Thomas Cole Historic House

The Thomas Cole national Historic site presents the original home and studios of the artist and early environmentalist Thomas Cole (1801-1848). Cole founded the hudson river school of american landscape painting, the formative 19th-century art movement of the united states, and advocated for preservation of the natural landscape. Located on 6 acres in new york's hudson valley, the site includes the 1815 main House; Cole's 1839 old studio; the reconstructed 1846 new studio building; and gardens and grounds with views of the catskill mountains. It is a national Historic landmark and an affiliated area of the national park system. The Thomas Cole site's activities include guided and self-guided tours, special exhibitions of both 19th-century and contemporary art, print publications, lectures, extensive online programs, school programs, the Cole fellowship, free community events, and innovative public programs such as the hudson river school art traila map and website that enable people to visit the places in nature that Cole paintedand the hudson river skywalk, a new scenic walkway connecting the Thomas Cole site with frederic church's olana over the hudson river. The goal of all programs at the Thomas Cole site is to enable visitors to find meaning and inspiration in Thomas Cole's life and work. The themes that Cole explored in his art and writingssuch as landscape preservation and our conception of nature as a restorative powerare both Historic and timely, providing the opportunity to connect to audiences with insights that are highly relevant to their own lives.