Programs + Events

Saturday, March 21st 2026, 1:00-2:00pm

Experience learning, looking closely, and conversation as a family during this series of special museum gallery program at Olana State Historic Site. Each month, The Olana Partnership educators will lead an exploration of two to three works of art on the second floor galleries through family-friendly dialogue and other hands-on activities. Extend your day at OLANA and head down to the Wagon House Education Center for a free drop-in program, Art Making in the Afternoon from 1-4 PM.

Designed for families with children ages 3 and up. FREE PROGRAM Advanced registration required. Please contact education@olana.org to learn more.

Saturday, March 21, 11:00AM-1:00PM

Get creative in the kitchen and art studio at Olana State Historic Site! Join The Sylvia Center Chefs and The Olana Partnership educators for a fun, family-friendly program focused on cooking food and making art inspired by Olana’s landscape and history. Try new foods and test new art materials together during this FREE family program!

For families with children 18 and under (children must be accompanied by an adult). This is the first in a series of four classes – register for one or all four! This program is FREE (suggested donation $12). Registration includes art-making supplies and all ingredients to make lunch. Advance registration required. For more information, please contact education@olana.org or call (518) 567-2170.

Saturday, Saturday, April 4, 2026 4:00-5:00PM

Test your knowledge of all things Olana during this special spring trivia night celebrating Frederic Church’s 200th birthday year! Join The Olana Partnership staff for a rousing game of trivia. Work in teams or test your luck solo. Winners and runners up will receive a special Olana prize pack.

For ages 18 and up; refreshments available for purchase. Must be 21+ to drink. $10 or FREE for members; in the Frederic Church Center for Art & Landscape.

Saturday, April 11th, 2026, 4:00pm-5:00pm

Learn more about Composing Olana, a new book devoted to illustrating why Frederic Church’s designed masterwork matters so profoundly in the history of American art and public parks. During an outdoor walk and conversation, explore LaFarge’s process of revealing the history of what we can and cannot see throughout Olana’s historic carriage roads. Discuss the histories embedded in Olana’s greater landscape such as the site’s Ice Age geology and the artists and conservationists who preserved this important National Landmark. This program will be moderated by Mark Prezorski, Senior Vice President & Landscape Curator.The program will begin in the Frederic Church Center for Art & Landscape and culminate with a wine and cheese reception. Registration required; $15/ FREE for members.

Annik LaFarges a writer, editor, photographer, and lecturer who has been writing about American parks and landscapes since 2008. Author of On the High Line (FUP, 2024), and Chasing Chopin, a New York Times Book Review “Editors’ Choice,” her work has appeared numerous publications including the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, Huff Post, and the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry. She is a Trustee of the Waterfront Museum in Brooklyn.

Saturday, April 18th, 2026, 1:00-2:00pm

Experience learning, looking closely, and conversation as a family during this series of special museum gallery program at Olana State Historic Site. Each month, The Olana Partnership educators will lead an exploration of two to three works of art on the second floor galleries through family-friendly dialogue and other hands-on activities. Extend your day at OLANA and head down to the Wagon House Education Center for a free drop-in program, Art Making in the Afternoon from 1-4 PM.

Designed for families with children ages 3 and up. FREE PROGRAM Advanced registration required. Please contact education@olana.org to learn more.

Saturday, April 18th, 11:00AM-1:00PM

Get creative in the kitchen and art studio at Olana State Historic Site! Join The Sylvia Center Chefs and The Olana Partnership educators for a fun, family-friendly program focused on cooking food and making art inspired by Olana’s landscape and history. Try new foods and test new art materials together during this FREE family program!

For families with children 18 and under (children must be accompanied by an adult). This is the first in a series of four classes – register for one or all four! This program is FREE (suggested donation $12). Registration includes art-making supplies and all ingredients to make lunch. Advance registration required. For more information, please contact education@olana.org or call (518) 567-2170.

Saturday, May 9th, 2026 from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM

Get your binoculars ready for a spring bird walk at Olana! Join the Alan Devoe Bird Club on an exploration through Olana’s artist-designed landscape while keeping eyes and ears open for birds of all shapes and sizes. Learn more about local bird species, habitats, and migrating behaviors during this special seasonal birding program. Open to birders of all levels. FREE. Advanced registration required. For more information, please contact education@olana.org or call (518) 567-2170.

FREE, advanced registration required. For more information, contact education@olana.org.

Image credit: Suzy Allman

Saturday, May 16, 3:00-4:30pm

Join esteemed curators and scholars for a special opening panel conversation around the exhibition Frederic Church: Global Artist. This flagship exhibition of Church’s bicentennial will bring visitors into Church’s expansive view of the world, featuring works inspired by Church’s travels across the Americas, the Middle East, and the North Atlantic. Join exhibition curators Tim Barringer, Elizabeth Kornhauser, and Jennifer Raab for an opening discussion examining how Church’s encounters with diverse environments shaped a visual language that was at once American, scientific, and cosmopolitan. This discussion will be held in the Frederic Church Center for Art & Landscape. Registration required; $15/ FREE for members.

From 5-7pm, members of The Olana Partnership are invited to an exclusive preview of the exhibition, Frederic Church: Global Artist followed by a celebratory drink on the East Lawn. Not yet a member? Join today at OLANA.org/membership

Saturday, May 23rd, 2026, 1:00-2:00pm

Experience learning, looking closely, and conversation as a family during this series of special museum gallery program at Olana State Historic Site. Each month, The Olana Partnership educators will lead an exploration of two to three works of art on the second floor galleries through family-friendly dialogue and other hands-on activities. Extend your day at OLANA and head down to the Wagon House Education Center for a free drop-in program, Art Making in the Afternoon from 1-4 PM.

