“Glories of the Hudson” is a joint symposium convened by Olana State Historic Site and the Thomas Cole National Historic Site and hosted by The Fisher Center at Bard College in celebration of New York State’s 2009 Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial on Sunday April 26, 2009. The goal of this particular symposium is to expand and enrich our collective understanding of the Hudson River School of Art through the exploration of interdisciplinary intersections between art and other fields of inquiry in Hudson Valley history during and throughout the 400 years celebrated.

The Hudson Valley has long been at the forefront of popular movements in American history- the Hudson River and its surrounding communities have served as witness to four centuries of changing views in American culture, society, politics, and environment. In this call for papers, “Glories of the Hudson” seeks papers that demonstrate the interconnectivity between the art and architecture of the Hudson Valley and the larger historical narratives of Hudson Valley cultural, social, political, and environmental history.

This symposium is open to undergraduate and graduate students within a fifty-mile radius of Olana, Cedar Grove and Bard College. Candidates should submit a 300-500 word abstract and resume in MS Word or Adobe PDF format. Longer submissions will not be considered. Abstracts must contain a title page with author identification, but there should be no reference to the author’s identity elsewhere in the abstract to enable blind review.

All abstracts must be sent via email to: gregory-AT-thomascole-DOT-org by Feb 13th, 2009. Do not send abstracts via postal mail.

Your e-mail must contain: your name, school, its address, your major(s), anticipated date of graduation, and degree- contact phone, address and email- a short abstract of your manuscript- permission for Olana State Historic Site, The Olana Partnership, The Thomas Cole National Historic Site and/or Bard College to reproduce and/or publish your abstract in print or digitally for marketing and/or educational purposes, and a one page resume.

Authors will be notified of the results of the blind peer review by March 1st, 2009.
The symposium, Glories of the Hudson, occurs in conjunction with River-themed exhibitions opening in 2009 at both Olana and Cedar Grove. The inaugural exhibition for Olana’s changing exhibits gallery, Glories of the Hudson: Frederic Church at Olana, lends the symposium its name. The paintings, oil sketches and pencil drawings chosen document Church’s passion for the Hudson River as transformed by the seasons, weather and light. In addition to the material by Church, there will be a small selection of works by contemporaries inspired by the view of the River from Olana. A similar exhibition of over a dozen Hudson River School paintings depicting the Hudson River and its tributary streams will also be on exhibit at Cedar Grove.