GREENPORT—The room isn’t large; in fact it was once a guest bedroom, and it requires navigating two narrow stairways in a section of the mansion few visitors have seen. But the roughly 18-foot square room, with its ornate fireplace and majestic view southward down the Hudson Valley looms large in the future of the state historic site at Olana.
The room is now the Evelyn and Maurice Sharp Gallery, named in honor of the parents of Olana Partnership Trustee Richard T. Sharp. It opens to the public this Saturday, May 23, with a show called Glories of the Hudson: Frederic Church’s Views from Olana, a show that includes works by artists other than Church, the renowned 19th century painter and designer, who built the Moorish style home that has become a regional icon for the Hudson River School of art. A preview of the show was offered to trustees and supporters last weekend, and the ribbon on the room was cut Tuesday.