The Olana Partnership has announced that its 21st annual Frederic Church Award Gala will honor Eleanor Jones Harvey and David Redden. The Frederic Church Award honors individuals who, through their vision, commitment and grasp of creative trends, make extraordinary contributions to American art and culture. This year’s virtual Frederic Church Award Gala will honor these two extraordinary individuals on December 9.

“The Olana Partnership is thrilled to present the 2020 Frederic Church Award to two extraordinary individuals, who have brought Frederic Church’s legacy in art and environmental thinking forward to new generations and deepened our understanding of Olana as a founding site of American cultural identity,” said Sean Sawyer, Washburn & Susan Oberwager President of The Olana Partnership.

Eleanor Jones Harvey is Senior Curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, a leading authority on American landscape painting, and champion of American Art at the national level. She is also the newest member of The Olana Partnership’s National Advisory Committee. This announcement coincides with the opening of her landmark exhibition, “Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture,” that celebrates the sweeping saga of how Humboldt’s groundbreaking scientific work shaped American cultural identity. Frederic Church’s engagement with Humboldt’s thinking is at the center of the exhibition, and Eleanor’s engagement with Church and his legacy as America’s foremost landscape artist extends from her decade as Curator of American Art at the Dallas Museum of Art (1992-2002), home to Church’s The Icebergs (1861). Church was also featured in her groundbreaking 2012 exhibition, “The Civil War and American Art.” The 2020 Frederic Church Award recognizes Eleanor’s leading role in bringing Church’s legacy forward to new generations.

David Redden’s 42 year-long career at Sotheby’s is the stuff of legend. Starting as a catalogue trainee, he served as Vice-Chairman from 2000 to 2016, and served as auctioneer for the Collections of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and the Estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, among many other roles. His headline-grabbing sales included “Sue,” the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex fossil ever recovered, and the manuscript of the Magna Carta now in the U.S. National Archives. Inspired by his home on Storm King Mountain, David has served the organizations that protect and preserve the Hudson Valley’s legacy of landscape, nature, and history, including chairing the boards of Scenic Hudson, Black Rock Forest, and The Olana Partnership. At Olana, he led the board in the development of the 2015 Strategic Landscape Design Plan that underpins the current transformation of the visitor experience. David is currently battling ALS, which has not prevented him from continuing his close interest in the Hudson Valley and from adding to his voluminous journals. The 2020 Frederic Church Award recognizes David not only for his crucial role in building our national heritage but also for the tremendous work he has done in service to the preservation and promotion of the Hudson Valley as a founding landscape of American art and identity.

Gala Benefit Committee contributors making a gift or pledge no later than October 28 will be listed on the formal printed invitation. To learn more about the 2020 Frederic Church Award Gala and to recognize Eleanor Jones Harvey and David Redden by joining the Gala Benefit Committee, contact Melanie Hasbrook, Director of Advancement & Marketing, at mhasbrook@olana.org or 518-751-6879.