LMMM to feature Talk on Olana, Artist Frederic Church’s Masterpiece

On Sunday, May 21, 2023, 2-4 p.m., Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum will feature a talk by Sean Sawyer, Ph.D. titled, “Frederic Church at Olana: Art, Ecology, and the Native Forest.” The Lecture series is chaired by LMMM Trustee Kathy Olsen. This lecture will be held at Stepping Stones Museum for Children’s Multimedia Gallery, 303 West Ave., Norwalk, CT. To reserve tickets attendees can visit the Events page on the Museum’s website at www.lockwoodmathewsmansion.com. Admission is $15 for LMMM members, $20 for non-members. Light refreshments will be offered following the presentation. A National Historic Landmark and New York State Historic Site, Olana is the masterwork of Frederic Church (1826-1900), America's preeminent 19th-century artist. As a painter, Church defined our national identity as inextricably linked to the majesty of the natural world. At Olana, Church sought to marry aesthetic endeavor and environmental action, and at the core of the endeavor was the ambitious reforestation of 250 acres of overworked land with native trees. Since 1971, The Olana Partnership and New York State Parks have worked tirelessly to restore Olana in a pioneering public-private partnership that has become a model for the nation. Sean Sawyer, President of The Olana Partnership, will discuss how Church engaged with the emerging field of ecology, first in his tutelage with Thomas Cole and by literally following in Humboldt’s footsteps in his meteoric rise as the country’s most celebrated landscape painter. The talk then explores Church’s four decade-long development of Olana, where he immersed himself in “landscape architecturing” to speak to the history of the land and human impact on it. Sean Sawyer, Ph.D., has been Washburn & Susan Oberwager President of The Olana Partnership, since May 2015. He received a B.A. summa cum laude in Art History & Archaeology from Princeton University in 1988 and his Ph.D. in Architectural History from Columbia University in 1999. Prior to joining Olana, Sean was the Executive Director of The Royal Oak Foundation, the American partner of the National Trust of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. He began his non-profit career as Executive Director of the Wyckoff House Museum in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. Sean is a member of the Columbia Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors and the Village of Kinderhook Historic Preservation Commission. LMMM’s 2023 programs are made possible in part by CT Humanities with generous funding provided by Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) from the Connecticut State Legislature; LMMM’s Founding Patrons: The Estate of Mrs. Cynthia Clark Brown; LMMM’s Leadership Patrons: The Sealark Foundation; and LMMM’s 2023 Season Distinguished Benefactors: The City of Norwalk, The Maurice Goodman Foundation, and Lockwood-Mathews Foundation, Inc. For more information on tours and programs, please visit www.lockwoodmathewsmansion.com, email [email protected], or call 203-838-9799.

Event Links

Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/1570523-0

Website: https://go.evvnt.com/1570523-2

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