Educational Events

2:00pm–3:00pm Join Curator Diane Shewchuk for a special tour of Portrait Pairings for Women's History Month. The tour is free with museum admission, no registration required. Portrait Pairings is an exhibition of portraits juxtaposed with related objects drawn exclusively from Albany Institute of History & Art's permanent collection, showcasing the depth and diversity of the museum’s holdings. What objects connect to a nineteenth-century cast iron stove of George Washington or Gilbert Charles Stuart’s 1795 portrait of Stephen Van Rensselaer III? What painting corresponds to a grey blue visiting dress by couturier Charles Frederick Worth? Through the lens of portraiture, discover the delightful and unexpected pairings of dozens of objects representing collection areas including textiles and costume, jewelry, ceramics, maps, ephemera, drawings, and paintings. Portrait Pairings is on view through July 20, 2025.  

5:00pm–7:00pm Free; registration required via this form Program includes cash bar; books will be available to purchase Listen to author Jeffrey Boutwell on NPR: George Boutwell, the radical abolitionist Republican you've likely never heard of, aired March 14, 2025.   Join Jeffrey Boutwell, author of BOUTWELL: Radical Republican and Champion of Democracy, and Casey Seiler, Editor in Chief and Vice President at Times Union, for a lively conversation on George S. Boutwell, a significant yet previously unknown public figure who worked closely with presidents Lincoln and Grant in promoting Black emancipation and suffrage, led the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, and later became president of the Anti-Imperialist League working with Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie, Jane Addams, William James, and others to oppose the annexation of the Philippines being promoted by presidents McKinley and Teddy Roosevelt. The discussion will include Boutwell's relationship with Albany figures such as Thurlow Weed, Roscoe Conkling, and Chester A. Arthur. BOUTWELL: Radical Republican and Champion of Democracy, the first major biography by family member Jeffrey Boutwell, is as much a history of 19th century America as it is a critique of the failures of governance during a turbulent and formative period in American history. George S. Boutwell of Massachusetts, the Commonwealth’s youngest-ever governor in the 1850s, was a key figure in American public life for seven decades. Having helped create the Republican Party in the 1850s, he became a close ally and friend of presidents Lincoln and Grant during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. While in Congress, he helped write the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution and led the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson for seeking to re-establish white supremacist political control in the South. As Revenue Commissioner for Lincoln and Treasury Secretary for Grant, Boutwell helped establish the modern American economy. In the 1870s, Boutwell served in the U.S. Senate where he chaired the committee investigating the Mississippi Plan of 1875 that employed intimidation and violence to re-establish white Democratic control of the state. Remarkably, at the age of 80, Boutwell was asked to become president of the Anti-Imperialist League, working with Andrew Carnegie, Mark Twain, and others to oppose Teddy Roosevelt and America’s annexation of the Philippines following the Spanish-American War. George Boutwell died in 1905, having lived with his family in Groton, Mass. for more than fifty years. Jeffrey Boutwell is a writer, historian, and public policy specialist whose forty-year career spanned journalism, government, and international scientific research and cooperation.  He has written widely on issues relating to nuclear weapons arms control, European politics, Middle East security issues, and environmental degradation and civil conflict.  He has a Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a B.A. in history from Yale University, and he worked for many years at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, Mass.  Jeffrey grew up in Winchester and Concord, Mass., and now lives with his wife, Buthaina Shukri, in Columbia, Maryland.  He and George Boutwell share a common ancestor, the indentured servant James Boutwell, who emigrated from England to Salem, Mass. in 1632. Casey Seiler is the Albany Times Union’s editor in chief and vice president. He previously served as managing editor, Capitol Bureau chief and entertainment editor. He served as a co-host of WMHT’s Emmy-winning news magazine “New York Now” from 2009 to 2019. His column appears in the Sunday Perspective section. Before arriving in Albany in 2000, he worked at the Burlington Free Press in Vermont and the Jackson Hole Guide in Wyoming. A graduate of Northwestern University, Seiler is a Buffalo native who grew up in Louisville, Ky. He lives in Albany’s lovely Pine Hills.

1:00pm–2:00pm Virtual Program via Microsoft Teams Webinar: Registration Required Here   Join the Albany Institute of History & Art and the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter for a virtual presentation and discussion led by Aaron Mair, former Sierra Club president. The program is organized in conjunction with the exhibition Americans Who Tell the Truth, on view at the Albany Institute through July 20. The exhibition showcases a selection of portraits by artist Robert Shetterly featuring individuals throughout U.S. history who exemplify courageous citizenship and democratic ideals. Among the 42 portraits on display includes a painting of John Muir (1838–1914), conservationist, naturalist, and explorer who helped found the Sierra Club in 1892.  

11:00am–11:45am Enrich your experience of our current exhibitions through a docent-led tour of the galleries. Docent tours are an excellent way to learn more about the artworks and objects on display, in addition to the stories they tell. Interaction and questions are encouraged, and visitors of all ages are welcome. The tour is free with museum admission, no registration required. Please plan to meet in the museum atrium, main level, near the front desk before the tour begins.

2:00pm–3:00pm Enrich your experience of our current exhibitions through an insightful docent-led tour of the galleries. Docent tours are an excellent way to learn more about the artworks and objects on display, in addition to the stories they tell. Interaction and questions are encouraged, and visitors of all ages are welcome. The tour is free with museum admission, no registration required. Please plan to meet in the museum atrium, main level, near the admission desk before the tour begins.

5:30pm–6:30pm Learn more about the artist and subjects featured in Albany Institute of History & Art's exhibition Americans Who Tell the Truth. Truth Tellers is an award-winning documentary film about artist and activist Robert Shetterly, who has painted over 275 portraits of Americans throughout history and the present. From the fight to remove symbols of hate to sustainability and climate activism, and from whistleblowing to the rights of indigenous people, Shetterly uses his art to explore these activists’ response to some of the most pressing issues of our time. From contemporary activist for racial justice Rev. Lennox Yearwood, to climate activist Kelsey Juliana, Shetterly puts them in the context of significant American civil rights leaders John Lewis, Fannie Lou Hamer and Bayard Rustin. Truth Tellers is both a story of Shetterly’s art and activism and a lesson of courageous citizenship and democratic ideals. The screening is free for First Friday. Run time: 57 minutes 54 seconds  

2:00pm–3:00pm Enrich your experience of our current exhibitions through an insightful docent-led tour of the galleries. Docent tours are an excellent way to learn more about the artworks and objects on display, in addition to the stories they tell. Interaction and questions are encouraged, and visitors of all ages are welcome. The tour is free with museum admission, no registration required. Please plan to meet in the museum atrium, main level, near the admission desk before the tour begins.

2:00pm–3:00pm Enrich your experience of our current exhibitions through an insightful docent-led tour of the galleries. Docent tours are an excellent way to learn more about the artworks and objects on display, in addition to the stories they tell. Interaction and questions are encouraged, and visitors of all ages are welcome. The tour is free with museum admission, no registration required. Please plan to meet in the museum atrium, main level, near the admission desk before the tour begins.

2:00pm–3:00pm Enrich your experience of our current exhibitions through an insightful docent-led tour of the galleries. Docent tours are an excellent way to learn more about the artworks and objects on display, in addition to the stories they tell. Interaction and questions are encouraged, and visitors of all ages are welcome. The tour is free with museum admission, no registration required. Please plan to meet in the museum atrium, main level, near the admission desk before the tour begins.