A new spotlight exhibition, presenting a visual dialogue of two craft-based women artists across three centuries: 19th-century artist Emily Cole, daughter of Thomas Cole, and 21st-century artist Valerie Hegarty. Entry included with General Admission tickets. 

A career retrospective of the acclaimed artist. The exhibition celebrates the work of the late, award-winning artist Hudson Talbott, whose talents have inspired audiences for decades through his children’s picture books, including one on Thomas Cole. FREE tickets available in the Cole Center. 

Opening April 25

The inaugural exhibition in the new Richard Sharp Gallery, presenting a dynamic installation of landscape paintings, painting objects, and easels of Thomas Cole (1801–1848) that explores his evolution into an artist of international renown whose paintings conveyed a visual identity for a young nation and continue to inspire artists to this day. The exhibition features an iconic Cole painting newly gifted to the collection by Richard T. Sharp.

The Thomas Cole National Historic Site will present the 2026 initiative “Thomas Cole: Painting the Nature of America,” in celebration of America 250, including three exhibitions and programming. In the early 19th-century, Thomas Cole (1801-1848) transformed the landscape of the United States into an iconic symbol of the country, giving rise to its national identity of America the beautiful.