THE OLANA PARTNERSHIP

EDUCATION / INTERPRETATION: 2024 PROVED A VERY STRONG YEAR FOR TOP'S PUBLIC TOUR OPERATIONS. THE VISITOR SERVICES TEAM WELCOMED 34,618 GUESTS ON TICKETED TOURS, A 4% INCREASE OVER 2023. PARK ATTENDANCE DECREASED BY 25% OVERALL IN 2024 (NOTING THAT 2023 SAW RECORD VISITATION ATTENDANCE AT MANY NYS SITES). TOP WAS ABLE TO SERVE 25% OF ALL PARK VISITORS WITH A TICKETED TOUR, UP FROM 18% IN 2023. THE GROUP TOUR PROGRAM CONTINUES TO GROW, WITH REVENUE UP 25%. INTERESTINGLY, THE PERCENTAGE OF VISITORS BUYING TOUR TICKETS ON-SITE RATHER THAN IN ADVANCE (NORMALLY 50%) ROSE TO 60% THIS YEAR; THE HOPE IS THAT DEDICATED EFFORTS ON THE PART OF FRONT-LINE STAFF TO ENGAGE VISITORS ON THE VALUE OF A GUIDED TOUR HELPED PUSH THAT NUMBER. VISITOR USE OF TOP'S VARIOUS DISCOUNTS CONTINUES TO INCREASE, REPRESENTING A TOTAL SAVINGS OF OVER $77,000 IN 2024 FOR ADULTS AND CHILDREN COMBINED. OTHER SIGNIFICANT MILESTONES IN 2024 INCLUDE THE LAUNCH OF TOP'S FREE THIRD THURSDAY / TERCER JUEVES INITIATIVE AND, OF COURSE, THE OPENING OF THE FREDERIC CHURCH CENTER FOR ART AND LANDSCAPE (MORE ON BOTH, BELOW). ONE OF TOP'S 2024 GOALS WAS TO PROVIDE INTERPRETIVE AND FRONT-LINE STAFF WITH ADDITIONAL TOOLS TO MORE EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE THAT A LANDSCAPE TOUR IS AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF ANY VISIT TO OLANA. LANDSCAPE TICKET SALES IN 2024 COMPRISED 16% OF OVERALL SALES. DURING THE SUMMER AND FALL SEASONS, OVER 20% OF TICKETS SOLD INCLUDED A LANDSCAPE TOUR EXPERIENCE, WHICH INCLUDES WALKING, ELECTRIC VEHICLE, AND COMBO TOURS. TOP'S FIRST FULL YEAR OF THIRD THURSDAY / TERCER JUEVES COMMUNITY DAYS, FUNDED BY THE ART BRIDGES FOUNDATION'S ACCESS FOR ALL PROGRAM, ALLOWED AN ADDITIONAL 2,150 VISITORS TO EXPERIENCE FREE GUIDED TOURS AT OLANA. A KEY COMPONENT OF THIS INITIATIVE IS SPANISH-LANGUAGE ACCESS, INCLUDING DEDICATED SPANISH-LANGUAGE TOURS EVERY THIRD THURSDAY / TERCER JUEVES. MUCH OF VISITOR SERVICES' TIME IN 2024 WAS DEDICATED TO OPERATIONS PLANNING FOR THE FCC, INCLUDING THE FINALIZATION OF INTERPRETIVE EXHIBIT MATERIALS, SCHEDULING AND HIRING NEW STAFF, AND SET-UP AND TRAINING ON A NEW POS SYSTEM. GOV. HOCHUL OPENED THE BUILDING TO THE PUBLIC ON OCTOBER 25, AND THE VISITOR RESPONSE HAS BEEN OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE. THROUGHOUT 2024, TOP'S EDUCATION & PUBLIC PROGRAMS DEPARTMENT SERVED OVER 10,800 ADULTS AND CHILDREN THROUGH OVER 150 ONSITE, OFFSITE, AND VIRTUAL PROGRAMS. A NEW PUBLIC ACCESS DAY CALLED THIRD THURSDAYS LED TO A 28% INCREASE IN ONSITE PROGRAM ATTENDANCE FROM 2023 TO 2024 AND VIRTUAL PROGRAMS AND WEBINARS SUCCEEDED IN INCREASING ATTENDANCE BY 54%. AN INTERACTIVE AUDIO PROGRAM CALLED MEMORIES IN THE LANDSCAPE WAS DEVELOPED AND SERVED OVER 1,200 LISTENERS THROUGHOUT THE RUN OF AFTERGLOW, TOP'S SUMMER EXHIBITION. WE CONTINUED TO EXPAND COMMUNITY ACCESS AND ENGAGEMENT DURING TOP'S ANNUAL WINTER SOLSTICE CELEBRATION WHICH ATTRACTED OVER 400 VISITORS TO THE HISTORIC HOUSE AND AROUND 375 TO THE FREDERIC CHURCH CENTER FOR ART AND LANDSCAPE. IN ADDITION TO PARTNERING WITH LOCAL BUSINESSES, WE PROVIDED A FREE SHUTTLE TO ASSIST WITH TRANSPORTATION BARRIERS TO THE SITE AND SERVED APPROXIMATELY 64% MORE VISITORS WITH THIS ANNUAL PROGRAM IN 2024.

