The summer house was a feature in early American design, and examples appeared in both private and public gardens, such as New York’s Central Park. One appears in the 1886 historic “Plan of Olana” and is labeled “Summer House”. Everything on this plan is more or less accurate, yet there is no documentary evidence to support what Olana’s summer house looked like. Its design remains a mystery. Read More
The contemporary British painter David Hockney says, “people tend to forget that play is serious.” To this notion I add journalist Sydney Harris’s writing “the purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.” Then I feel compelled to layer a contraction of the two: Olana’s staff works daily to create “serious and playful windows” for the region’s education. Read More
I never really grasped the scope of 80,000+ objects until I stood in a room during self-guided touring at Olana. I had worked at Olana for over three years, giving tours and moving through these spaces almost daily, yet, as I stood there, my eye caught pieces that I had never really seen before. Read More
An excerpt from the essay written by Andrea Wulf, author of “The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World,” for the “Capturing the Cosmos” exhibition brochure Read More
“Because I have always enjoyed the juxtaposition of architecture and landscape, I see Olana’s carriage roads as architecture. They function the way the windows in Olana’s house do by arranging your position and relationship to the landscape. What is revealed from each window or turn in the road — the window framing, the road dividing – is all manipulated by Mr. Church.” — Margaret Saliske, Artist and Hudson Resident Read More
“We have delicious things all out of our own gardens . . . and wonderful floating islands and such with Mexican dulces with odd names, forms of guava and nougat.” Guest and author Susan Hale writing from Olana, 1884 Read More
By Paul Banks, Interpretive Program Assistant Did you take a tour of the house at Olana last year? If so, you’re in good company. Last year nearly 28,000 people toured the house. That’s rather impressive when you consider that’s roughly equal to all the other tours given by New York State historic sites last year.... Read More
It’s great to have good friends, especially when they are brilliant, worldly, and well-placed AND willing to share their experience and expertise freely. Olana has just such a group of allies in our National Advisory Committee (NAC), who are listed below. This is an estimable assembly of national leaders in the fields of American art (art history and contemporary artists), history, historic preservation, decorative arts, and landscape design and history. NAC members constitute a standing advisory group to which The Partnership can turn for advice on a wide range of matters, both individually and as a group. Read More
“Thank you for showing us Frederic Church’s estate Olana. I liked it when Mark showed us the stone wall and what it looked like before it was fixed. Ms. Amy I really liked the house tour, Church’s art, the views, and the activity when we got to make a 3D paper Olana. Thank you for helping us to understand all of Olana.” –Owen, 3rd Grade, Albany (11/5/15) Read More
Next Tuesday evening, November 17, The Olana Partnership will host the Frederic E. Church Award Gala at the Metropolitan Club in New York City. This event has been a year in the planning and requires an extraordinary amount of my time and that of a number of other staff members. Why do we do it? Read More
