Being Honored by The Olana Partnership at The New York Public Library
On Tuesday’s blog, I told you about the award I was to receive along with Morrison H. Heckscher, Chairman of the just re-opened, renovated American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, at the Olana Partnership 2012 Frederic E. Church Award Gala. We were congratulated for our support of Olana and for our life-long commitment to the field of American Arts. The gala benefitted the Olana Partnership, which works to protect and preserve Olana, the historic Persian-influenced home that landscape painter, Frederic Edwin Church built upon a hillside in the scenic Hudson River Valley. I happened to be in the area last Saturday and stopped in to see Olana. Unfortunately, I got there too late and the doors were closed. I took some photos of the exterior, which I attached at the end of this blog. Also, please scroll down to read my speech from the gala.
1 Here I am with Morrison Heckscher, my co-honoree. Photo: Adriel Reboh/PatrickMcMullan.com
2 And here I am with Thomas Woltz of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. Photo: Adriel Reboh/PatrickMcMullan.com
3 Posing with Lulu Wang, Lucy Walentzky, Morrison Heckscher, and Sara Griffen. Photo: Adriel Reboh/PatrickMcMullan.com
4 One of my guests was Stephen Orr, Editorial Director of Gardening at MSLO. Photo: Adriel Reboh/PatrickMcMullan.com
5 I posed with the eleven talented artists who collaborated on 'Letters Of Olana,' the photo exhibit on display. The work displayed their experiences exploring Church's home. Photo: Stanislava Georgieva/Photographer4Rent.com
6 I was captivated by the art. Photo: Stanislava Georgieva/Photographer4Rent.com
7 Here I am with Sara Griffen. Black and red were the colors of the evening! Photo: Adriel Reboh/PatrickMcMullan.com
8 Sara Griffen and Thomas Woltz
9 Jack Warner and Susan Austin Warner
10 Here I am with Sandy Frucher, the Vice Chairman of NASDAQ, his wife Floss, and Adrian Benape, NYC Parks Commissioner and guest at my table.
11 The famous photographer, Bill Cunningham, at work
12 Bill Cunningham works for the New York Times and is known for his fashion and street photography. Photo: Inga Moren
13 The guests at my table included Memrie Lewis, Fritz Karch, David Mann, Stephen Orr, Adrian Benepe, Joshua David, Todd Forrest, Thomas Savage, and Mortimer and Jackie Sackler.
14 Here I am at the gala with my friend Memrie Lewis and Todd Forrest, head of Horticulture for the NY Botanical Garden.
15 The gala was held in the spectacular and spacious Celeste Bartos Forum in the New York Public Library.
16 The rose centerpieces on the tables were quite gorgeous!
17 As were the large cycad frond displays
18 Richard T. Sharp, the Chairman of The Olana Partnership gave a warm welcome.
19 Richard Sharp helped open the Evelyn and Maurice Sharp Gallery at Olana. Photo: Adriel Reboh/PatrickMcMullan.com
20 Richard T. Sharp's welcome was followed by another from Sara Johns Griffen, Washburn S. and Susan M. Oberwager President of The Olana Partnership
21 Sara Griffen at the podium
22 Another view of the room and this well-attended affair
23 Thomas L. Woltz, of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, presented me with my honor.
24 Here I am at the podium accepting my award.
25 I spoke about Frederic Edwin Church, who built Olana and about the Olana Partnership and all that it does to protect and preserve this American treasure.
26 The beautiful award that was presented to me! Photo: Adriel Reboh/PatrickMcMullan.com
27 Returning to my table after my speech
28 The woman in the black dress is Lulu Wang, a trustee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She was the co-chair of the gala along with Lucy Rockefeller Waletzky, MD.
29 Nina Diefenbach and Lulu Wang. Photo: Adriel Reboh/PatrickMcMullan.com
30 Eli Wilner is the leading dealer and authority on antique and period frames. Photo: Adriel Reboh/PatrickMcMullan.com
31 Daniel Boulud’s Feast & Fetes catered the delicious dinner. http://www.danielnyc.com/feastandfetes.html
32 Executive Chef Olivier Gagne
33 Jean-Christophe Le Picart, Managing Director of Feast & Fetes, applying garnish
34 The dinner entree was a Duo of Beef - Braised Short Ribs in Red Wine and Tenderloin with Wild Mushrooms, Salsify, Crosnes, Satur Farms Carrots, Celery Root Mousseline.
