All Over Albany

The Historic Woodstock Art Colony: The Arthur A. Anderson Collection at the State Museum

"Autumn Hillside" by George Ault

The State Museum opens a new exhibit -- The Historic Woodstock Art Colony: The Arthur A. Anderson Collection -- this Saturday. It includes more more than 100 pieces from a donation of 1,500 works connected to the Woodstock Art Colony that were donated by Anderson last year.

Exhibit blurbage:

Long before the famous music festival in 1969, Woodstock, New York, was home to what is considered America's first intentionally created, year-round arts colony--founded in 1902 and still thriving over 100 years later. Collecting the remarkable range of work produced there was Anderson's focus for three decades, resulting in the largest comprehensive assemblage of its type. The artists represented in it reflect the diversity of those who came to Woodstock, including Birge Harrison, Konrad Cramer, George Bellows, Eugene Speicher, Peggy Bacon, Rolph Scarlett and Yasuo Kuniyoshi, among many others. Anderson donated his entire collection--some 1,500 objects by almost 200 artists--to the State Museum.

The new exhibit will be on display through the end of 2019.

There's an opening reception this Saturday, November 10 from 1-3 pm, with a historian/curator tour at 2 pm.

A new season of Brainfood for the Curious is starting up at the State Museum

One of the talks is about the history of the museum, which was once in the State Education Building. / photo: New York State Museum

The State Museum's Brainfood for the Curious series of short lunchtime talks returns for a new season next week.

The 20-minute talks feature a scientist, curator, or historian in the museum's Huxley Theater starting at 12:10 pm. Afterward the speaker sticks around for a short a Q&A period. You're welcome to bring your lunch.

Talk topics this time around range from auto racing to the Erie Canal to art to ethnography to history to ice age animals to snails.

Here's the quick-scan lineup for the new season...

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The Cornplanter pipe tomahawk

It's currently on display in the the lobby behind the information desk.

We got a chance this week to stop in the State Museum and see an interesting artifact that's newly on display, Cornplanter's Pipe Tomahawk.

The piece was stolen from the museum sometime between 1947 and 1950, and only returned this past June by an anonymous donor. From the State Museum:

This tomahawk has particular significance--at one of several meetings between the U.S. and Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) leaders in the years 1792-1794, President George Washington gifted it to Gy-ant-waka, or Cornplanter, a respected Seneca leader, skilled diplomat, and eloquent speaker. On one side of the blade Cornplanter's name is engraved, and on the other side is the name John Andrus, possibly the maker. Pipe tomahawks emerged in the early 1700s and were commonly presented to Native American leaders by 18th-century colonial officials. They were considered prized objects because they could be used to smoke tobacco, a plant of cultural and spiritual significance to Indigenous people.

This pipe tomahawk was purchased around 1840 by Tonawanda Seneca Ely Parker from the widow of a Seneca named O-ya-weh-te, or Small Berry. Since the original handle, or haft, was missing, Parker replaced it to reflect what it once may have looked like, based on descriptions from Small Berry's widow. He also added a brass plate engraved with his name on bore end of the tomahawk's haft, just above the blade.

As with any object like this, it's kind of cool to examine and think about how it was probably once held by figures such as George Washington and a great Seneca leader. But maybe more importantly the object is a way to drop into the story of the past and get a better sense of it.

So let's follow a few the threads that connect here.

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The hills of Albany, almost 175 years ago

Here's a larger version.

The work above is "View of Albany, NY From the East." It's a print, the original of which was created by the artist Edwin Whitefield in 1845. And it's part of the new exhibit at the State Museum, Art of the Erie Canal.

The print caught our eye while looking through the exhibit because 1) Albany (obviously) and 2) it depicts an Albany that hadn't quite totally spread west up the hills from the river. Those hills are obscured by buildings in so many images of the city.

Whitefield apparently had a thing for cities and wanted to document them for history. Among his other cities works is the aptly-titled "View of Troy, N.Y. From the West."

