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Thomas Cole National Historic Site

The Thomas Cole National Historic Site is the former home of Hudson River School of Art founder, Thomas Cole. Located in the village of Catskill, the house, called Cedar Grove, and Cole's studio are open for tours, events, and workshops throughout the year.

The Thomas Cole National Historic Site is the former home of Hudson River School of Art founder, Thomas Cole. Located in the village of Catskill, the house, called Cedar Grove, and Cole's studio are open for tours, events, and workshops throughout the year.

Tour Thomas Cole's House

Go Inside Thomas Cole’s Home & Studio

Hudson River School painters captivated the world in the early-to-mid-1800s with their fierce desire to preserve America's wild places and raise awareness through art of the fragile balance between nature and civilization. Cole is known as the father of America's first distinctive artistic style. Take a guided, 50-minute tour of Cole's house, studio, and grounds, and enjoy special exhibitions of Hudson River School paintings. Watch a short film about Thomas Cole's life, and the influence that he and other Hudson River School painters had on conservation and the Catskills in the Visitors Center.

Hudson River Art Trail

The Hudson River Art Trail includes over 20 sites in New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Wyoming, showcasing the vistas captured by Hudson River School of Art painters.

The first stop on the art trail is the Thomas Cole National Historic Site. From Cedar Grove, guests are invited to explore 16 sites in the Hudson River Valley, from Kaaterskill Falls, the highest cascading waterfall in New York State, to the site of the former Catskill Mountain House, and the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site. Most of the trails offer easy-to-moderate hiking conditions, though some require skill and should only be attempted by experienced hikers. Special markers are located at key sites so visitors know which artist stopped to immortalize that site.

We are open for private guide tours that include immersive digital installations and collection artworks in the historic interiors, and we are announcing our Sunday Salon speaker series and Winter Guided Tours soon, which bring new ideas in American art to Catskill once a month from January through April. 

Ongoing Exhibitions:

Twilight Lantern Tours 
Tours start Saturday, Nov 11th - Book a Guided Tour of the Main House on weekends.  Reserve the 4pm tour to experience the Twilight Lantern Tour.

 

March 9 - April 7, 2024 Saturdays and Sundays - Imaginary Wilds: Architectural Interventions - A pop-up exhibition at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site by the students and faculty of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s School of Architecture Curated by Adam Dayem, Assistant Professor, Rensselaer School of Architecture and Principal, Actual Office Architecture PLLC. The pop-up exhibition presents architectural projects created for the Thomas Cole National Historic Site done by students from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s School of Architecture. Under the guidance of six design studio instructors, students envisioned new buildings to house a gallery and public gathering space at the historic site’s campus. Framed by the concept of a mythic wild landscape, which was prevalent in Cole’s time and persists in ours, "Imaginary Wilds" presents a series of forward-looking designs that address real and ideal relationships between architecture and landscape.

The project is accompanied by a book published by ORO Editions, due to be released March 2024. The book includes texts and essays by Evan Douglis, Dean, Rensselaer School of Architecture; Elizabeth B. Jacks, Executive Director, Thomas Cole National Historic Site; Adam Dayem, Assistant Professor, Rensselaer School of Architecture; David Salomon, Associate Professor, Ithaca College; Cathryn Dwyre-Perry, Adjunct Associate Professor, Pratt Institute; and William L. Coleman, Curator, Brandywine Museum of Art. Additional contributors: Jillian Crandall, Lecturer, Rensselaer School of Architecture; David Bell, Associate Professor, Rensselaer School of Architecture; Gustavo Crembil, Associate Professor, Rensselaer School of Architecture; and Leandro Piazzi, Lecturer, Rensselaer School of Architecture.

 

May 4-October 27, 2024 - Native Prospects: Indigeneity and Landscape Painting - Presents 19th-Century paintings by Thomas Cole depicting Native figures, in context with indigenous artifacts of historic and cultural value, and a contemporary artworks by Indigenous artists: Teresa Baker (Mandan/Hidatsa), Brandon Lazore (Onondaga, Snipe Clan), Truman Lowe (Ho-Chunk), Alan Michelson (Mohawk member of Six Nations of the Grand River) and Kay Walkingstick (Cherokee).  Native Prospects will open at the Thomas Cole Site and travel the country.

 

July 20-Dec 1, 2024 -  Alan Michelson: Prophetstown - Alan Michelson, esteemed artist from the Mohawk community of Six Nations of the Grand River, presents a solo exhibition as part of OPEN HOUSE: Contemporary Art in Conversation with Cole, our annual series which invites contemporary artists to create site-responsive installations within and in conversation with the historic buildings, collections, and landscape. This annual series invites contemporary artists to craft site-responsive installations in dialogue with the historic buildings, collections, and landscape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional Info

 To purchase tickets click here

 

Thomas Cole National Historic Site Events
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