35 Waiters wear gloves so that they can serve the dinner on warm plates to keep the food at the proper temperature.
36 Beginning the dessert assembly
37 Dessert assembly - Chef Olivier adds raspberry coulis to each plate.
38 The finished dessert - Dark Chocolate Dacquoise Manjari Crémeux with Caramelized Hazelnuts Sliced Vanilla Poached Pear over Red Berry Coulis with a 'signature' gold leaf garnish
39 Dessert service
40 More dessert
41 This server had rock candy stirrers and cream for the coffee.
42 Assembling the petits fours
43 Lemon curd tartlets topped with a blueberry
44 Plates of petits fours
45 Following dinner, there was a live auction. My offer, a tour and lunch for eight guests at either my Bedford, NY home or Skylands, my home in Maine went for $17,000!
46 My co-honoree was Morrison H. Heckscher, the Lawrence A. Fleischman Chairman of the American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
47 Here is Morrison Heckscher giving his acceptance speech.
48 Steven Orr, our garden editor and I admired the cycad frond arrangements.
49 Last weekend, I stopped at Olana - A view of the mighty Hudson River from the grounds of the estate
50 Another majestic view
51 A corner of Olana
52 There is so much interesting and attractive stone and tile work on the exterior of this Persian-influenced building.
53 More of the exterior and side entrance
54 More exterior detail
55 The backside of the house
Thank you, Thomas [Landscape Architect Thomas Woltz], for the lovely introduction. And thank you to Rose Harvey [NYS Parks Commissioner], Kimberly Flook [Olana Site Manager] and the Olana Partnership board and staff, especially Chairman Rick Sharp and President Sara Griffen. I am honored to be recognized in this way. I would also like to congratulate my fellow honoree, Morrie Heckscher [Morrison H. Heckscher, Lawrence A. Fleischman Chairman of the American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art]––I am flattered to be in your company! And, of course, I am delighted to be part of the Olana Partnership’s 2012 Frederic E. Church Award dinner.
I have a great appreciation for Frederic Edwin Church and the home he created on a hillside in the Hudson River Valley. Church was a true visionary not only as a painter, but as an architect, a designer and a landscape artist. I was also interested to discover that he was, at one time, the Parks Commissioner in New York City! His appreciation of Central Park may have been one reason that Church hired Calvert Vaux to design Olana. Vaux’s reputation for collaboration was surely another! Church was deeply involved in the project—he did everything from drawing ballusters and slate patterns for the roof to mixing all the colors. I’m sure some of the architects and designers in this room are thinking: “nightmare client!” In fact, Church’s immersion in the creation of Olana was such that Vaux eventually took to identifying himself a consultant on the project.
Church called Olana “the center of the world” and he believed it was as dazzling as his two-dimensional landscapes. When building a carriage drive approaching the house, he wrote to a friend, “I can make more and better landscapes in this way than by tampering with canvas and paint in the studio.” We are fortunate that Church has left us with landscapes rendered both in paint… and in earth, trees, water, and stone. And we are indebted to the Olana Partnership for all that it does to protect and preserve this American treasure.
Olana is more than a beautiful place with a unique house and glorious vistas of the Hudson River and its environs. It is an important place, too, as the home of a pioneering American artist whose magnificent landscape paintings celebrate nature at its most spectacular, helping to usher in the conservation movement of the late nineteenth century. Historic sites like Olana help us to know who we are, and where we come from. They connect us to our history and teach us about our past. They also serve to inspire us today. We, in turn, have a responsibility to preserve these sites. They are a valuable part of our nation’s heritage and a legacy we leave for future generations.
Thank you for this honor—and for your support of the Olana Partnership!
Hi Martha,
Congratulations on being honored! Gorgeous historic home and landscape. Beautiful gala and event. Your look amazing Martha, Love your dress very elegant and tres chic. Happy Friday and A happy weekend xo
Posted by: Rowaida Flayhan | January 20th, 2012 at 5:39 am
Wow, the Celeste Bartos Forum room at the New York Public Library looks beautiful in the pictures. The lighting is fantastic. My favorite part of the room though was the large cycad frond displays, impressive! I love your dress Martha, very classy. Congratulations on your award and thanks for showing us more pictures of Olana. The views are spectacular. I enjoyed reading your speech. I got a kick out of hearing how Mr. Church was so hands on in the planning and building of Olana! Have a good weekend Martha!
