Exhibitions, Programs & Events

Grounds Open for Free Every Day

Women’s History Tour

Weekends in March at 12 pm

Book a guided tour of the Main House to learn about the historic women who lived, labored, and made art here.

Tickets

Guided Tours

Book a Guided Tour of the artist’s home and special exhibition, Imaginary Wilds, on view now.

Tickets

Imaginary Wilds

Architectural Interventions for the Thomas Cole National Historic Site

Mar 9-Apr 7, 2024 

Weekends in the New Studio

A pop-up exhibition in collaboration with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s School of Architecture, presenting a series of student-designed architectural projects that imagine a new building for the museum campus.

Information

Sunday Salon

Imaginary Wilds: Architectural Interventions for the Thomas Cole National Historic Site

Sun, Mar 24 at 2 & 4 pm

Students and faculty of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s School of Architecture

See what it’s like to attend architecture school. Hear student presentations of their projects exhibited in Imaginary Wilds and expert critique from professors and other project participants.

Tickets

Behind the Scenes Collections Tour

The Life and Work of Emily Cole

Sat, Mar 30 at 2 pm

Join TCNHS Associate Curator Amanda Malmstrom for a behind-the-scenes collections tour that will illuminate the life and work of Emily Cole, offering a rare opportunity to view works on paper and porcelain in our collection that are not currently on view to the general public.

Tickets

Sunday Salon

2024 Cole Fellows’ Presentations

Sun, Apr 14 at 2 pm

Catherine Augustyn, Michaela Ellison-Davidson and Ryan Munasinghe

Join the Class of 2024 Cole Fellows for a discussion of their year-long research projects at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site.

Tickets

Native Prospects

Indigeneity and Landscape

May 4-Oct 27, 2024

Our new exhibition juxtaposing an Indigenous approach to the articulation of land with the American landscape paintings of Thomas Cole. Curated by Dr. Scott Manning Stevens, PhD / Karoniaktatsie (Akwesasne Mohawk).

Information

Curator’s Talk

Dr. Scott Manning Stevens, PhD / Karoniaktatsie (Akwesasne Mohawk)

Sat, May 4 at 2:30 pm

Join Dr. Stevens for a discussion on the making of the exhibition Native Prospects.

Tickets

Exhibition Opening

Sat, May 4 at 4-6 pm

Celebrate the opening of Native Prospects with a glass of wine and good friends. All are welcome! We hope that you will consider becoming a member if you are able.

Become a member

First Look Inside the Cole Center

Preview the new Cole Center building opening this year, and consider joining the excitement with a variety of naming opportunities.

Learn more

General Admission

Weds-Sun

Beginning Jun 1

Explore the historic interiors and special exhibitions on a self-guided visit.

Tickets Coming Soon

The Summer Party

Sat, Jun 22

Join us for cocktails, dinner and fireworks overlooking the Hudson River at the beautiful home of our Chairman, Lisa Fox Martin, in Catskill, NY.

Reservations

Alan Michelson

Prophetstown

Jul 20-Dec 1, 2024

The acclaimed artist Alan Michelson (Mohawk member of Six Nations of the Grand River) will present a solo exhibition as part of OPEN HOUSE: Contemporary Art in Conversation with Cole, our exhibition series that invites artists to create site-responsive installations.

Coming Soon

Thomas Cole Paintings on View

Spectacular original paintings by Thomas Cole are on view in the artist’s home this season.

Preview

Collection Highlights

Browse our online Collection Highlights, a selection from over six hundred objects and two research archives. Many collection items are on view throughout the Cole Site interiors, in historic rooms, as well as within the rotating exhibition Mind Upon Nature: Thomas Cole’s Creative Process.

Browse

Digital Immersive Experiences

Discover digital immersive experiences throughout the authentic historic interiors of the artist’s home. Experiences include paintings that come to life, audio soundscapes, letters that appear on desks and 270-degree floor-to-ceiling projections.

Preview

Hudson River School Art Trail

Step into a landscape painting with our program, the Hudson River School Art Trail, which provides maps and directions to visit the places in nature that Thomas Cole and other Hudson River School artists painted.

Choose Your Destination

Walk along Catskill Creek

Visit the Mawignack Preserve – Cole’s favorite walking spot – just down the road and discover new outdoor interpretation organized by the Greene Land Trust in partnership with the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, Greene County Historical Society, Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation, and Scenic Hudson.

Information

Visit Cole’s Gravesite

The gravestones of Thomas Cole, his wife Maria Bartow, and their family are located in the Catskill Village Cemetery, just down the street and walkable from the historic site.

Learn more

Hudson River Skywalk

See America’s first canvas with a new scenic walkway connecting the Thomas Cole Site with Frederic Church’s Olana across the Hudson River.

Information

Virtual 360 Explore

Virtually tour Thomas Cole’s historic Main House and Old Studio. Discover pop-out videos and find the artist’s original letters.

Explore

Perspectives

Digital content presenting new perspectives from curators, artists, and community leaders on Thomas Cole’s life and art from the 19th century to today.

Watch Videos & Listen to Podcasts

Teacher Resources

Programs, lesson plans and activities for K-12 students that use American art to teach American history.

Learn more

Virtual Gallery

Explore Thomas Cole’s paintings and writings with scholar analysis on our website explorethomascole.org.

Visit

Thomas Cole’s Story

Read Thomas Cole’s Story by the Penguin Random House author and illustrator Hudson Talbott.

Read the Story

Guide Book

Free Web Version

This abbreviated web version of the Guide Book will lead you from space to space. A printed copy of the Guide Book is available in our gift shop and online, here.

Explore

Each year, the Thomas Cole National Historic Site presents special exhibitions of historic and contemporary art that debut here and travel the country. Browse past exhibitions

What other art will you see on a visit? Browse Thomas Cole paintings on view and Collection Highlights.

The Thomas Cole Site programs and operations are supported by the National Park Service, Warner Foundation, David Bury and The Bay & Paul Foundations, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, Enoch Foundation, The Educational Foundation of America, KHR Family Fund, Brown Foundation, The J. M. Kaplan Fund, Tianaderrah Foundation, and the Kindred Spirits Society of the Thomas Cole National Historic Site.

Programs and operations are also supported by a grant awarded to the Thomas Cole National Historic Site by New York State’s Empire State Development and the I LOVE NY Division of Tourism.

The Program Endowment that supports educational programs at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this the programs do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

® I LOVE NEW YORK is a registered trademark and service mark of the New York State Department of Economic Development; used with permission.
Eve AaronEvents