Sara Johns Griffen, president of The Olana Partnership, testified before the Assembly Standing Committee on Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development on January 15th, 2013. She discussed the impact of state programs on cultural tourism sites like Olana State Historic Site, home of landscape painter Frederic Church. While Olana attracts over 130,000 visitors annually and has a $7.9 million economic impact, it remains relatively unknown nationally. Griffen argued New York State could better promote regional cultural attractions to increase tourism and economic development. She highlighted several promising state initiatives but noted more resources are needed for marketing and infrastructure.

1. Testimony before the Assembly Standing Committee on Tourism, Parks,
Arts and Sports Development
January 15th, 2013
By Sara Johns Griffen, President, The Olana Partnership
My name is Sara Griffen, and I am president of The Olana Partnership, the non-profit support arm
of Olana State Historic Site, home, studio, farm and 250-acre artist-designed landscape of
landscape painter Frederic E Church, in Hudson, NY. I am glad to have the opportunity to speak
today on the impact of various State programs in developing New York State’s tourism industry
from the perspective of Olana as an example of New York’s many cultural sites.
Olana is among the first National Historic Landmarks, designated in 1966, a recognition made all
the more remarkable because the entire 250-acre site, not just the house, was so designated in a
day when the focus was primarily on great houses and not as much on the surrounding landscape.
More recently, Olana was recommended by the National Parks Service for consideration as a
World Heritage Site, on par with the Taj Mahal. Fundamental to these designations is the
recognition that the homes of Frederic Church and his mentor, Thomas Cole, located directly
across the Hudson River in Catskill, epitomize America’s first art and conservation movement,
the Hudson River School of art.
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2. Saved from the auction block in 1966, thanks to a group called Olana Preservation Inc. and then
New York State, Olana has undergone a gradual transformation to restore it to Frederic Church’s
original vision. Over the years, The Olana Partnership has helped raise over $18 million towards
the restoration and enhancement of the site and its surrounding Viewshed.
Today Olana is recognized at least regionally – with 130,000 visitors a year, 25,000 of whom take
tours of the main house -- leading to an impact on the local economy of $7.9 million a year,
according to a model used by the National Parks Service. It has been featured in full page articles
in the New York Times as well as articles in the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe and
Washington Post, and a couple of years ago was a featured video on the Martha Stewart show.
Our galas in New York City honor such luminaries as Martha Stewart, Alice Walton of Walmart
and Crystal Bridges Museum fame, and top art and conservation leaders, leading the chief curator
for Harvard’s Fogg Museum to call Olana’s Gala “a landmark event in the field of American art”.
Bill Moyers called Olana “the queen among the jewels of the Hudson Valley”. Frederic Church’s
paintings are featured all over the world – a show is just about to open at the National Gallery of
London, moving onto the National Gallery of Scotland. The list goes on.
Despite these fairly impressive numbers and facts, Olana remains relatively unknown nationally
and internationally except by a certain segment of the population who actively seeks out cultural
experiences. If you ask a local person on the street, whether he or she lives in Albany or
Wisconsin, if they have heard of Olana, the invariable answer is “what’s that?”
On the other hand, if they are asked about Monticello, Mount Vernon, Hearst Castle, the
Biltmore, Shelburne Farms or the Norman Rockwell Museum, the answer is much more likely to
be positive.
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3. So, the question is whether Olana is just not as important as all these other sites or if the
marketing of Olana and other cultural tourism sites in New York State has just not been as
effective as it could be. I believe work needs to be done to position Olana, Thomas Cole’s Cedar
Grove and other great cultural landmarks in the Hudson Valley as core to “the birthplace of
American culture”, and in more effectively marketing this nationally important designation.
As many today have and will attest, cultural tourism is big business in the country. It is the one
of the fastest growing elements of tourism; celebrating a community’s cultural highlights leads to
community pride and a quality of life that makes it attractive for people to build homes and
businesses in that community. A case in point is Hudson, NY – because it has been able to
preserve and promote its historic authenticity, people, businesses, restaurants, and B&Bs are
proliferating. So the impacts reach considerably beyond tourism.
However, it is perceived by many in our field that New York State could do a better job in
providing the infrastructure to ensure that our sites are shown off in their best light, and in
marketing these cultural meccas. It has been painful to watch the struggle that New York State
Parks has undergone to try to provide high quality service with completely inadequate funding.