The print on display in Art of the Erie Canal is from the State Museum's collection. The image above is via the Yale University Art Gallery.

Tracing the histories of family cookbooks, and bicycles on the road to suffrage at the State Museum

This photo -- of two women in the Schenectady area in the early 1900s -- is from the Larry Hart Collection at the Schenectady County Historical Society's Grems-Doolittle Library. That link is to a post on the library's blog about the wild early days of cycling in Schenectady.

Two upcoming State Museum talks that look interesting...

A Taste of Change
Food historian Peter G. Rose will be at the State Museum May 6 for a talk about family cookbooks. "Using her knowledge of Dutch customs and food history, [Rose] will discuss examples of such recipe/scrap-books, dating as far back as the late 17th century and ranging to the 20th century that contain Dutch recipes. They show the continued identification with the forebears, but also the gradual assimilation. This can apply to any other ethnicity as well. Photographs of pages in cookbooks as well as 17th-century paintings will illustrate the talk."

Rose is originally from The Netherlands and has written many books about the Dutch and their influence on the food and culture of the Hudson Valley. Her latest book is Delicious December: How the Dutch Brought Us Santa, Presents, and Treats. Sunday, May 6 at 2 pm -- free

Woman on a Wheel
State Parks historian Kjirsten Gustavson will be at the State Museum May 20 for a talk about women and the early history of bicycles. "Women astride their bicycles challenged cherished notions of femininity--everything from the concept of female dependence to their very appearance was about to change. Even Susan B. Anthony once said of the bicycle, "I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance." Join [Gustavson] for an illustrated talk on the way in which the bicycle helped to shape the modern woman and pave the way for suffrage."

Also: Gustavson will be there in her 1895 bicycle costume and you can join her for a bike ride. Sunday, May 20 at 1 pm -- free

Steuben Street Cafe at the State Museum

Check it out: There's a dining option in the State Museum once again.

The Steuben Street Cafe opened March 1 in a space on the mezzanine, which overlooks the front lobby of the museum. It's tucked into a space in the back of the mezzanine, and with the seating that was already there out front by the overlook.

The cafe is a spin-off of the Steuben Street Market on Pearl Street downtown. And it offers a range of snacks, sandwiches, salads, soups, smoothies, and drinks, with an emphasis on local and healthier options.

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Canstruction 2018

The annual CANstruction display has returned to the State Museum. Can-what?

CANstruction is an annual exhibit and design competition that connects talented architects, engineers, contractors, and students to imagine and create colossal structures built completely out of canned food items. The structures are on display on the fourth floor of the New York State Museum for two weeks, raising awareness of food insecurity in our region while highlighting the local talent of design firms. At the close of the exhibit, every can is donated to the Food Pantries for the Capital District to help feed families in the Capital Region.

This year's display has a "Bon Voyage" theme, and the structures play on the idea of travel in some way.

They'll be on display on the museum's terrace level through April 11.

Visitors can vote on their favorites by dropping canned goods into bins by each structure. The donations benefit the Food Pantries.

Here are a bunch of pics from this year's display...

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There was a coyote at the State Museum

A photo posted by NYS Police on Twitter Tuesday.

A thing that happened Tuesday: A coyote -- an actual, living, wild coyote -- found its way up onto the terrace of the State Museum around noon.

State Police responded, and in turn called in the state Department of Environmental Conservation. DEC said that wildlife technicians tranquilized the coyote and took the animal to the agency's wildlife lab for evaluation. A DEC police lieutenant told the media it's not clear if the coyote was sick, but it had been become trapped and was scared. [@nyspolice] [@NYSDEC] [@bern_hogan]

Let's hope the coyote avoids the usual ending to the wild animal story arc. (RIP, Runaway Bison and Albany Bear.)

Coyotes among us
That a coyote would show up around the State Museum -- or anywhere in Albany -- is actually not that surprising. That it would end being noticed is more so.

