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Olana tour to bring landscapes to life

By Colin DeVries

GREENPORT — The first-of-its-kind Olana Viewshed Tour promises to whisk visitors away on an enthralling journey through the landscapes of Frederic Edwin Church.

As the brainchild of the Olana Partnership trustees, this tour has been a forethought for decades at the Olana State Historic Site, former home and 250-acre estate of world-renown landscape painter Frederic Edwin Church.

Now that the tour has finally come to fruition it is intended to immerse participants into the landscapes painted by Church. Not only will the tour provide unique perspectives of the 19th century American Picturesque landscape Church envisioned, but essentially make participants a part of the beautiful vistas.

“We want people to understand what Olana is all about,” said trustee Mark Prezoski. “The number one component is education, about what the viewshed is and how it is a part of this story.”

Featured on the self-guided Nov. 1 tour are 12 private properties that capture the sweeping, breathtaking views that gave inspiration to one of the greatest American landscape painters of all time. It is an opportunity to look into the mind’s eye of the Hudson River School of Art, to discover what captured the hearts of the greatest American landscape painters of the 19th century.

Special to the tour, an exclusive even among Olana Partnership members, the Bell Tower of Olana will be accessible for a rare opportunity to soak in one of Church’s most coveted views. Bell Tower access is extremely limited and special reservations are required when requesting tour tickets.

Cedar Grove: The Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill will also be opened specifically for the tour, continuing the collaboration and partnership between the two sites and enabling tour-goers to experience more of America’s first school of art, the Hudson River School of Art.

The American Picturesque landscape design that Church exacted on his 250 acres are a reflection of the great city parks of Boston, New York and Montreal, which were designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, a colleague of Church. And it has been the mission of The Olana Partnership to reinvigorate that dream, of which Church worked until his death to accomplish.

“We know from his letters what he wanted his landscape to become,” said The Olana Partnership Vice President of Development Robert Burns.

A tome, affectionately referred to as “The Bible” by Burns, compiled by researcher Robert Toole has a collection of documentation, letters, receipts, sketches, maps, and various other items which capture the dreams and intentions of Church. The Olana Partnership has strived to renew the landscape it what it once was during Church’s time in the 19th century, with those precious documents close in hand.

“Church was truly trying to create a three-dimensional work of art,” said Burns in relation to his landscape design.

Now, the Olana Viewshed Tour hopes to make that work of art an interactive part of the Olana experience, with explorations of properties from the banks of the Hudson River to the farmlands of Greene and Columbia counties.

Tour-goers can expect to experience sweeping Hudson Valley vistas from rarely-seen vantage points, in the shadow of prominent 18th century architecture to the apple orchard rows of an active farm.

There will be a ticket and map pick-up between 9 a.m. and noon at the Wagon House Education Center at the Olana State Historic Site where an introductory presentation of each view will greet participants. Then the self-guided journey into the landscapes of Church will begin.

At each site, an Olana docent or property owner will be there to greet participants and provide a history on the property, as well as a fresh perspective on the Olana viewshed.

The event will culminate in a sunset benefit party at one of the viewshed properties where locally grown produce will be served, as well as wine from the PM Wine Bar of Hudson. The Viewshed Benefit Party will be from 5 to 7 p.m.

Preservation of the viewshed has been in part an effort by Scenic Hudson and the Columbia Land Conservancy.

For tickets or information on The Olana Partnership please call Melanie Hasbrook 518-828-1872 ext. 103 or e-mail mhasbrook@olana.org.

Further information on Frederic Edwin Church and Olana can be obtained at www.olana.org.

To reach reporter Colin DeVries please call, 518-943-2100 ext. 3325, or e-mail, cdevries@thedailymail.net.

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