Manhattan’s winter black tie circuit got an elegant kick-start on Wednesday night with The Olana Partnership 2012 Frederic E. Church Award Gala held at the New York Public Library.
With celebratory cocktails and a decadent dinner catered by renowned chef Daniel Boulud, The Olana Partnership honored media mogul Martha Stewart and Morrison Heckscher, Lawrence A. Fleischman Chairman of the American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with the Frederic E. Church Award (FEC). The glamorous evening was co-chaired by Lucy Waletzky, MD and Lulu Wang.
With 265 guests in attendance, the Gala raised more than $670,000 for The Olana Partnership. C. Hugh Hildesley of Sotheby's conducted a live auction which included a painting by famed Hudson River School-inspired artist Stephen Hannock framed by Eli Wilner and Co, and a day in the country with Martha Stewart.
The Olana Partnership and its Honorees
The Olana Partnership supports the conservation, preservation, development and improvement of the Olana State Historic Site (Olana) located just two hours north of New York City along the Hudson River. The eminent Hudson River School painter Frederic Edwin Church designed Olana, his family home, studio, estate and working farm as an integrated environment embracing architecture, art and landscape. Considered one of the most important artistic residences in the United States, Olana is a landmark of picturesque landscape gardening with a Persian-inspired house at its summit, embracing unrivaled panoramic views of the vast Hudson Valley. Olana is open to the public throughout the year and is a must-see for anyone with an appreciation for the way history, art and natural beauty can blend together into a seamless masterpiece.
As a modern icon who has forever shaped the way society views the domestic realm, Martha Stewart was recognized by The Olana Partnership for her significant commitment to American culture, decorative arts and landscape design. Stewart has consistently turned her passion for history, architecture, landscape, design, furniture and art into major public accomplishments while simultaneously helping Americans see how they can also make their homes and gardens a work of art. J.C. Penney’s recent investment in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, the multi-media company founded by Stewart, only reinforces the notion that Martha Stewart and her brand are forces with immense cultural influence and staying power.
Morrison Heckscher, another of the evening’s honorees, has been a member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art staff since 1969. Like Stewart, Mr. Heckscher was also recognized for his longstanding commitment and devotion to the field of American art and decorative arts. The FEC award was particularly fitting in its timing, as the Metropolitan is now celebrating the completed development and expansion of the American wing which Mr. Heckscher has overseen.
Preserving Olana
When asked about her personal connection to Olana and the emotional significance of her honor, Martha Stewart’s response was inspiring.
“I love American treasures and I have done a segment on my show on Olana, on its history and on its great creative, picturesque place in American history,” Stewart remarked. “Because I try very hard to help with the preservation efforts of so many people here in America, I think that is why I am being honored tonight,” she stated humbly. “What I care about is that Olana is saved for posterity,” Stewart expressed with sincerity. “That is what we should all be doing right now, is caring.”
Preserving Olana will always be a challenge, particularly in today’s uncertain economic climate. However, as Rose Harvey, Commissioner of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation indicated, there is strong support in Albany to maintain Olana’s cultural vibrancy.
“Olana is one of our model historic sites. It encompasses the landscape, the history, the art, the person, so it really embodies everything that is great about a historic site,” Harvey explained. “We are really proud of it and want to take very good care of it,” she said.
The Inspiration of Frederic E. Church
Similar to the evening’s honorees, Frederic E. Church was a visionary of his time in the fields of art, architecture, landscape and design. Upon any visit to Olana, it becomes evident that it is Church’s greatest work of art. The Olana Partnership’s goal is to inspire the public by preserving and interpreting Olana, and to create the most widely recognized artist’s home and studio in the world, vibrant with the activity of students, visitors and scholars.
Church’s work and Olana continue to inspire today’s artists as evidenced by the moving exhibition called “Letters to Olana” that was presented to the Gala’s patrons through a silent auction. The exhibition represents the collaboration of a group of eleven multicultural artists as part of an initiative led by photographer Carmen Molina and supported by The Olana Partnership. The works displayed featured the individual experiences each of the artists had as they visited and explored Church’s home.
“The images in the show are an expression of what we each perceived, felt, experienced as we immersed ourselves in the spirit, the rooms and the surroundings of his home,” said Carmen Molina. “By exposing a new generation of artists to the wonder of Frederic Church’s home, and, at the same time, by integrating our diverse and individual encounters in this exhibit, the intention was to create a more infinite and revealing experience of this treasure and contribute to keeping Olana timeless, vibrant and alive.”
Walking out of the New York Public Library onto the bustle of Fifth Avenue, the meaning of the evening truly sunk in. As an urban, technologically driven lifestyle portends to dominate our future, maintaining the serenity and soul touching beauty of places such as Olana becomes an even more important cause to care about.
Just some of the notabee attendees who came out to support Olana included, Morrison Heckscher, Martha Stewart, Sara Griffen, Adrian Benepe, Thomas Campbell, Rose Harvey, Stephen Hannock, Fritz Karch, Peter Kenny, Jeanie Kilroy, Memrie Lewis, Elizabeth Miller, Stephen Orr, Joseph Pierson, Emily Rafferty, Elizabeth Rogers, Jacqueline and Mortimer Sackler, Richard Sharp, Jack and Susan Warner, Lulu and Tony Wang, Lucy Waletzky, Eli Wilner and Thomas Woltz.
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