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Women of Science at the New York State Museum

Half of the research and collections professionals at the State Museum are women, and on February 10 it has a whole day of events lined up to highlight the science and research in which these women are engaged. Blurbage:

In recognition of the U.N. International Day of Women and Girls in Science we bring you this program honoring the women working in a variety of scientific discliplines right here in downtown Albany. Lectures, "Ask the Scientist" sessions, and scientific activities will be happening throughout the day.

The day includes hands-on activities that allow YOU to be the scientist. Examine specimens from our collections and ask questions of the women working in science at the edge of human discovery and preserving the wealth of knowledge in museum collections. Cultural Anthropology, Bioarchaeology, Archeology, Malacology, Botany, Geology and Paleontology are some of the fields represented in this amazing all-day extravaganza!

If you follow that link above, there are details about the events, along with short profiles of many of the scientists who will be participating.

The events are from 10 am-4 pm on Saturday, February 10. It's free.

And now... 50 seconds of science

The NYSM Vascular Plant Herbarium contains over 200,000 specimens of plants from New York State and beyond. These collections of the carnivorous butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris) were made in the 1800s from Tompkins and Monroe Counties. #ScienceTuesday https://t.co/plfK0hKLKB pic.twitter.com/iU3IrgqTvb

— NY State Museum (@nysmuseum) January 2, 2018

We've been enjoying these short videos the State Museum has been posting to Facebook and Twitter to highlight items from its huge collection.* There's a Science Tuesday series and a Humpday History series.

The one from today is embedded above. It's about carnivorous butterwort, which is hanging on in New York State. Yep, CARNIVOROUS BUTTERWORT. That sounds like something from Harry Potter.

A recent Humpday History video focused on the costumes worn by a dance team that danced with the Ziegfeld Follies and emigrated to upstate.

One of the things we like about these videos is how they're a calm interlude in the typical feed of outrage and despair. It's like ARGH!, RARR!, BLERG! --- (Here's something quiet about rocks. Yes, let's be chill and think about geology.) --- BLAR!, KERFUFFALUFFAGUS!

So, more like this, please.

By the way: New York State has 19 species (and one hybrid) of carnivorous plants, according to a paper posted by the NYS DEC.

Science Cafe
Speaking of the State Museum, its Science Cafe series returns to The Hollow January 23 for a talk titled "The First New Yorkers and Ice Age Landscapes."

* Much of the collection(s) is not on display. One example: so many bird things.

Russell Shorto at the State Museum

Author/historian Russell Shorto will be at the State Museum November 13 to talk about his new book, Revolution Song. Book blurbage:

In his epic new book, Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom, author and historian Russell Shorto takes us back to the founding of the American nation, drawing on diaries, letters and autobiographies to explore six lives that cast the era in a fresh new light. These stories include an African man who freed himself and his family from slavery, a rebellious young woman who abandoned her abusive husband to chart her own course, and a certain Mr. Washington, who was admired for his social graces but harshly criticized for his often-disastrous military strategy.

Through these lives we understand that the revolution was fought over the meaning of individual freedom, a philosophical idea that became a force for violent change. A powerful narrative and a brilliant defense of American values, Revolution Song makes the compelling case that the American Revolution is still being fought today and that its ideals are worth defending.

We hear that one of the six lives profiled in the book is that of Albany's Abraham Yates, Jr.

Shorto's other books include The Island at The Center of the World (about Manhattan) and Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City. He's a senior scholar at the New Netherland Institute.

The talk is this Monday, November 13 at 7 pm in the Huxley Theater. It's free to attend, but it sounds like the State Museum is expecting a crowd and it's encouraging people to pre-register for a seat: 518-486-3694.

Shorto photo: Keke Keukelaar

Here's a look at the big, new State Museum exhibit about the women's suffrage movement

This year marks the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in New York State. To be specific, it was November 6, 1917 that New York voted 54-46 to grant women in the state the full right to vote.

