open day.
The Holt Broadside show is the reason to go before then. In its announcement, the museum explains that 12 of the 13 colonies adopted the Declaration on July 4, 1776, and New York followed on July 9. The state then hired printer and publisher John Holt to typeset its adoption and spread the word. The sheet on display belongs to the Westchester County Archives, and the museum calls it "extremely rare, one of only a handful of sheets left from Holt's print run."
The exhibition covers more than the paper itself. According to the museum, it looks at Holt, the role printing played in the Revolution, where the broadside has been over the past 250 years, and the preservation work meant to keep it around for another 250. It also tells the story of the first person in New York State to read the document, who lived on the land the Purchase campus now occupies. Neuberger Director Tracy Fitzpatrick organized the show, with backing from Westchester County Government and support from the Friends of the Neuberger Museum of Art.
This is the nation's 250th year, and the closest thing Harrison has to an anniversary landmark is a one-page broadside sitting a short way from where its first New York reader lived. It goes back into the archives' care before the year is out.
The two Guerrilla Girls shows close the same day. Of the three, Food for Thought has been up the longest, since April. One older museum announcement still says Food for Thought closed August 2. The current exhibitions page gives December 20 as the closing date.
The PAC fills the weeks after the garden closes
Once the garden is closed, The Performing Arts Center at Purchase College has the fullest calendar in Purchase, and its season runs into the week before Christmas. Unless a listing says otherwise, prices below are the seat ranges posted on the PAC's ticket pages, before fees. Many shows add a $2.50 administrative fee and a sliding-scale processing fee. The PAC isn't taking phone calls while it changes phone providers, and its event pages point buyers online.
The end of October
- October 30, 7:30 p.m. Ballet Hispánico New York performs CARMEN.maquia, $24.25 to $93.
- October 30, 10 p.m. The Rocky Horror Picture Show with Purchase's Poor Choice Picture Show shadow cast. $29 regular and $15 student, with the stated fees already included.
You can do both on the same night.
November, while the garden is still open
- November 7, 7:30 p.m. Black Violin brings The Be Free Tour, with singer-songwriter Jon Muq opening, $21.50 to $93.
- November 14, 7 p.m. The Hip Hop Nutcracker, featuring MC Kurtis Blow, $19.25 to $72.
- November 20 to 22. Purchase Dance Company's Fall Dance Concert, Nov. 20 at 8 p.m., Nov. 21 at 2 and 8 p.m., and Nov. 22 at 3 p.m. The PAC said tickets would go on sale later in the fall.
- November 21, 7:30 p.m. Joshua Redman Quartet, $21.75 to $82.
The last garden weekend coincides with the dance concert and the Redman show. On November 21 or 22 you could visit the garden, the museum and a PAC performance in one day.
December, when the PAC is the main draw
- December 5 and 6. Songs of the Spirit: A Concert for Peace, Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 6 at 3 p.m. The lineup includes Cyril Neville, George Porter Jr., John "Papa" Gros, Emeline Michel, Amir ElSaffar and SUNY Purchase students, $19.25 to $77. The Holiday Village & Craft Fair runs alongside it both days from noon to 8 p.m.
- December 13, 3 p.m. Westchester Philharmonic, Inspiration Point, $27 to $49.
- December 19 and 20. The Rob Mathes Holiday Concert, Dec. 19 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 20 at 3 p.m., $31.50 to $105.50.
The Sunday matinee of the Rob Mathes concert is on December 20, the same day the Holt Broadside and both Guerrilla Girls shows close at the Neuberger. Since the museum opens at noon, you could see the broadside on its last day and still make the 3 p.m. holiday concert.
If you're in Purchase or West Harrison and want to talk through your own plans for next year, whether that's staying, selling or moving somewhere else in Westchester, Chris Tulotta knows this part of Harrison and will give you a straight answer. Let's Connect.
