About
The Thomas Cole National Historic Site showcases the life and work of Thomas Cole (1801- 1848), whose American landscape painting defines an enduring visual identity for the nation. Inspired by the natural beauty that surrounds the site, Cole founded the influential Hudson River School art movement. The site’s six-acre campus in Catskill, NY, includes Cole’s home and two studio buildings; the Cole Center, a new visitor center designed by Architectural Digest 100 Stephen Shadley; gardens and grounds with panoramic views of the Catskill Mountains; and a scenic walkway over the Hudson River connecting the site with Olana, the historic home of artist and Cole student Frederic Church. The Thomas Cole Site hosts exhibitions as well as art-making activities and innovative school and public programs. Visitors experience first-hand the themes that Cole explored, from the power of art to landscape preservation to the restorative properties of nature. The Thomas Cole Site is a National Historic Landmark and an affiliated area of the National Park System, and it operates as an independent 501c3 nonprofit organization.
Mission Statement
The Thomas Cole National Historic Site promotes the art and vision of Thomas Cole whose American landscape painting inspires an enduring identity for the nation.
Vision Statement
To spark a love for art and nature through the work of Thomas Cole.
Staff & Volunteers
STAFF
Maura O’Shea, Executive Director
Sonjia Ashley, Gardener
Margaret DiStefano, Visitor Services & Publications Coordinator
Jessica Goon, Senior Manager of Events, Marketing, & Visitor Operations
Jennifer Greim, Director of Advancement & External Affairs
Bob Howard, Grounds & Facilities Assistant
Amanda Malmstrom, Associate Curator
Eugene O’Brien, Bookkeeper
Heather Palmer, Director of Visitor Engagement
Jeff Evans, Grounds and Facilities Assistant
Jordan Shook, Business Coordinator
Paul Stankus, Senior Development Manager
Beth Wynne, Education Coordinator
2025 VOLUNTEERS
Donna Betts
David Blair
Ted Hilscher
Dorian Hyland
Kimberly Kaplan
Taylor Mignone
Anna Papadakis
Adrianne Pierce
Audrey Trossen
Class of 2026 COLE FELLOWS
Maya Junkins
Peyton Masilun
Board of Trustees
Emma Davidson Tribbs, Chairman
Warner Shook, Vice Co-Chair
Evelyn Trebilcock, Vice Co-Chair
Tom de Swardt, Treasurer
Catherine Lockyer Moulton, Secretary
Maura O’Shea, Executive Director
Erin Dziedzic
Carrie Feder
Marianne Lockwood
Nina Matis
Anne J. Miller
Jenny Park Adam
Stephen Shadley
Hudson Talbott
Susan G. A. Warner
Trustees Emeritus
Susan Ball
Stephen Dunn
Linda Gentalen
Michel Goldberg
Sybil Tannenbaum
Maynard Toll
Jack Van Loan
Chairman Emerita
Lisa Fox Martin
Executive Director Emerita
New Studio, © Peter Aaron/OTTO
National Council
Kevin J. Avery, Senior Research Scholar, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Tim Barringer, Paul Mellon Professor in the History of Art, Yale University
Annette Blaugrund, Former director of the National Academy Museum and School of Fine Art, NYC
William L. Coleman, Wyeth Study Center Director, Brandywine Museum of Art/Farnsworth Art Museum
Linda S. Ferber, Senior Art Historian & Museum Director Emerita, New-York Historical Society
Ella M. Foshay, Independant Scholar
Eleanor Jones Harvey, Senior Curator (Painting & Sculpture), Smithsonian American Art Museum
Patricia Junker, Ann M. Barwick Curator of American Art, Seattle Art Museum
Elizabeth Kornhauser, Alice Pratt Brown Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Katherine Manthorne, Professor of Modern Art of the Americas, City University of New York
Mark D. Mitchell, Holcombe T. Green Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture, Yale University Art Gallery
Barbara Novak, Helen Goodhart Altschul Professor of Art History Emerita, Columbia University
Paul D. Schweizer, Director Emeritus, Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute
Nancy Siegel, Professor of Art History, Towson University
Kiki Smith, Artist
Scott Manning Stevens/ Karoniaktatsie (Akwesasne Mohawk), Associate Professor of Native American Studies and English; Director of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program; and Founding Director of the Center for Global Indigenous Cultures and Environmental Justice, Syracuse University
Alan Wallach, Ralph H. Wark Professor Emeritus of Art and Art History & Professor of American Studies, The College of William & Mary
OPEN HOUSE: Contemporary Art Advisors
Mark Dion
Stephen Hannock
Nicole Hayes
Nora Lawrence
Mary-Kay Lombino
Denise Markonish
Jason Rosenfeld
Lisa Sanditz
Jean Shin
Kiki Smith
Terri C. Smith
Marc Swanson
Jessica Wilcox
Newsletters
The Thomas Cole National Historic Site publishes an annual newsletter available here on our website. Learn about where we’ve been and where we’re going.
Annual Reports
Filled with information on our exhibitions, education, outreach and development and a letter from the Executive Director the Annual Report provides an exciting overview of the National Historic Site each year.
2019 Historic Structure Report on the 1815 Main House
The HSR was prepared by John G. Waite Associates, Architects, with support from the National Park Service.
Life at Cedar Grove Research Report
The Life at Cedar Grove research report was prepared by independent researcher Maureen Hart Hennessey for the Thomas Cole National Historic Site Interpretive Planning Project, with support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Land Acknowledgement
It is with gratitude and humility that we acknowledge that at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, we are learning, speaking, and gathering on the ancestral homelands of Muhheaconneok or Mohican, The People of the Waters That Are Never Still, who are the Indigenous peoples of this land. Despite tremendous hardship in being forced from here, today their community resides in Wisconsin and is known as the Stockbridge-Munsee Community. We pay honor and respect to their ancestors past and present as we commit to building a more welcoming space for all. We respect the enduring relationships that exist between these peoples and the land and waterways.
Cultural Landscape Report
The Cultural Landscape Report was prepared by Heritage Partners and Robert M. Toole.
Special appreciation to Raymond Beecher, the preservation angel who saved this National Historic Site, and whose research on aspects ofthe Cedar Grove story, as cited in the footnotes of this report, enriched this study.
The Thomas Cole Site’s programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
The Thomas Cole Site programs and operations are supported by the National Park Service, The Enoch Foundation, Marianne Lockwood, The Educational Foundation of America, The KHR McNeely Family Foundation, Kevin, Rosemary, and Hannah Rose McNeely, Evelyn D. Trebilcock & Douglas Hammond, Warner Foundation, Anonymous, The Aven A. Kerr Trust, Patti Matheney & Michael Schrom, Bumblebee Fund, The Cranshaw Corporation, James LaForce & Stephen Henderson, Jenny & Campbell Levy, The May Family Foundation, Tianaderrah Foundation, Illiana van Meeteren & Terence Boylan, and the Kindred Spirits Society of the Thomas Cole National Historic Site.
Staff photo by Adam T. Deen