AIHA In The News

"We can be a vibrant hub in downtown Albany, and be part of the resurgence that we hope is happening here. The creative economy is critically important." Executive Director Kayla Carlsen spoke with the Albany Business Review about expanding access to the arts, engaging new audiences through innovative programs and exhibitions, and the museum's role in downtown Albany.

"For 235 years, Albany Institute of History & Art has been just that — an institution celebrating the rich culture and history of the region. Now in its second year under the leadership of Kayla Carlsen, the gallery has opened its doors wider to the community through exhibitions tapping into the institute’s vast collections, First Friday collaborations with local artists and organizations, concerts on the lawn and a roster of excellent shows, including Black Dimensions in Arts’ 50th anniversary celebration, a spotlight on The College of Saint Rose and 'Americans Who Tell the Truth' featuring portraits by Robert Shetterly." – Times Union

"Kayla Carlsen, Executive Director at the Albany Institute for History and Art has been making some positive waves. Think an expanded and diversified programming schedule on the gallery side to an increased focus on developing an inviting and accessible in-person third space and you start to see where this is going. All this, through the lens of re-energizing one of the regions premiere cultural assets." – Corey Aldrich, Upstate Creative

"Volunteers help out in basically every department at the Albany Institute and are essential to the Bestie-winning art museum’s everyday operations. Library volunteers help scan and catalog the collection’s one million (!) documents. Development volunteers help with major mailings, as well as at special events hosted by the museum. Volunteer docents help facilitate tours for school groups and guide educational experiences in the galleries—like a recent activity that invited museumgoers to make their own postcards inspired by the Institute’s collection of Hudson River School paintings." – Natalie Moore, Capital Region Living Magazine

"Genevieve Wheeler Brown is a decorative arts specialist and author of the new book Beyond Blue and White: The Hidden History of Delftware and the Women Behind the Iconic Ceramic. She will be in discussion with a New Netherland Institute Director Dr. Deborah Hamer coming up on 4/12 at 2 pm at the Albany Institute of History and Art. They will discuss the women in the Netherlands who made the beautiful ceramics, the woman who brought it to New Netherland and New York, and the 19^th Century Collectors who collected and championed it. In addition, selections of blue and white delft objects from the Albany Institute’s collection will be on display as well." – WAMC

"Known for his ability to conjure luminosity in his paintings and for his romantic subject matter filled with sun-drenched, optimistic scenes of young women outdoors, often with flowers or trees in bucolic settings, Curran’s reputation has increased over time. His tonal harmonies and colors that change with the light reveal an artist attuned to atmosphere — a sensitivity evident in the works featured in the exhibition." – Jan Engoren, Palm Beach Artspaper

Egyptologist and curator Dr. Peter Lacovara interviewed on WMHT's AHA! A House for Arts, featuring From the Hudson to the Nile: Dows Dunham and the Archaeology of Egypt and Sudan, on view at the Albany Institute through May 3, 2026.

"The museum’s staff and volunteers restore and install them throughout the galleries each year, and it’s no easy process. Seat cushions made out of Ritz crackers, window dressing made out of lasagna noodles – 'Every year, there are a few things we need to replace, so we’re always on the lookout for items that are the right scale,' Diane Shewchuk, the museum’s chief curator and director of curatorial affairs, told the Times Union in 2021... When I posted photos of the dioramas to Instagram, Lisa Durfee, who owns the vintage store Five and Diamond in Hudson, and who is herself an artist who builds miniature worlds, commented that she used to play Scrabble with Joan every Monday for years... 'It makes me happy that she got her wish [with the Albany Institute] and it’s all saved and in a safe place. That people can enjoy it for decades to come.'" – The Jiffy

"Blanche Lazzell makes herself known in a major exhibition at the Albany Institute of History & Art, a key but often overlooked figure in American Modernism. “Blanche Lazzell: Becoming an American Modernist” brings together more than 50 paintings, prints, and works on paper to trace how Lazzell adapted European avant-garde ideas into a distinctly American visual language through painting and white-line woodblock printmaking. The show follows her path from West Virginia and Woodstock to Paris and Provincetown, where she became a major force in early American abstraction." – The Jiffy

"A long-overdue survey comes to the Albany Institute of History & Art of one of America’s early Modernist innovators. Best known for her white-line woodblock prints, Lazzell (1878–1956) synthesized European avant-garde influences from Paris and Provincetown into a distinctly American idiom, embracing Cubist geometry, Fauvist color, and abstraction across prints, paintings, and works on paper. Drawing largely on the Art Museum of West Virginia University’s holdings, the exhibition traces her career from Provincetown’s vibrant artist colony to her role in advancing abstraction in US art history." – Brian K. Mahoney, Chronogram

"Art Town is a podcast based in upstate New York, hosted by artist and educator Justin Baker. Each month, Baker engages in thoughtful conversations with regional artists and artisans, exploring their work, creative processes, and the lives they lead. In this episode, I’m joined by Marisa Espe, from the Albany Institute of History & Art, as we sit down with Royal Brown—artist, mystic, veteran, and clinical social worker—to explore the spiritual and symbolic roots of his work. Royal’s work is currently on view at the Albany Institute of History & Art in For Liberation and For Life: The Legacy of Black Dimensions in Art, on view through December 31.” – Art Town

"Were you Seen at An Artful Evening at the Albany Institute of History and Art on Nov. 14, 2025, at The Albany Institute of History and Art’s Christine and George R. Hearst III Gallery?" – Times Union

"Were you Seen at the exhibition reception for For Liberation and For Life: The Legacy of Black Dimensions in Art on Oct. 25, 2025, at the Albany Institute of History & Art? The exhibit will be on view until Dec. 31 along with Jacob Lawrence: Three Series of Prints.” – Times Union

"In 1976, just a year after its formation, Black Dimensions in Art received its first exhibition at a major museum: Albany Institute of History & Art. Forty-nine years later, in the midst of the all-volunteer arts advocacy group’s 50th anniversary celebrations, the two organizations have reunited for the sprawling For Liberation and For Life: The Legacy of Black Dimensions in Art, running through Dec. 31. The exhibition’s curators, artists and BDA members will be celebrating the monumental show at a free reception on Saturday." – Katherine Kiessling, Times Union