Blog

Giving to OLANA

As you ponder the impact that your charitable giving can have this season, I hope you will consider making an end-of-year gift to The Olana Partnership. Individual donations, including Annual Fund and membership, make up 15% of our $1.5 million annual operating budget, and if you include our Summer Party and Church Award Gala this rises to 49%. We are offering a variety of ways to support Olana this season, including “Get One, Gift One” two-for-one membership days, “Member Double Discount Days” in our Museum Store, and our fully tax-deductible Annual Fund. Read More

Giving to OLANA

“Made Picturesque by the Costumes”: Clothing of the Holy Land Collected by Frederic Church

An excerpt by Lynne Zacek Bassett, “Costume & Custom” Exhibition Co-Curator Frederic, while expressing great admiration for the landscape, was conflicted about the native Middle Eastern people. While he considered the Bedouins “picturesque,” he also repeatedly described them in his diary and letters as dirty, savage, lazy, and dangerous. Beyond the meat, milk, and fur... Read More

“Made Picturesque by the Costumes”: Clothing of the Holy Land Collected by Frederic Church

A World without Volunteers is a World without Olana

Holly Kelly, Membership and Volunteer Coordinator, The Olana Partnership Imagine Olana without volunteers. If you tried to book a tour, you would find far fewer options- over 4,000 people would be disappointed this year and unable to view the inside of the main house and collections. Imagine Olana in the past without volunteers. Who would... Read More

A World without Volunteers is a World without Olana

An Educator’s Perspective: First-Order Logic

Written by A. Hufnagel, Director of Education The Olana Partnership’s Education Department spent January and February in research, planning, partner building, fundraising, reading, and training mode. We also use the winter months to review and evaluate last year’s programs, our systems that support the public events, and resources and staff capacity. What emerges from looking... Read More

An Educator’s Perspective: First-Order Logic

“CHURCH’S TIME IN PETRA”

There is no greater insider at Olana than Frederic Church himself. The collection at Olana contains not only a great number of his works of art, but a great number of works from his pen as well. We have letters, journals, diaries, cancelled checks and ledgers all in Church’s hand. One of these was donated to Olana by Maria Burroughs Livingston, a descendent of Church, and it’s quite special as it is the diary he kept as he journeyed to Petra in the Middle East. Read More

“CHURCH’S TIME IN PETRA”

“AN AMERICAN ART LEGACY”

In October 2017, Dr. Linda S. Ferber received the Frederic Church Award for her significant contribution to the world of American art. The Olana Partnership was honored to highlight Dr. Ferber’s vast accomplishments over several decades. Dr. Ferber is Senior Art Historian and Museum Director Emerita at the New-York Historical Society. From 2005 until the end of 2013, she served as Vice President and Museum Director at NYHS. Prior to that, she was the Andrew Mellon Curator of American Art at The Brooklyn Museum (now Emerita), where she was also Chief Curator. Read More

“AN AMERICAN ART LEGACY”

“THINGS BEYOND JUST A PICTURE”

In October 2017, Laurie Olin received the Frederic Church award. This was the first time a landscape architect had accepted this award, and The Olana Partnership was honored to highlight Laurie Olin’s vast accomplishments in the world of landscape architecture and the design of pubic parks. Similar to Frederic Church, Laurie Olin is an artist who also views landscapes through a civic lens. Read More

“THINGS BEYOND JUST A PICTURE”

SEEING YELLOW AT OLANA: A Photo-Essay

Every summer at Olana, things turn more yellow. In June, the park-like meadow between Olana’s upper main house and the lake below comes alive with yellow coreopsis flowers. Read More

SEEING YELLOW AT OLANA: A Photo-Essay

“Trans-American Landscape Art”

Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros & Olana in dialogue in the exhibition OVERLOOK By Dr. Katherine Manthorne, Professor of Art History, Graduate Center, City University of New York Click here to read the full article. Read More

“Trans-American Landscape Art”

“A Healthy Kind of Discomfort”: Contemporary Art at Olana

From May through October this year Olana will witness a confrontation between two of our country’s most prominent artists; one, Frederic Church, who achieved fame 150 years ago, and another, Teresita Fernández, who is reaching it today. Read More

“A Healthy Kind of Discomfort”: Contemporary Art at Olana