Posted by: Cindy F | January 20th, 2012 at 9:00 am
Hi Martha, First of all, we are having power outages in our area south of Seattle and I'm praying I can comment on your wonderful Olana blog before ours goes out again. 300,000 have outage right now-we had about 3 hours of outage on Wed. night and a brief one at 3:30AM today. I want to congratulate you for the honor you received from the spectacular Olana Partnership! You certainly are a great supporter of that super, valuable heritage of our nation! Thanks for sharing the Olana website-those photos are stunning and so are yours! Thanks also for sharing your acceptance speech-another terrific speech! As I said in your previous blog about Churches beautiful home, I would love to visit if I ever get to NYC! Love your TV Shows, tweets, blogs, etc. to see everyday! You always make me happy no matter what's going on! Hope you have a great day and super weekend! Off to read GKs blog about getting ready for the Westminster Dog Show!
Posted by: Jan Erickson | January 20th, 2012 at 9:27 am
Hi Martha,
Congratulations on your award. It looks like everyone had a fantastic time
You look marvelous
Karen
Posted by: Karen Tracy | January 20th, 2012 at 10:32 am
What a beautiful room. I so agree about preserving heritage. Having a sense of where we have come from is key in moving forward. You can't get to where you want to go unless you know where you are and where you have been.
The Olana Mansion is such a surprise to me. The Persian design is so unexpected and it is so sincere. I laughed about a "nightmare client". When I built my little house I know my builder was annoyed with my insistence on details. Later on he did agree he was surprised how nice my little house turned out. The builder could not quite see what I could until the job was done and all those fussy details came together. It was a miniscule budget but the the beauty was in the details.
I hope you will get a chance to take your own shots of Olana one day soon and share them with us.
It is gently snowing today, so far in southern New Brunswick we have been blessed with a relatively mild winter. You can see some pictures of my walk to day on my blog http://blog.seapetal.com/2012/01/walk.html
Posted by: Rachel | January 20th, 2012 at 10:46 am
You look lovely in Photos. It is wonderful you continue showing your times and life to us. Beauty week inspires me to learn much about feeling and looking better. Hallmark continues network in tradition of uplifting shows teaching us LIVING.
Posted by: ann | January 20th, 2012 at 11:20 am
Martha,
Congrats on your award. I'm so glad you included your speech it was nice to read. Thanks for sharing this blog. Have a great weekend.
Posted by: KLBrown | January 20th, 2012 at 12:27 pm
I had never heard of Olana. Our children are very appreciative of the arts (ages 8 and 13)...this may be a "must see" for the summer months.
Your speech was inspiring. I am fascinated by the idea of becoming an artist with the landscape, rather than painting or drawing it. I am not very artistic on paper; however, I think of myself as visually artistic. I will push myself a bit more now...thanks for the inspiration.
Posted by: nantucketdaffodil | January 20th, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Hi Martha,
Two great people being honored at a gala for a great cause is too fantastic for words, at least for me, but I’ll do my best. Just to be part of that event had to be a great experience for all the attendees. Both of you work so tirelessly for what you believe in and that is what impresses me the most. You keep going and going and going. I read a little more about Mr. Heckscher online and was in awe. Both of you make me wonder, “When am I going to do anything great or will I ever do anything great.” Seeing the development of Bedford through your blog has been mind boggling but so is everything else that you do such as books, TV, magazines, your houses, your travels, your friends. You have so many interests and you do everything so well. I can only imagine how great you feel to be recognized for your work. I only know you through the media but I have to say, it makes me feel good also whenever you win an award and I don’t say that to just anyone! Congrats again. Trish
Posted by: Trish | January 20th, 2012 at 1:21 pm
'K, so how did I never manage to see Olana House in all the years I lived in the northeast?? I am definitely checking it out on my next trip.
Congratulations, Martha.
Posted by: Melanie | January 20th, 2012 at 1:38 pm
Loved your dress Martha...you look fabulous.
Nice award to receive...congratulations!
Posted by: sherey | January 20th, 2012 at 1:39 pm
.
I would travel the mighty oceans,
and never give a care.
I would climb the highest mountains,
and take on any dare.
I would sing and dance forever,
take a thousand tours,
If only I had a little black dress,
that looked as good as yours.
.
.
Luv and best wishes always.
.