The State Museum has a new exhibit opening this weekend that highlights the history of this turning point. Four years in the making, Votes for Women: Celebrating New York's Suffrage Centennial includes more than 250 artifacts and images related to the suffrage movement -- from Elizabeth Cady Stanton's writing desk to campaign paraphernalia to Susan B. Anthony's alligator purse.

What's maybe more interesting about Votes for Women is how it places the push for suffrage in New York in the wider historical context of social and political movements, on a timeline that stretches many decades both backward and forward from 1917.

We got a chance to see the exhibit Wednesday during a preview, and talk with the co-curators about how New York experienced this movement...

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Brain Food for the Curious returns for a new season at the State Museum this week

The State Museum's "Brainfood for the Curious" series of short lunchtime talks starts a new season this Tuesday, October 17.

A museum historian or scientist gives a 20-minute talk in the museum's Huxley Theater and then answers questions. The talks cover all sorts of topics, from history to fashion to geology to archaeology to biology. Each event starts at 12:10 pm. They're free.

Here's the schedule for the new season...

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Pushing the button one last time to start up the State Museum carousel

Ann with her favorite carousel horse, Doc. (He only has three horseshoes.)

Back in 2001, Ann Winnicki was working in the State Museum's gift shop when her boss came to her with an unusual question: What would she think about being a carousel operator?

"And I said, 'There's no carousel here.' And he said there's going to be one on the fourth floor."

The State Museum had a circa 1915 carousel in storage and it was preparing to install it on the mezzanine level. Ann remembered seeing all the carousel's horses lined up in the gallery, waiting for their place on the circular platform. "I watched them build it."

Since then, the carousel has spun for hundreds of thousands of people. Winnicki has been pushing the button to start many of those rides. But this Thursday she'll push the button for the last time. She's retiring.

"I don't normally cry," she said this week, misting up. "It's very emotional."

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An ample amount of mastodon

#TBT When the State Museum was located in the State Education Building from 1912 - 1975. #ThrowbackThursday pic.twitter.com/FHoM7blZXz

— NY State Museum (@nysmuseum) June 15, 2017

We enjoyed this throwback pic shared by the State Museum from when the institution was still housed in the State Education Building. It had a good amount of mastodonage.

Here's the same scene from a different angle. The former museum space in the State Ed building looks like it was beautiful.

State Museum adds "significant" collection of art

"Martha" by Eugene Speicher, 1947, oil on canvas, The Historic Woodstock Arts Colony: Arthur A. Anderson Collection, New York State Museum. / photo: Eric R. Lapp

The State Museum announced Tuesday that it's acquired "a significant collection" of artwork from the Woodstock Art Colony: 1,500 works across different media from 170 artists from the early 20th century.

Press release blurbage (links added):

Long before the famous music event in 1969, Woodstock was home to what is considered America's first intentional year-round arts colony: the historic Woodstock Art Colony, founded in 1902. Its artists have been the focus of collector and donor Arthur Anderson for three decades, resulting in the largest comprehensive art collection of its type. The artists in the collection reflect the diversity of the artists who came to Woodstock, including Birge Harrison, Robert Henri, George Bellows, Eugene Speicher, and Yasuo Kuniyoshi. Anderson recently donated the collection to the New York State Museum, where the collection will be transferred and permanently housed.

"The Woodstock Art Colony Collection highlights an important piece of New York's art history with both regional and national significance," said Board of Regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa. "We're honored to now own these extraordinary artworks that reflect our art and cultural history and share them with the children and adults of New York State."

Here's a small sample of the works in the collection.

The portrait above, titled "Martha," is by Eugene Speicher. You might remember there was an exhibit of Speicher's work at the State Museum a few years back.

