Art for All

August 29th, 2026 12:00pm–4:00pm

Art for All is free with museum admission every Saturday from 12–4PM. All ages are welcome to participate.

Enjoy your visit to the museum and explore your artistic side with a hands-on project inspired by the museum's exhibitions and collections.

Inspired by Your Friend, Frederic E. Church, participants will create their own cartes-de-visite. In the 1860s and 1870s, small photograph cards were commonly traded among friends and visitors. Albums filled with cartes-de-visite were commonly displayed in Victorian parlors. Participants will draw self-portraits on cardstock, then decorate a custom felt album for their cartes-de-visite.

 

Image: Erastus Dow Palmer (1817–1904), Thompson Gallery, Albany, New York, 1868, carte-de-visite. Albany Institute of History & Art, Mary Palmer Calverley Byrne-Ivy Papers, C500, B2, F41