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6:00pm–10:00pm The Albany Institute of History & Art is pleased to announce the 2025 Museum Gala on Saturday, June 14, 2025, from 6–10PM at Forts Ferry Farm in Latham, NY. This year’s signature fundraising event promises to be an unforgettable evening of celebration, culture, and community. Guests will enjoy a strolling cocktail hour with sumptuous appetizer stations, a seated dinner amid the farm’s beautiful gardens and open fields, musical interludes by Albany Pro Musica and Opera Saratoga, a spirited live auction courtesy of Sotheby’s, and dancing under the stars. The 2025 Museum Gala will honor Christine Miles Kelliher, who served as Executive Director of the Albany Institute from 1986 to 2011. Miles Kelliher’s tenure marked a transformative era for the museum, during which she led the development of the Institute’s first strategic plan and spearheaded a $17 million capital campaign and renovation project that established the accessible, modern campus the Institute occupies today. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees and remains actively involved in contributing to the museum’s mission and vision. View the 2025 Museum Gala press release here.  

6:30pm–7:30pm Join us in a special book club meeting organized by the Albany Public Library to celebrate Juneteenth. We will spend a fun evening hour discussing Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land by local author Leah Penniman, whose portrait is featured in Albany Institute's current exhibition Americans Who Tell the Truth. Leah Penniman, the 2019 recipient of the James Beard Foundation Leadership Award, is a Black Kreyol farmer who has been organizing for an anti-racist food system for over fifteen years. If you would like to reserve a copy of this month's book, please call Albany Public Library at (518) 427-4300 ext. 0303. Additional copies are available through the UHLS catalog. Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation is also available to purchase in the Albany Institute's museum shop. Registration opens May 19 at 10AM via Albany Public Library's website. The program will be held in the Albany Institute's museum cafe.  

10:00am–5:00pm Free and open to the public Celebrate Juneteenth with a day of art, activism, and community at the Albany Institute of History & Art. Inspired by the powerful individuals and their causes featured in Americans Who Tell the Truth, this free festival will feature performances, gallery tours, hands-on art activities, and opportunities to engage directly with Capital Region organizations working for justice across a range of issues—including the Albany Muslim Advocacy Coalition, the Center for Law and Justice, CODEPINK, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, RISSE (Refugee & Immigrant Support Services of Emmaus, Inc.), The Sanctuary for Independent Media, and the Underground Railroad Education Center. Support for Free Days is generously provided by M&T Bank.