A Spirit of Sacrifice at the State Museum

The State Museum opened a new exhibit Friday -- A Spirit of Sacrifice: New York State in the First World War -- that commemorates the 100th anniversary of WWI. Exhibit blurbage:

A Spirit of Sacrifice examines how New York State and its citizens played a critical role in the United States' efforts during the war, and discusses its significance to understanding history today. Both on the battlefield and on the home front, through industrial production as well as civic participation and debate, New Yorkers had a considerable impact on the shaping of these events. By the end of the war, the Empire State would lead in the number of soldiers, tonnage of supplies, and money raised to support America's efforts.

We got a chance to check out the exhibit with curator Aaron Noble and exhibit designer Craig Gravina. Here are five bits about it...

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Canstruction 2017

The annual CANstruction display has returned to the State Museum. CANstruction?

CANstruction is an annual exhibit and design competition that connects talented architects, engineers, contractors, and students to imagine and create colossal structures built completely out of canned food items. The structures are on display on the fourth floor of the New York State Museum for two weeks, raising awareness of food insecurity in our region while highlighting the local talent of design firms. At the close of the exhibit, every can is donated to the Food Pantries for the Capital District to help feed families in the Capital Region.

It's always fun to check out what the teams have built. This year's theme is "Go Team," so they structures have sports and games themes. They'll be on display on the museum's terrace through March 22.

Visitors can vote on their favorites by dropping canned goods into bins by each structure. The donations benefit the Food Pantries.

Here are a bunch of pics from this year's display.

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Taking in The People's Art

"Number 12" by Jackson Pollock

Let's look at some art. That sounds like a good idea today.

We got a chance this week to finally check out The People's Art at the State Museum this week. It's an exhibit of works from Empire State Plaza Art Collection. Blurbage (link added):

Beginning in 1965, Governor Nelson Rockefeller assembled a commission of art experts to select the works for the Plaza and personally signed off on each acquisition. The exhibition The People's Art: Selections from the Empire State Plaza Art Collection is a collaboration of the State Museum and the New York State Office of General Services. It features 20 works by 17 artists and includes paintings and sculpture by modern masters such as Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, Helen Frankenthaler, Franz Kline, David Smith, and Alexander Calder.

There are a few more selections after the jump if you're curious about what's included. It's on display through the beginning of this September.

Between this exhibit, the new Ice Ages exhibit (which just opened), and Hudson Valley Ruins, it's a good time to stop by the State Museum if you haven't been in a while -- especially now that we're in the gloomy mid winter period (meteorological period rather than artistic).

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New online home for the Cohoes Mastodon

Where the Cohoes Mastodon lived before the place it lived before the current State Museum. (Yep, so two places ago.)

The State Museum has launched a new mini website for the Cohoes Mastodon exhibit and it's worth a look.

The site is full of interesting facts and explainers about mastodons generally (they're not mammoths!), and the Cohoes Mastodon specifically -- including a biography of his relatively short, hungry life. And it's illustrated with a bunch of large-format photos and diagrams, some of them interactive.

The online exhibit also includes a section about the exhibit. (An exhibit exhibit?) And it's various homes since the mastodon skeleton was discovered in Cohoes 1886 at Harmony Mills. The photo above is from that section -- it's from the old Geological and Agricultural Hall that was once at State and Lodge.

Earlier on AOA: Ice Ages at the State Museum

Ice Ages at the State Museum

The State Museum opened a new exhibit last week -- Ice Ages -- that is about... well... ice ages in New York. (Surprise!) It's back by the Cohoes Mastodon and worth a stop the next you're at the time museum. It'll be on display until the beginning of 2019.

We got a chance to check out the exhibit recently. And now let us quickly nerd out on a few things from it...

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"Kids Curate" at the State Museum

Really, we just wanted to show this photo of the dog treadmill. We gotta get the backstory on this.

This is fun: The State Museum has opened voting for a "Kids Curate" exhibit set for February. Blurbage:

The ballot includes 15 objects from the State Museum's collections representing various areas including history, biology, paleontology, geology, and ethnography. The seven objects with the most votes will appear in a special exhibition on the 4th floor of the State Museum February 24 - 26, 2017. Children are encouraged to submit their comments on why they voted for a particular object; selected comments will be featured in the exhibition. ...

