Art, Ecology, and Olana’s Native Forest

October 19, 2022

During this virtual webinar, Sean Sawyer, President of The Olana Partnership will discuss how Frederic Church engaged with the emerging field of ecology in the 19th century. By following in Alexander von Humboldt’s footsteps in his meteoric rise as the country’s most celebrated landscape painter and then in his four decade-long development of Olana, Church immersed himself in “landscape architecturing” to speak to the history of the land and human impact on it.

As a painter, Church defined our national identity as inextricably linked to the majesty of the natural world. At Olana, a National Historic Landmark and New York State Historic Site, Church sought to marry aesthetic endeavor and environmental action. At the core of this endeavor was the ambitious reforestation of 250-acres of overworked land with native trees. Learn more about the intersections of art and ecology latent in Olana’s history and designed landscape during this virtual presentation. Registration to this live webinar is free for members. This program will be recorded and available online.

Sean Sawyer has served as the Washburn & Susan Oberwager President of The Olana Partnership since May 2015. He received a B.A. summa cum laude in Art History & Archaeology from Princeton University in 1988 and his Ph.D. in Architectural History from Columbia University in 1999. Prior to joining Olana, Sean was the Executive Director of The Royal Oak Foundation, the American partner of the National Trust of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. He began his non-profit career as Executive Director of the Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.