What’s Out There Weekend Rhinebeck & the Mid-Hudson Valley Sept. 30-Oct. 1 Features Two Dozen Free, Expert-Led tours of Parks, Gardens, & Open Spaces
Media Contact: Nord Wennerstrom | T: 202.483.0553 | M: 202.255.7076 | E: nord@tclf.org
Part of a nationwide program that reveals the stories of places that are part of our daily lives
Washington, D.C. (August 24, 2023) – The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) announces What’s Out There Weekend Rhinebeck & the Mid-Hudson Valley September 30-October 1, 2023, featuring two dozen free, expert-led tours of parks, gardens, and open spaces in Dutchess County, N.Y. These tours enable people to discover the design history of places they may pass every day but don’t necessarily know about. Expert guides provide rich stories, personal anecdotes, and keen observations about each site, landscape architecture, city shaping, and garden design (all tours are free, but attendance is limited and registration is required). Dutchess County’s landscape legacy includes myriad parks, cultural institutions, and historic sites and neighborhoods, including Blithewood Garden, Innisfree, Springside, Vassar College, sites associated with Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and many others.
In addition to the tours, TCLF will produce a printed What’s Out There Rhinebeck & the Mid-Hudson Valley guidebook that includes all of the tour sites (available for purchase and free as a downloadable PDF), and a more expansive and ever-growing digital What’s Out There Cultural Landscapes Guide to Rhinebeck & the Mid-Hudson Valley (which TCLF maintains in perpetuity). The digital Guide includes an illustrated history of the city’s cultural landscape heritage, more than 40 individual site entries, and biographies of more than two dozen designers who collectively shaped the landscapes that people in Dutchess County move through every day. “By making the people and stories behind these landscapes visible and bringing to life their unique value and civic contributions for all, we can better understand where we’ve come from as a community and where we are going,” said Charles A. Birnbaum, TCLF’s President and CEO.
Research gathered for the tours will have a long-lasting legacy, becoming part of TCLF’s permanent What’s Out There database of more than 2,600 sites across North America, 1,200 designer profiles, and 13,000 images. The GPS-enabled database is a go-to resource for everyone from schoolchildren to scholars seeking trustworthy online information.
TOUR SCHEDULE – All tours are free, but attendance is limited and registration is required.
SATURDAY – September 30
• Blithewood Garden | 10:00 – 11:00 AM | led by Bridget Maple (Bard College Formal Gardener);
• Wilderstein Historic Site | 10:00 – 11:00 AM | led by TBD;
• Staatsburgh State Historic Site | 10:00 – 11:00 AM | led by David Murray (Volunteer Guide, Staatsburgh Historic Site);
• Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery | 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM | led by TBD;
• Edgewater | 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM | led by Art Carson (Tour Guide, Edgewater);
• Hackett Hill Park (New Guinea Community) | 12:00 – 12:45 PM | led Susan McIntosh (Research Committee Chair, Celebrating the African Spirit) and Jackie Harper (Research Committee, Celebrating the African Spirit);
• Locust Grove Estate | 12:30 – 1:30 PM | led by Kenneth Snodgrass (Director and Curator, The Locust Grove Estate & Locust Lawn Farm);
• Springside | 1:00 – 2:30 PM | led by Harvey Flad (Professor Emeritus of Geography, Vassar College);
• College Hill Park | 2:00 – 3:00 PM | led by Nancy Foster (President of the Revive College Hill Park Coalition) and Barbara Restaino (Restaino Design and Treasurer of the Revive College Hill Park Coalition);
• Vassar College | 3:00 - 4:30 PM | led by Yvonne Elet (Professor of Art, Vassar College);
• Denning’s Point | 2:00 – 4:00 PM | led by Margie Ruddick (Margie Ruddick Landscape);
SUNDAY – October 1
• Innisfree Garden | 9:30 – 11:00 AM | led by Kate Kerin (Landscape Curator, Innisfree Garden);
• Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park | 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | led by Walkway Ambassadors (TBD);
• Hoyt House | 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | led by David Lund (Volunteer Guide, Staatsburgh State Historic Park);
• Wethersfield Estate & Garden | 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM | led by Toshi Yano (Landscape & Horticulture Advisor and Former Director of Horticulture, Wethersfield Estate & Garden);
• Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site | 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM | led by Michael Autenrieth (National Park Service Interpretative Ranger);
• Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site Formal Garden | 12:00 – 12:45 PM | led by Frederick W. Vanderbilt Garden Association Tour Guides;
• “T” Space Reserve | 12:00 – 1:00 PM| led by Marisa Espe (Communications Director, Steven Holl Architects);
• Scenic Hudson’s Long Dock Park | 1:00 – 2:00 PM | led by Michelle Crowley (Crowley Cottrell), Scott Geiger (Reed Hilderbrand) and Rita Shaheen (Scenic Hudson);
• Bellefield | 1:15 – 2:00 PM | led by Karen Waltuch (Horticulturist, Beatrix Farrand Garden Association);
• Montgomery Place | 2:00 – 3:00 PM | led by Henry Woods (Garden and Grounds Docent, Montgomery Place);
• Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site | 2:15 – 3:00 PM | led by Anna de Cordova (National Park Service Horticulturalist);
• Mount Gulian Historic Site | 3:00 – 4:00 PM | led by Gabriel Byrne (Administrative and Events Coordinator);
• Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site | 3:30 – 4:00 PM | led by Anna de Cordova (National Park Service Horticulturalist).
What’s Out There Weekend Rhinebeck & the Mid-Hudson Valley dovetails with TCLF’s web-based What’s Out There, the nation’s most comprehensive searchable database of historic designed landscapes. The database currently features more than 2,600 sites, 13,000 images, and 1,200 designer profiles. What’s Out There is optimized for iPhones and similar handheld devices, and includes What’s Nearby, a GPS-enabled feature that locates all landscapes within a given distance, customizable by mileage or walking time.
What’s Out There Weekend Rhinebeck & the Mid-Hudson Valley is made possible by Lead Sponsors Dutchess Tourism and the Town of Rhinebeck; Presenting Sponsors Furthermore, a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund, and Maple Leaf Associates; Education Partners ASLA New York Upstate, Dutchess County Historical Society, and Innisfree Garden; along with many Supporting Sponsors and Friends.
About The Cultural Landscape Foundation
The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1998 with a mission of “connecting people to places.” TCLF educates and engages the public to make our shared landscape heritage more visible, identify its value, and empower its stewards. Through its website, publishing, lectures, and other events, TCLF broadens support and understanding for cultural landscapes. TCLF is also home to the Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize.
Editors: Click here for hi-res press images.
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