The Coachman’s House is open for exploration when you visit Olana. Once the home of the Church’s carriage driver, the space is now home to a reading room, peaceful spot where you can learn and relax while you wait for a tour or program to start. There are comfortable chairs, lots of books and articles, and even some cool activities for children. Stop by during your visit out this season, and leave time to read about Church and Olana. Coachmen’s House is located adjacent to the Visitor Center.

If you are on Facebook, join Olana’s first ever dynamic, interactive, virtual book club. This online book club will include occasional appearances from the author and The Olana Partnership educators. TOP will launch this online book club with the newly published book Embattled River: The Hudson and Modern American Environmentalism, by David Schuyler.

ABOUT the BOOK: Embattled River describes the efforts to reverse the pollution and bleak future of the Hudson River that became evident in the 1950s. Through his investigative narrative, Schuyler uncovers the critical role of this iconic American waterway in the emergence of modern environmentalism in the United States. Writing fifty-five years after Consolidated Edison announced plans to construct a pumped storage power plant at Storm King Mountain, Schuyler recounts how a loose coalition of activists took on corporate capitalism and defended the river. Led by Scenic Hudson, later joined by groups such as Riverkeeper, Clearwater, the Hudson River Valley Greenway, and the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, the coalition won the first of many legal and publicity battles that would halt pollution of the river, slowly reverse the damage of years of discharge into the river, and protect hundreds of thousands of acres of undeveloped land in the river valley. With these legal and regulatory means, the contest between environmental advocates and corporate power has continued well into the twenty-first century. Indeed, as Embattled River shows, the past is prologue. The struggle to control the uses and maintain the ecological health of the Hudson River persists and the stories of the pioneering advocates told by Schuyler provide lessons, reminders, and inspiration for today’s activists. Order your copy through the Olana Museum Store to support Olana and see you online on the 26th.

Historic Landscape Tours give visitors new views and celebrates Frederic Church’s legacy which is Olana in its entirety. The Olana Partnership is launching the 2018 season with more regular public tours and specialty tours of Olana’s historic site.
Tours are offered every Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday
Walking Tour 10:30, Electric 12:30 and Electric 2:30; Specialty Landscape Tours Monthly at 4pm
Meet near Visitor Center, signage marks starting place.
Reservations are strongly encouraged, please visit the Book a Tour page on www.olana.org. Walk-ins welcome, but not guaranteed.

The Wander Society’s Adventure Lab in the Landscape
The Wander Society is a secretive underground organization who believes in the intrinsic power of wandering to transcend the problems of modern society, access a higher plane of consciousness, and participate in direct experiences of life. The Wander Society’s Adventure Lab is a mobile unit that functions as a secret portal into the operations and activities of the underground organization. Designed as a space to facilitate exploration the lab is complete with various wandering tools, images, a random assignment machine, and a wandering library.

In the 1860s when the Churches were traveling in the Middle East, Isabel Church said she “loved the tent life” while they were traveling in remote areas by caravan. They also tented in the Adirondacks, Maine, and on many of Church’s remote painting expeditions. The family’s library is filled with tales from adventurers, travel books, and particularly William Prime’s Tent Life in the Holy Land. Installed in parallel with this season’s exhibition, conceptual artist and NYT’s best-selling author Keri Smith created the Adventure Lab and in turn pays homage to the tent and adventuring from the Church’s 19th century experiences, while layering the past with contemporary participatory adventures for visitors to Olana. Designed for all ages, come explore the lab, and make your own adventures. Free and open 8:30am to sunset daily. Opens July 14th and closes on December 1, 2018. Located near Church’s old art studio. All Ages.

The Olana Partnership is putting Frederic Church’s landscape masterpiece in a frame in a scenic spot where Church’s first artist studio was set onsite. The installation encourages cellphone art making, selfie compositions, and family portraits and suggested that people view the landscape through various frames both literal and metaphorical. Plan a picnic and a portrait of landscape art making session. Frame is located near Church’s old art studio. All Ages.