We were delighted to join Catskill, N.Y. residents at an annual summer fundraiser celebrating a local site that has helped make the Village known around the world.

The well-attended June party for the Thomas Cole National Historic Site reminded us how lucky we are to be a part of a community where America’s first arts movement — popularly known today as the Hudson River School — began.

Catskill. N.Y.’s first art movement: The Hudson River School

We spoke recently with the site’s Executive Director, Betsy Jacks, about how the influence of the Hudson River School and its founding painter, Thomas Cole, lives on.

“When people have a picture in their heads of America the Beautiful, it comes back to the Hudson River School,” she says.

“Before Cole, the country didn’t have a strong sense of its own identity.

“Now, you might say it’s apple pie and baseball. Other people might say it’s the spectacular beauty of our country’s landscapes.”

The New Studio

Betsy oversaw the design, construction and May 2016 opening of the New Studio, a replica of Thomas Cole’s original studio, circa 1846.

Having lived in the area since 2003, Betsy says she’s excited that increasingly organizations such as Lumberyard are collaborating with the long-established network of artists in Catskill, N.Y.

“It’s a huge creative community. A lot of artists here say they were drawn to the area because of the art history.”

Betsy expects Catskill, N.Y.’s popularity to continue growing, particularly with the 2018 opening of a Thomas Cole exhibit at The Met.

The show will travel to the National Gallery in London and a complementary companion exhibit will be featured in Catskill, N.Y. in Cole’s replica studio, the New Studio.

We’re looking forward to checking it out.