ALBANY, N.Y. — The Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area and the Thomas Cole National Historic Site have expanded the Hudson River School Art Trail to more than double its size and expand its reach beyond New York state.
The trail, which includes locations painted by Hudson River School painters that people can visit, was expanded from its original eight sites in New York to 17 sites in New York, two apiece in New Hampshire and Wyoming and one in Massachusetts.
It also includes a new website with hand-held optimization and an upcoming app. The expanded art trail was officially opened on June 2, National Trails Day.
The Hudson River School Art Trail was launched in 2005 to provide a series of hiking and driving trails that lead visitors to the places that inspired America’s first great landscape paintings in the 19th century.
The artists who created those paintings — Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, Jasper Cropsey, Asher B. Durand, Sanford Gifford and many others — were part of the art movement now known as the Hudson River School.
“The landscapes and views that comprise the Hudson River School Art Trail are a national treasure,” said Elizabeth B. Jacks, director of the Thomas Cole National Historic Site. “Visiting them awakens the same love of nature that inspired the Hudson River School artists in the 19th century. We’re delighted that the trail is now expanding both geographically and digitally.”
A new website lists all 22 sites and related visitors’ information.