While there have been some improvements in the last couple of years, the fact is that at Olana,
with 250 acres, twelve buildings, and 130,000 visitors, the State provides one Historic Site
Manager, a couple of professional tour guides and the equivalent of 2 ½ maintenance people as
the professional staff – it is no wonder that the Site Manager has to spend much of her time as the
cashier.
When it comes to marketing funds, it has always been a mystery to many of us why State tourism
funding is provided to counties rather than regions – it has made little sense to focus just on
county attractions, when the attractions that would truly tell a compelling story are region-wide, if
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4. not State-wide and beyond. Of course, there are many wonderful people who work in the various
county tourism offices – but in terms of an effective regional campaign, it would seem to make so
much more sense to provide funding on a regional basis, along the same vein as the Regional
Economic Development Councils. We were therefore pleased to read that Hudson Valley
Tourism received funding for this very concept in the latest round of REDC funding.
We at The Olana Partnership (and we may speak from the perspective of representatives from
other historic sites) have also just never had any interaction with ESD from a tourism perspective.
While we have heard of the I Love New York program, we haven’t seen the impact in terms of
visitors citing the program as the reason they came to Olana. It is not to say that this doesn’t
happen but when we have done visitor surveys, we have rarely heard anyone say they came to
Olana because of the I Love New York program.
We have the sense that there are innovative professionals at ESD and the contracting advertising
agencies but we never have had the opportunity to talk with them about their ideas for effectively
positioning and marketing our sites. We could use help in reaching out to new audiences – we
know that the old historic site concept honoring the old, dead white male is long gone – but we
need to understand what is resonating with younger people, and national and international
audiences. Is it the backstairs tours? Is it promoting what made America tick culturally in the 19th
century that provided the roots for its greatness today? Is it how those ideas are translated to
contemporary, relevant and cool ideas now? Is it about action and movement – hikes, apps that
make the sites come alive, easy access to activities like swimming or boating in the Hudson River
that one day we hope will finally reach acceptable pollution standards across the board? We
think that the State’s resources can tap into some of these ideas but so far it hasn’t been easy to
find.
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5. We know that there are some exciting initiatives underway at the State level, which gives us hope
that this is turning around:
- First, we have continued to be impressed with the work of the Hudson River Valley
Greenway, which has served as a facilitating force for the cultural sites and communities
in the Hudson Valley; granted, their mission isn’t tourism, per se, but their work provides
a critical meeting ground for the exploration of regional marketing ideas;
- Second, we have profited greatly from the work of the Hudson Valley National Heritage
Area, which is managed by the Hudson Valley Greenway, again, in creating synergy
between the many cultural attractions in the valley;
- Third, we are excited about the new I Love NY campaign which apparently is going to
focus more efforts on promoting upstate New York. We have long felt that if even a
small percentage of the millions of people who visit New York City from other states and
countries realized that the Hudson Valley is a quick day trip for them on Amtrak or the
Taconic, they would be amazed by the riches of the region.
- Fourth, we are most encouraged by the progress underway at the Path Through History
program – the program seems to promote what many of us have believed for years, that
history and culture bring tourism, economic development and jobs.
- Fifth, we are pleased to see that the concept of Heritage Weekend, which started in
France and is now one of the most popular tourism programs in Europe, has received
support from the current administration and will be folded into the Path Through History
program.
- Sixth, we have been encouraged to see the recognition by the REDCs that tourism plays
such an important role in New York’s economy today. As a result of this growing
recognition, Olana was honored to be the recipient of both rounds of CFA funding.
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6. As a representative of the private side of one of the most successful public-private partnerships in
the State Parks system, I can tell you that it is much easier for me to get funding from private
donors when it is clear that New York State is actively engaged in doing its part in providing the
infrastructure for and promoting its attractions.
In sum, I would say that there are clear signs of progress in marketing the cultural attractions of
New York State; however, it is still unclear how much money and other resources will actually be
devoted to the programs. I have always understood that other states spent significantly more
money in marketing their states’ cultural attractions. If New York State can continue to make
serious inroads in taking care of and promoting its cultural attractions, it will be much easier to
engage the private sector – the hotels, restaurants and other core aspects of the hospitality
industry are ready to join in with packages and other joint programming for mutual benefit.
Further, many communities in NY are poised for continued growth if we can preserve and
promote what makes these regions so culturally unique. Thank you for the opportunity to speak
today.
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