Designed for families with children ages 3 and up. FREE PROGRAM Advanced registration required. Please contact education@olana.org to learn more.

Saturday, May 23rd, 11:00AM-1:00PM

Get creative in the kitchen and art studio at Olana State Historic Site! Join The Sylvia Center Chefs and The Olana Partnership educators for a fun, family-friendly program focused on cooking food and making art inspired by Olana’s landscape and history. Try new foods and test new art materials together during this FREE family program!

For families with children 18 and under (children must be accompanied by an adult). This is the first in a series of four classes – register for one or all four! This program is FREE (suggested donation $12). Registration includes art-making supplies and all ingredients to make lunch. Advance registration required. For more information, please contact education@olana.org or call (518) 567-2170.

Join us on Friday, June 5 for this exclusive day trip for OLANA members to The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, CT and enjoy a curator-led tour of Framing American Democracy: Radical Roots, a special exhibition commemorating the bicentennial of Frederic Church’s birth and the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 

What's included

• Deluxe motorcoach transportation to and from Olana State Historic Site
• Curator-led tour of the exhibition
• Free admission to The Wadsworth
• Catered lunch

Itinerary

1. Depart 7:45 am from the Olana State Historic Site
2. Curator-led tour of Framing American Democracy: Radical Roots
3. Time for lunch and self-guided exploration of The Wadsworth
4. Estimated return home to the Olana State Historic Site is 5:00pm 

This is an exclusive OLANA members event. Space is limited. 

Not yet a member? Visit OLANA.org/membership to join The Olana Partnership, receive invites to member-only programs, and support our work to restore, interpret, and protect Frederic Church's Olana.

Header image: Frederic Edwin Church (American, 1826-1900), Hooker and Company Journeying through the Wilderness from Plymouth to Hartford, in 1636, 1846. Oil on canvas. The Wadsworth. Museum purchase, 1850.9

Saturday, June 20th, 2026, 1:00-2:00pm

Experience learning, looking closely, and conversation as a family during this series of special museum gallery program at Olana State Historic Site. Each month, The Olana Partnership educators will lead an exploration of two to three works of art on the second floor galleries through family-friendly dialogue and other hands-on activities. Extend your day at OLANA and head down to the Wagon House Education Center for a free drop-in program, Art Making in the Afternoon from 1-4 PM.

Designed for families with children ages 3 and up. FREE PROGRAM Advanced registration required. Please contact education@olana.org to learn more.

Saturday, June 20th, 11:00AM-1:00PM

Get creative in the kitchen and art studio at Olana State Historic Site! Join The Sylvia Center Chefs and The Olana Partnership educators for a fun, family-friendly program focused on cooking food and making art inspired by Olana’s landscape and history. Try new foods and test new art materials together during this FREE family program!

For families with children 18 and under (children must be accompanied by an adult). This is the first in a series of four classes – register for one or all four! This program is FREE (suggested donation $12). Registration includes art-making supplies and all ingredients to make lunch. Advance registration required. For more information, please contact education@olana.org or call (518) 567-2170.

Saturday, July 18th, 2026, 1:00-2:00pm

Experience learning, looking closely, and conversation as a family during this series of special museum gallery program at Olana State Historic Site. Each month, The Olana Partnership educators will lead an exploration of two to three works of art on the second floor galleries through family-friendly dialogue and other hands-on activities. Extend your day at OLANA and head down to the Wagon House Education Center for a free drop-in program, Art Making in the Afternoon from 1-4 PM.

Designed for families with children ages 3 and up. FREE PROGRAM Advanced registration required. Please contact education@olana.org to learn more.

Saturday, August 22nd, 2026, 1:00-2:00pm

Experience learning, looking closely, and conversation as a family during this series of special museum gallery program at Olana State Historic Site. Each month, The Olana Partnership educators will lead an exploration of two to three works of art on the second floor galleries through family-friendly dialogue and other hands-on activities. Extend your day at OLANA and head down to the Wagon House Education Center for a free drop-in program, Art Making in the Afternoon from 1-4 PM.

Designed for families with children ages 3 and up. FREE PROGRAM Advanced registration required. Please contact education@olana.org to learn more.

Saturday, September 19th, 2026, 1:00-2:00pm

Experience learning, looking closely, and conversation as a family during this series of special museum gallery program at Olana State Historic Site. Each month, The Olana Partnership educators will lead an exploration of two to three works of art on the second floor galleries through family-friendly dialogue and other hands-on activities. Extend your day at OLANA and head down to the Wagon House Education Center for a free drop-in program, Art Making in the Afternoon from 1-4 PM.

Designed for families with children ages 3 and up. FREE PROGRAM Advanced registration required. Please contact education@olana.org to learn more.

Saturday, October 17th, 2026, 1:00-2:00pm

Experience learning, looking closely, and conversation as a family during this series of special museum gallery program at Olana State Historic Site. Each month, The Olana Partnership educators will lead an exploration of two to three works of art on the second floor galleries through family-friendly dialogue and other hands-on activities. Extend your day at OLANA and head down to the Wagon House Education Center for a free drop-in program, Art Making in the Afternoon from 1-4 PM.

Designed for families with children ages 3 and up. FREE PROGRAM Advanced registration required. Please contact education@olana.org to learn more.

Saturday, November 21st, 2026, 1:00-2:00pm

Experience learning, looking closely, and conversation as a family during this series of special museum gallery program at Olana State Historic Site. Each month, The Olana Partnership educators will lead an exploration of two to three works of art on the second floor galleries through family-friendly dialogue and other hands-on activities. Extend your day at OLANA and head down to the Wagon House Education Center for a free drop-in program, Art Making in the Afternoon from 1-4 PM.

Designed for families with children ages 3 and up. FREE PROGRAM Advanced registration required. Please contact education@olana.org to learn more.