AIHA Announces Fall Programs and Events

The Albany Institute of History & Art has announced a full schedule of public programs and special events for this fall, to follow its Grand Re-opening Celebration Weekend September 21-23.

“It’s great to be fully operational and presenting a full range of programs and activities for our audience in the new museum,” said Ted Lind, deputy director for education and public programs.  “We spent the summer since our ‘soft opening’ in June fine-tuning our plans, and are looking forward to welcoming visitors back to the museum with an exciting menu of programs.”

Programs for adults will include films, lectures, field trips and performances, as well as gallery talks related to the Institute’s permanent collections, and guided tours of special exhibitions.  Programs for families will include a variety of art-making activities, school holiday break specials and self-guided gallery games.  Several special events are planned, both in the museum and off site this fall, including an opening reception for the traveling exhibition, SCENES OF AMERICAN LIFE, the ever-popular Festival of Trees, and the bookworm’s favorite Antiquarian Book Fair, both to be held on the campus of Hudson Valley Community College.

OCTOBER 2001

Wednesday, October 10, 2001; 12:10 pm; FREE with admission

Museum Tour -- Tour of galleries conducted by a Museum Educator

Thursday, October 11, 2001; 5:30 – 7:30 pm; Members $10, Non-members $20

Opening Reception – SCENES OF AMERICAN LIFE:  Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Saturday, October 13, 2001; 8:00am – 4:00 pm; Members $20, Adults $25, Seniors/students $23

Walking Tour – “The World of Thomas Cole and the Hudson River School” conducted by artists/naturalist Barry Hopkins will feature the area of the Catskills were the famed Hudson River School artist lived and worked.

Saturday, October 13, 2001; 9:30am – 4:00pm; Adults $36

Program and luncheon --  “The Art of Entertaining” presented by The Council of the AIHA will feature a discussion with wine connoisseur Shelia McNeil, a cooking demonstration by Chef Blanche Kenney, a talk by Michael Bray, Cheese Specialist and tablescapes by top area retailers and designers. location: Normanside Country Club

Sunday, October 14, 2001; 2:00 – 4:00 pm; FREE with admission

Museum Explorers Day: Scenes of American Life -- An interactive learning experience that includes gallery activities, art making, performances, films, etc, intended for adults and children to share.

Wednesday, October 17, 2001; 12:10 pm; FREE

Exhibition Tour -- Tour of studio sculptors: today, conducted by Rice Gallery Director Janis Dorgan

Wednesday, October 17, 2001; 7:30 pm; $5 adults; $4 seniors/students; FREE members

Lecture – “Art and Life in 1930s America” Dr. Virginia M. Mecklenburg, Senior Curator, Smithsonian American Art Museum, will discuss the art, the people and the politics that shaped American life in the 1930s.

Saturday, October 20, 2001; 1:00 – 4:00 pm; Members $10, Adults $15, Seniors/students $13

Walking Tour – Guided tour of Albany Rural Cemetery conducted by Albany Institute Director Emeritus Norman Rice

Sunday, October 21, 2001; 2:30 pm; FREE with admission

Exhibition Tour -- Tour of Scenes of American Life conducted by a Museum Educator

Wednesday, October 24, 2001; 12:10 pm; FREE with admission

Exhibition Tour -- Tour of Scenes of American Life conducted by a Museum Educator

Wednesday, October 24, 2001; 7:30 pm; $5 adults; $4 seniors/students; FREE members

Lecture – “George Tooker: Cold War Warrior” Katherine Hauser, Assistant Professor in the Art and Art History Department at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY.  As a Communist and gay man in the '40s, artist George Tooker would have been especially sensitive to the development of a surveillance society.  This lecture places his art in the culture of the Cold War, dramatically revising our understanding of its meaning and pervasive power.

Saturday, October 27, 2001; Call 518-463-4478 for more information

Antiquarian Book Fair  -- location: Hudson Valley Community College

Sunday, October 28, 2001; 2:30pm; FREE with admission

Exhibition Tour -- Tour of Scenes of American Life conducted by a Museum Educator

NOVEMBER 2001

Sunday, November 4, 2001; 2:30pm; FREE with admission

Exhibition Tour -- Tour of Scenes of American Life conducted by a Museum Educator

Wednesday, November 7, 2001; 12:10 pm; FREE with admission

Museum Tour -- Tour of SENSE OF PLACE conducted by Chief Curator Tammis Groft

Wednesday, November 7, 2001; 6:30 pm; FREE with admission

Film – The Republic of Virtue, American Visions, Vol. I

Sunday, November 11, 2001; 2:30 – 4:00pm; FREE with admission

Memory Session – “Veterans Remember,” facilitated by Curator of History Wes Balla

Wednesday, November 14, 2001; 6:30 pm; FREE with admission

Film – The Promised Land, American Visions, Vol. II

Sunday, November 18, 2001; 2:30pm; Members FREE, Adults $5, Seniors/students $4

Lecture/performance – “Walking Alone:  The Songs of World War II” Michael Lasser, Independent Music Historian of Penfield, NY will present a lecture/performance that will bring the songs of World War II alive once again.

Tuesday, November 20, 2001; Call 518-463-4478 for more information

Festival of Trees Preview Party  -- location: Hudson Valley Community College

Wednesday, November 21, 2001; 12:10 pm; FREE with admission

Museum Tour -- Tour of galleries conducted by a Museum Educator

Wednesday, November 21, 2001; Call 518-463-4478 for more information

Festival of Trees  -- location: Hudson Valley Community College

Friday, November 23, 2001; Call 518-463-4478 for more information

Festival of Trees -- location: Hudson Valley Community College

Saturday, November 24, 2001; Call 518-463-4478 for more information

Festival of Trees -- location: Hudson Valley Community College

Sunday, November 25, 2001; Call 518-463-4478 for more information

Festival of Trees -- location: Hudson Valley Community College

Wednesday, November 28, 2001; 6:30 pm; FREE with admission

Film – The Wilderness and The West, American Visions, Vol. III

DECEMBER 2001

Wednesday, December 5, 2001; 12:10 pm; FREE with admission

Gallery Talk -- Guest Curator Elizabeth Allen will discuss the exhibition, 19^th Century Sculpture

Wednesday, December 5, 2001; 7:30 pm; FREE 

Lecture – “Indian Camps and Upstate Tourism” Todd DeGarmo, Director, Center for Folklife, History and Cultural Programs for the Crandall Public Library, Glens Falls, NY will discuss the surprising role that Native Americans played in the upstate New York tourist trade in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

Wednesday, December 12, 2001; 6:30 pm; FREE

Film – The Gilded Age, American Visions, Vol. IV

Wednesday, December 19, 2001; 12:10 pm; FREE with admission

Museum Tour -- Tour of galleries conducted by a Museum Educator

Thursday, December 27; 10:00 am – 12:00 noon; $2 material fee plus admission

Holiday Break Special: Musical Instruments. An interactive learning experience that includes a gallery activity and art making intended for adults and children to share.

Friday, December 28; 10:00 am – 12:00 noon; $2 material fee plus admission

Holiday Break Special: Around the World -- An interactive learning experience that includes a gallery activity and art making intended for adults and children to share.

Saturday, December 29; 10:00 am – 12:00 noon; $2 material fee plus admission

Holiday Break Special: A Day in Egypt -- An interactive learning experience that includes a gallery activity and art making intended for adults and children to share.

**This calendar of events is subject to change.  Please call 518-463-4478 for more details on upcoming programs and events.