Posted by: celia stock | January 20th, 2012 at 5:11 pm
Martha,
Congratulations. We all need inspiration so thank you for helping us find it.
Well done--as always.
Posted by: margie | January 20th, 2012 at 9:02 pm
Aloha! Martha. I think the Martha Stewart shows on Hallmark are fantastic! Everyday, while I am at home, I have the TV tuned to the Hallmark Channel to watch and listen to Mad Hungry(I love her family friendly way of preparing meals - especially this week when Lucinda made some favs in Hawaii - Japanese food! so ohno!),Emeril(love him!),Petkeeping ( I've learned so much from this show - my fav!)and of course, your show comes on after these. I've been watching your show since it was on network tv and now that it's on cable that's even better - because, I love the HMC. Your shows this week- dealing with beauty have been great! Please do more like these and I'm going to purchase the Food Book- I already subscribe to Food & Whole Living Magazine. Aloha!
Posted by: Malani | January 20th, 2012 at 10:11 pm
Congratulations Martha on being honored by the Olana Partnership for your support of the arts at the Olana Partnership’s 2012 Frederic E. Church Award dinner. What would we do without the Olana Partnership and their keen protection of our national treasures? Your support is very much appreciated!
Posted by: Leslie Macchiarella | January 20th, 2012 at 10:53 pm
Hello Martha,
Celia wrote a sweet poem however it is the lady in the dress that makes it simply beautiful. Congratulations on your award!
I just retired a year ago so I am enjoying your TV show and getting some wonderful ideas. During one of your Christmas shows I was amazed to see you use the rolling pin with the ball bearings in the handles. That will be on my Christmas list in 2012.
Thank you for all you do. The kindness you extend to children on your show is a joy to see and they respond to you.
I will keep following you and know you are in my thoughts and prayers.
Posted by: Judy Barnhill | January 21st, 2012 at 1:45 am
Reading the previous post I remembered that many years ago my husband and I had stopped to see Olana returning from a drive up the Hudson and it had already closed for the day and was quite strangely deserted. It was almost as though we were trespassing on a private home. The anticipation and subsequent disappointment are still memorable after nearly 35 years. How funny! Thanks for the photo tour. I feel that I am catching up on some plans I might have had to leave behind. How wonderful the internet is with the freedom to view and read about whatever comes to mind!
Posted by: jw | January 21st, 2012 at 7:59 pm
Martha. You Look AMAZING! Age Seems To Aquire Your BEAUTY.And Also Congrautes On Your Award.
Posted by: Darlene Martinez | January 22nd, 2012 at 9:27 am
I am not surprised that your guided tour and lunch for eight at your home in NY went for thousands of dollars! Martha, you are an American icon, those fortunate individuals will be talking about that meal for years to come! Congradulations on being honored for such an award! I am very proud that you were born an American and we can claim you as our own!
Posted by: edwina | January 25th, 2012 at 6:50 pm
Dear Martha,
Congratulations for being honored for your contribution to the nation and world again. I'm from Malaysia and I am your fan. I regularly read your articles or your shows in TV. In fact, I became attracted to you after seeing the movie about you going through the tough times. I was fascinated on how you can overcome all the obstacles and be one of the world famous person again. You are my inspiration. My dream is to start my own business. But I'm waiting for my children to grow a bit older. The very utmost reason for me to write is for my daughter. She is only 7+ but her passion in food is extraordinary. She imagines and creative in telling me on how to prepare or decorate a dish. She is not afraid to try any new dish or food to get the taste of it. Her dream is to be a chef (at this moment)and I would like you to inspire her with your success story. I'm hoping that your success story will boost and cultivate her inborn talents. Do you have anything like magazines or articles with pictures that I could make like a scrapbook for her. I could not subscribe your magazines as im outside US. How do I order it? She can read from your website but I would like to have some hardcopies where she can enjoy looking at it whenever she wants. Appreciate your help. Thank you.
Posted by: Ms Papathy | January 26th, 2012 at 5:34 am
Congratulations Martha,
I wish I could have done the centerpieces for the event! I was head florist at R.I., Inc. from 1993-2000; you saw plenty of my arrangements I can tell you! I hope you had gorgeous Persian inspired arrangements that were worthy! I'm in Sedona, AZ now; I miss venues like Bryant Park!
Posted by: Janet Jenkins | February 9th, 2012 at 4:01 pm