COLLECTIONS / EXHIBITIONS: TOP'S CURATORIAL DEPARTMENT CONTINUED TO BUILD MOMENTUM FOR AN AMBITIOUS SUITE OF NATIONAL ACTIVATIONS THAT WILL TAKE PLACE IN 2026 IN SUPPORT OF CHURCH 200, THE BICENTENNIAL OF FREDERIC CHURCH'S BIRTH. THE CHURCH 200 INITIATIVE, LED BY DR. ELIZABETH MANKIN KORNHAUSER, CURATOR EMERITA OF THE AMERICAN WING AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, AND SENIOR CONSULTING CURATOR FOR THE OLANA PARTNERSHIP, WILL FEATURE OVER 50 PARTICIPATING MUSEUMS ACROSS THE GLOBE PLANNING EXHIBITIONS AND INSTALLATIONS PLACING CHURCH'S WORK AND LEGACY IN A NEW LIGHT. TOP'S CURATORIAL TEAM SPENT MUCH OF THE YEAR IN OUTREACH TO PARTICIPATING MUSEUMS, PLANNING FOR A SIGNIFICANT LOAN EXHIBITION AT OLANA, PROVIDING RESEARCH ASSISTANCE FOR 17 CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS TO THE ACCOMPANYING EXHIBITION PUBLICATION, AND HOSTING A SCHOLARLY CONVENING IN OCTOBER IN SUPPORT OF THE PUBLICATION. FROM MAY-OCTOBER TOP PRESENTED AFTERGLOW: FREDERIC CHURCH AND THE LANDSCAPE OF MEMORY, EXPLORING CHURCH'S MEMORIAL LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS IN-DEPTH FOR THE FIRST TIME, CENTERED ON LOANS OF TWO RARELY SEEN PAINTINGS FROM PRIVATE COLLECTIONS: TO THE MEMORY OF COLE (1848) AND THE EVENING STAR (1858). THE EXHIBITION WAS ACCOMPANIED BY A FULL-COLOR CATALOGUE, PUBLISHED BY HIRMER, FEATURING ESSAYS FROM AMERICAN ART SCHOLAR REBECCA BEDELL AND EXHIBITION CURATOR ALLEGRA DAVIS. IN NOVEMBER TOP PILOTED A COLLECTIONS-BASED PROGRAMMATIC SERIES A CLOSER LOOK, AIMED AT FOSTERING CONVERSATIONAL "CLOSE LOOKING" SESSIONS CENTERED AROUND UNDERSEEN ARTWORKS FROM THE OLANA COLLECTION. AT THE END OF 2024 TOP WAS AWARDED A GRANT OF $300,000 FROM THE HENRY LUCE FOUNDATION TO FUND A 2-YEAR PROJECT TO DIGITIZE AND CREATE A PUBLIC ONLINE CATALOGUE OF WORKS BY FREDERIC CHURCH IN THE OLANA COLLECTION. THIS EXCITING INITIATIVE WILL PROVIDE UNPRECEDENTED ACCESS TO OLANA'S RICH COLLECTION OF DRAWINGS, SKETCHES, OIL STUDIES, ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS, AND PAINTINGS BY CHURCH, SPANNING THE ARTIST'S CAREER. THE PROJECT IS ANTICIPATED TO DEBUT TO THE PUBLIC IN 2026. IN RESEARCH AND COLLECTIONS, WORKS FROM OLANA FEATURED IN TWO SIGNIFICANT EXTERNAL EXHIBITIONS IN 2024: THE AWE OF THE ARCTIC: A VISUAL HISTORY AT THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY (MARCH-JULY 2024) FEATURED 19TH-CENTURY STEREOGRAPHS COLLECTED BY CHURCH, AND THE PAINTING A SOLITARY LAKE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE BY THOMAS COLE WAS FEATURED IN THE TRAVELING EXHIBITION NATIVE PROSPECTS: INDIGENEITY AND LANDSCAPE, HELD AT THE THOMAS COLE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, THE FLORENCE GRISWOLD MUSEUM, AND THE FARNSWORTH ART MUSEUM. THE CURATORIAL TEAM HOSTED SEVERAL VISITING RESEARCHERS, INCLUDING CASEY MONROE, SENIOR RESEARCH CATALOGUER FOR FREDERIC EDWIN CHURCH AT COOPER HEWITT, SMITHSONIAN DESIGN MUSEUM. SIGNIFICANT RESEARCH SUPPORT WAS ALSO PROVIDED TO WRITER VICTORIA JOHNSON IN SUPPORT OF HER UPCOMING COMPREHENSIVE BIOGRAPHY OF CHURCH, AND AUTHOR ANNIK LAFARGE, AUTHOR OF ON THE HIGHLINE: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE (NOW IN ITS THIRD EDITION), WHOSE BOOK OFFERING A WALKER'S GUIDE TO THE HISTORY OF OLANA IS ALSO ANTICIPATED TO PUBLISH IN 2026.