Art Trail Contest is Launched

Working with a $50,000 grant from New York State, and in partnership with Olana as well as the tourism agencies of Columbia and Greene Counties, we have launched an advertising campaign for the Hudson River School Art Trail with a contest and grand prize drawing. In a nutshell, if people visit all of the first eight sites on the Trail, and if they make a "rubbing" of the metal plaque at each site to prove that they were there, they can enter to win a weekend getaway package. The details are at http://offers.hudsonriverschool.org/.

The Hudson River School Art Trail takes people to the magnificent views that appear in 19th-century landscape paintings by Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, and other masters of America's first major art movement, the Hudson River School. The contest encourages visitors to go to the first eight sites on the trail, all located in the Hudson River Valley of New York. Metal plaques have been installed at each of these locations and each plaque features a medallion with a relief (a raised design) of the view. Participants can easily capture the scene by placing a piece of paper over the medallion and rubbing it with a pencil, crayon or charcoal. You can create "rubbings" in either your own notebook or in the official Art Trail Passport, which is available for purchase at the visitor centers of the Thomas Cole National Historic Site and the Olana State Historic Site.

Upon completion, participants simply present the completed series of rubbings to representatives at either the Thomas Cole or Olana Historic Site by November 3, 2013 to receive a certificate of completion. Participants who complete all eight rubbings will be entered in a special grand prize drawing for a chance to win a weekend getaway to the Catskills. In addition, the first 20 people to show proof of completing all eight rubbings will receive a free Hudson River School Art Trail Guidebook.

Now open for the season

The 2013 exhibition is up. We held an opening event on Sunday April 28th and had a record crowd at the curator's lecture -- nearly 200 people. With the daffodils and forsythia all in bloom, the 75-degree weather and a bright blue cloudless sky, it was a sight to behold. An album of 15 photos from the event is now up on our facebook page. At right is my daughter Ellie (5-1/2) taking in the art. Thanks to all who came and spent the day with us!

Paintings newly added to the parlour

Four paintings by Thomas Cole will be on view starting this weekend along with eight other 19^th-century landscape masterworks. The twelve paintings are by artists including Albert Bierstadt, Ralph Albert Blakelock, Susie M. Barstow, Benjamin Bellows Grant Stone, William Ladd Taylor, Thomas Doughty and Thomas Cole’s sister Sarah Cole. The paintings have been arranged in Thomas Cole’s home in a “salon style,” reflective of the way the room would have looked during Cole’s residency, from 1836 to 1848. Several of the paintings are on long-term loan from private collectors and others are new additions to the Thomas Cole Historic Site’s permanent collection, including a western scene by Albert Bierstadt and a lake scene by Thomas Doughty.

The installation was designed and overseen by Carrie Feder, a Trustee of the Thomas Cole Historic Site and Chairman of the furnishings committee, along with Kate Menconeri – the Collection & Exhibition Manager at the historic site – and Melissa Gavilanes, the Director of Education. 

University President Makes a Visit

Kyle Adams/Hudson-Catskill NewspapersThe new president of the University of Albany, Dr. Robert Jones, visited our site on Wednesday, March 27 as part of an effort to familiarize himself with the eight counties that comprise the Capital Region. Here he is with the Thomas Cole Site's director Betsy Jacks on the porch, getting a good look at the Catskill Mountains. Dr. Jones commented, "I've been hearing about the Catskills all my life, and now here we are!"

The British are coming

We just received word that a 30-minute segment about visiting the homes of Thomas Cole and Frederic Church has aired on the BBC! Here is a link to the audio, which we are told will only work for about a week: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/b01q03kn

Seeking Bright College Seniors

Do you know a college senior or recent grad who is interested in the museum field? We are now accepting applications for our "Thomas Cole Fellows" program, and already have more than 35 applications in. The program runs from June to November and provides housing right here at the historic site, a stipend, field trips, meetings with professionals in the field, resume-writing, and an in-depth experience as one of the site staff. The complete information is available here.

Introducing the Tote Bag

Just arrived are a small supply of signature tote bags with Thomas Cole's easel on one side and "Thomas Cole National Historic Site" on the other. We're keeping the price low, just $14.95, so that everyone can show their support. We will be adding them to our online shop shortly, but in the mean time you can get yours by calling Sheri Dejan at 518-943-7465 ext.4.

National Geographic: "Hudson Valley, Best of the World"

In the new issue of National Geographic Magazine, the Hudson Valley is chosen as one of the "Best of the World - Our 20 Must-See Places for 2013." In the article, the Hudson River School Art Trail is noted and the Executive Director of the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, Elizabeth Jacks, is quoted saying "The views that compose the art trail are a national treasure." Click here for a PDF of the magazine cover and Hudson Valley page.

Catskill Mayor Becomes Thomas Cole

For the Second Annual Community Day at the Thomas Cole site, Vincent Seely, Mayor of the Village of Catskill, got into the 19th-century spirit with a top-hat, black cape, paintbrush and palette, as seen in the photo at right. The September 23rd event brought in more than double the number of visitors as the previous year's event, as approximately 425 people of all ages visited the historic home and studio of Thomas Cole. The 2012 event included a new popular feature, an exhibition entitled "Postcards from the Trail," with 250 postcard-sized artworks depicting views from the Hudson River School Art Trail. There was an enthusiastic scramble when the show opened, as all the artworks were for sale for only $100 each. See more photos of the event on our facebook page.

The Art Trail Hits The New York Times

A writer for the Times, Eve Kahn, contacted us a few weeks back, expressing interest in covering the newly added sites on the Hudson River School Art Trail. Our team jumped into action! The Hudson River Valley sites were live on our website and functional, but the New Hampshire and Massachussetts sites were not slated to be finalized until the end of September. The entire Art Trail website was still in "beta" form, but we gave Ms. Kahn access to the hidden pages as we continued to prepare them for a public launch. High-resolution mages were FedExed across the country, texts were proofread through squinty eyes into the wee hours of the morning, information was uploaded to the site as quickly as it came in, and at last, we made the new pages live almost a month ahead of schedule, just as the Times article went to press. The article is amazing - a two-page spread in full color. Wow. In case you missed the print edition, here is the article online:

Click here to see the article online.