The Kids Curate exhibition in February 2017 will include the seven objects with the most votes as well as interactive, family-friendly programming. Curators, scientists, and historians will also be available to talk to children about the State Museum's history and science collections and how exhibitions are created. More information about Kids Curate will be announced in early 2017.

The ballot includes some fun items, including the dog treadmill pictured above. (There's also one piece of nightmare fuel.)

The voting is open through November 30.

The People's Art: Selections from the Empire State Plaza Art Collection

"Smoker" by Philip Guston is one of the works in the exhibit.

Opening this weekend at the State Museum: The People's Art: Selections from the Empire State Plaza Art Collection.

The exhibit features 20 works from the ESP's extensive modern art collection, including works by artists such as Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, Helen Frankenthaler, Franz Kline, David Smith, and Alexander Calder. Blurbage:

The Empire State Plaza Art Collection has been heralded as one of the greatest collections of modern American art in any single public site. Beginning in 1965, following a procedure he established decades earlier during the construction of Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, Governor Nelson Rockefeller assembled a commission of art experts to select the works for the Plaza and personally signed off on each acquisition. Funds for the art purchases were allocated as a percentage of the construction cost of each building on the Plaza.

The exhibit will be on display until September of 2017.

By the way: If you stop by to see this exhibit, you might also want to take the short walk over the ESP concourse and see Magnetic Shift, a display of works by Phil Frost. It's at the Corning Tower Plaza and concourse levels. And opens October 31. It will be on display until next August.

State Museum's Science Cafe and Brainfood for the Curious are back

A few upcoming events connected to the State Museum...

Science Cafe
The Science Cafe series at the City Beer Hall returns Monday, October 17 with a program about archaeology and the history of Albany. Michael Lucas, the State Museum's curator of historical archaeology, and Charles Gehring, director of the New Netherland Research Center, will be there for a discussion titled "Beverwijck, A 17th-c. Dutch Village, Above and Below Ground."

The event starts at 6 pm. Admission is free -- food and drink are not included. (And these events have been popular in the past, so it's worth showing up a little bit early if you want to grab a seat.)

Brainfood for the Curious
The State Museum's "Brainfood for the Curious" series of lunchtime talks in the Huxley Theater starts back up against Tuesday, October 11. A museum historian or scientist gives a 20-minute talk and then answers questions. The talks cover all sorts of topics, from art to wedding dresses to politics to archaeology to biology. Each event starts at 12:10 pm.

Here's the schedule for the new season...

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Hudson Valley Ruins at the State Museum

Sing Sing State Prison in Ossining, Westchester County, in 2004, by Robert Yasinsac

This could be interesting: A new exhibit -- Hudson Valley Ruins -- opens this Saturday at the State Museum. It includes more than 80 photographs by Robert Yasinsac and Thomas Rinaldi of "forgotten historic sites and cultural treasures in the Hudson River Valley." Blurbage:

The exhibition is based on Yasinsac and Rinaldi's 2006 book, Hudson Valley Ruins: Forgotten Landmarks of an American Landscape. In addition to great river estates, the book and exhibition profiles sites meaningful to everyday life in the Valley: churches, hotels, commercial and civic buildings, mills, and train stations. The exhibition explores many of these abandoned places and also revisits several sites that have changed in the past ten years since the book's publication.

Working together since meeting in 1999, Yasinsac and Rinaldi have photographed more than 500 sites throughout the region. First photographing sites around their childhood homes, they gradually worked farther afield, eventually expanding their scope to cover the entire region between Yonkers and the Capital District. Driven by a sense of urgency to document sites of architectural or cultural significance that seemed poised to disappear, the pair also found beauty in the picturesque decay of these places.

There are a few more photos from the exhibit after the jump.

It will be on display at the State Museum through the end of 2017.

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