The Frederic Church Center A Hudson River School Vision
MARCH 2021
DEAR SUPPORTERS AND FRIENDS, I’m very pleased to share this first issue of The Olana Partnership’s capital campaign newsletter, A Hudson River School Vision. As the campaign moves forward, we are eager to have a regular means of updating you on the progress of both the campaign and the design and construction of The Frederic Church Center itself. We start by sharing a summary of the larger vision for Olana of which The Frederic Church Center is the linchpin. This is Olana’s Strategic Landscape Design Plan (SLDP), completed in 2015 under the leadership of former NYS Commissioner of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, Rose Harvey, and landscape architect Thomas Woltz. In 2017, Olana’s SLDP received the National Honor Award in Analysis and Planning from the American Society of Landscape Architects and was the subject of a feature story in Landscape Architecture (attached to the digital version of this newsletter). The SLDP posits a fundamental transformation of the visitor experience, making the fullness of Frederic Church’s “artful landscape,” to use Woltz’s words, evident and accessible to every visitor. The Frederic Church Center will serve as the gateway to Olana as a master work of American art, architecture, and landscape. However, the SLDP lays out the master plan for restoring all of Olana, including the historic farm complex that was central to life at Olana, and providing the visitor infrastructure necessary to elevate Olana as a founding site of American art and environmental consciousness. We are very grateful for your support for this vision. I look forward to sharing all aspects of the project in future issues and the great adventure of realizing it over the next few years. Yours with appreciation,
Sean Sawyer, Ph.D. Washburn and Susan Oberwager President
“[Church] evokes the intentionality of the beautiful vistas, the working landscape, as the heart of a work of art. Not just the landscape as it might happen to be, but rather, as an artful composition.” —Thomas Woltz
DESIGN TEAM PROFILE Thomas Woltz, FASLA, CLARB is the principal of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. In addition to leading NBW’s team for the FCC, Thomas was the lead designer responsible for Olana’s 2015 Strategic Landscape Design Plan, which won the 2017 National Honor Award in Analysis and Planning from the American Society of Landscape Architects. He was named Design Innovator of the Year by the Wall Street Journal in 2013 and one of the most creative people in business by Fast Company in 2017. Thomas holds master's degrees in Landscape Architecture and Architecture from the University of Virginia. Significant projects include the Aga Khan Garden (Alberta, Canada), The Rothko Chapel in Houston, and Monticello.
HISTORIC CORE + RECIPROCAL VIEWS STRATEGIC LANDSCAPE DESIGN PLAN, 2015
The Frederic Church Center at Olana S HUDSON, NY
The Frederic Church Center is the pivotal element of Olana's 2015 Strateg acres of Church's master work, a New York State Historic Site, National H the intersection of American art and environmental conservation.
Credits: Main House at Olana from the Summer House Location by Beth Schneck Photography; Frederic Edwin Church OPRHP, Frederic Church Center rendering by Architecture Research Office
State Historic Site
gic Landscape Design Plan for restoring and making accessible all 250 Historic Landmark, and national platform for educating the public about
h, Apple Blossoms at Olana, May 1870, 11 5/8 x 18 1/4 in., OL.1981.23. Collection Olana State Historic Site, NYS
THE OLANA PARTNERSHIP CAPITAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE FREDERIC CHURCH CENTER FUNDRAISING $13.6 MILLION GOAL
$7.7 MILLION
$5.8 MILLION RAISED
Steve J. Clearman, Chair Joesph Baker Betsy Broun Margaret Davidson Meredith Kane Bindy Kaye Robin Key Emily Sachar Susan Winokur
STAFF
Sean E. Sawyer, Ph.D. Washburn & Susan Oberwager President ssawyer@olana.org Mark Prezorski Senior Vice President & Landscape Curator mprezorski@olana.org Alison Tretter Major Gifts Coordinator atretter@olana.org
THE OLANA PARTNERSHIP PO BOX 199 | HUDSON, NEW YORK 12534 - 0199
OLANA.ORG 518-828-1872
The Olana Partnership operates Olana State Historic Site in a cooperative agreement with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation