OLANA HOSTS FIRST ANNUAL OLANA PLEIN AIR FESTIVAL
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH DRAWING AMERICA
HUDSON — Drawing America, The Olana Partnership, and Olana State Historic Site announce the Olana Plein Air Festival on Saturday, September 25. Participants of all skill-levels are invited to participate in this exciting all-day festival taking place at Olana State Historic Site.
Based in New York, Drawing America, a teaching and learning community of over 9500 members, creates custom classes for organizations, corporations, and private groups like the Museum of Art and Design, The Morgan Library & Museum, and the National Arts Club. “We are thrilled to partner with The Olana Partnership and Olana State Historic Site to make this event a reality,” says Simon Levenson, Founder of Drawing America. “Our partnership will help make The Olana Plein Air Festival an inclusive, accessible, and vibrantly creative event at such a perfect location!”
“Olana is the ideal venue for this inclusive open air painting festival. We are grateful to our partners, Drawing America and The Olana Partnership, and to New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation for their support for this inaugural event that celebrates Olana’s artistic heritage and is accessible to people of all ages, skills and abilities,” said Amy Hausmann, Director, Olana State Historic Site.
Overlooking the Hudson River, with 250 acres of artist-designed landscape and sweeping views of the Catskills, Olana is the perfect place for a day of artmaking outdoors. During this day-long festival open to participants of all skill levels, participants are invited to bring their own supplies and materials to paint throughout Olana’s landscape. General admission to the festival provides each registrant with a plein air painting map, a gift bag (while supplies last) and early access to set up their easels overlooking Olana’s famous views.
Those who are interested in diving deeper into their artmaking practice can register for one of eight artist-led workshops held throughout the day. Workshops will be held during morning and afternoon timeslots and will focus on a range of topics such as introduction to landscape painting, field sketching, plein air watercolor painting, and painting the figure in nature. Workshops will be led by a diverse range of professional artists practiced in various media including Eileen Murphy (Brooklyn, NY), Mario Robinson (Altus, OK), Eudes Correia (Brazil), William Low (New York, NY), and Jean Mackay (Schodack Landing, NY).
“Frederic Church’s masterwork Olana is the ultimate place for creative inspiration and artistic exploration,” says Carolyn Keogh, Director of Education and Public Programs at The Olana Partnership. “We are delighted to work with Drawing America to bring artists of diverse skill levels and media to create outdoors at Olana.”
To make this one-day festival accessible to the widest possible audience, general registration is $25 (free for students under 16 with an adult) and workshops are offered at $45. Scholarships are available upon request. Prior experience is not required. To register and learn more, visit www.drawingamerica.com or email education@olana.org.
About Olana and The Olana Partnership: Olana is the greatest masterwork of Frederic Church (1826-1900), a preeminent American artist of the mid-19th century and the most important artist’s home, studio, and designed landscape in the United States. Church designed Olana as a holistic environment integrating his advanced ideas about art, architecture, landscape design, and environmental conservation. Olana’s 250-acre artist-designed landscape with five miles of carriage roads and a Persian-inspired house at its summit embraces unrivaled panoramic views of the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountains and welcomes more than 170,000 visitors annually. The landscape is open for guided touring, and reservations are highly recommended. The landscape is free and open to all every day from 8 AM - sunset.
Olana State Historic Site, administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, is a designated National Historic Landmark and one of the most visited sites in the state. The Olana Partnership, a private not-for-profit education corporation, works cooperatively with New York State Parks to support the restoration, conservation, and interpretation of Olana to make it accessible to all.