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November 26, 2019Nov 29-Dec 1 | Free Festive “Home for the Holidays” Weekend at the Albany Institute of History & Art
The Albany Institute of History & Art invites the residents of the Capital Region and their guests to celebrate the start of the holiday season at Home for the Holidays, the museum’s annual free admission weekend the weekend after Thanksgiving. This popular event draws thousands of people to downtown Albany to see the museum decorated for the holidays, enjoy fun family activities, start their holiday shopping, and take their own photographs with Santa. This year, Home for the Holidays will be Friday, November 29 from 10AM-5PM, Saturday, November 30 from 10AM-5PM, and Sunday, December 1 from 12PM-5PM. The event is sponsored by BBL Companies, SportClips, and Trudeau Architects.
As part of a new holiday tradition, miniature dioramas by Joan Steiner, the award-winning illustrator and creator of the Look-Alikes® books will be displayed throughout the museum. A delight for all ages, these dioramas have become a new favorite at the Albany Institute each holiday season. These meticulously crafted scenes were created from everyday objects and edible treats, and photographed for Steiner’s Look-Alikes® books. Joan Steiner’s first book, Look-Alikes®, published in 1998, was named one of Time Magazine’s best children’s books and one of The New York Times Book Review’s Notable Children’s Books that year. The series continued with three additional books: Look-Alikes® Jr., Look-Alikes® Christmas, and Look-Alikes® Around the World. These four books have been translated into sixteen languages and have sold over a million copies worldwide.
Families will also enjoy making holiday crafts together, shopping for handmade items and one-of-a-kind gifts in our Museum Shop; savoring treats from the Museum Shop; and exploring our current exhibitions.
Current exhibitions include: The Schuyler Sisters & Their Circle (through December 29), Joseph Hidley: Folk Artist (through December 1), A Brilliant Bit of Color: The Work of Walter Launt Palmer, The Hudson River School: Landscape Paintings from the Albany Institute, Ancient Egypt, and more. In addition, a recently discovered oil sketch by Anthony van Dyck is on view.
SCHEDULE
The Museum Shop and Museum Cafe will be open during our regular operating hours November 29-December 1, 2019. Here is the schedule for our drop-in craft making activity and photographs with Santa:
Friday, November 29
10AM-4:30PM | Make holiday crafts
12PM-4PM | Photographs with Santa
Saturday, November 30
10AM-4:30PM | Make holiday crafts
12PM-4PM | Photographs with Santa
Sunday, December 1
12PM-4:30PM | Make holiday crafts
12PM-4PM | Photographs with Santa
Don’t miss the exhibition The Schuyler Sisters & Their Circle Sparked by the phenomenal success of Hamilton: An American Musical, the Albany Institute of History & Art has organized the exhibition The Schuyler Sisters and Their Circle (July 20 – December 29, 2019). There is no better place than the Albany Institute to develop and mount this exhibition. After all, the Institute was founded in 1791, when their dear friend and house guest, George Washington was President. The Albany Institute is also partnering with Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site, which is presenting a Women of Schuyler Mansion tour.
Interest in the Schuyler family has increased in recent years because of the Tony Award-winning Broadway show. The Schuylers were a prominent Dutch family in New York in the 18th and 19th centuries, who played a central role in the formation of the United States. Renowned Revolutionary War general Philip Schuyler (1733-1804) and his wife Catharine Van Rensselaer (1734-1803) raised eight children in their Albany home. Hamilton: An American Musical prominently features the three eldest Schuyler daughters: Angelica Schuyler Church, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, and Margaret (Peggy) Schuyler Van Rensselaer.
Catharine Schuyler was the great-great-granddaughter of Killian Van Rensselaer, the original founder of the Dutch colony of Rensselaerswyck. Catharine’s marriage to Philip Schuyler linked two of New York’s great landholding families. Philip Schuyler was known to care about the education of his daughters and paid for lessons in French, geography, history, writing, arithmetic, music, and dancing. Catharine Schuyler raised their daughters with an awareness of their colonial Dutch New York heritage and their connections to members of the prominent Ten Broeck, Livingston, Bayard, Van Rensselaer, and Van Cortlandt families.
The exhibition discusses the wide-ranging interests of Catharine and her three eldest daughters Angelica, Elizabeth, and Margaret (Peggy)— sisters who witnessed history unfold in Albany, New York, Philadelphia, Paris, and London. As the wife of Alexander Hamilton, Eliza had a front row seat to events that shaped this country in the years immediately following the Revolution. For many years, Angelica lived abroad where she entertained royalty, diplomats, and artists in Paris and London. She maintained life-long friendships with the prominent figures she met, like Thomas Jefferson, and patronized artist John Trumbull. Peggy married Stephen Van Rensselaer III who ranks 10th on Business Insider’s list of wealthiest Americans of all time.
The Schuyler Sisters and Their Circle also explores the men the Schuyler sisters married, hosted, and befriended. Military, political, and intellectual luminaries of the day including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and the Marquis de Lafayette visited the Schuyler home in Albany.
The exhibition uses clothing, decorative arts, portraits, and manuscripts from the Revolutionary Period to the Federal Period to tell the stories of the Schuyler women. Twenty-four public and private institutions and individuals have lent their treasures for display. A rarely exhibited John Trumbull portrait of Angelica Schuyler Church with her child and servant is on loan to the exhibition from a private collection, and there are additional significant loans from Columbia University (including Eliza Hamilton’s wedding ring from the Rare Book and Manuscripts Library), Fort Ticonderoga, Seth Kaller, Inc., New-York Historical Society, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of the City of New York among many others. The Albany Institute is thrilled to bring these objects associated with the Schuyler sisters together in their hometown and showcase them in a special exhibition sure to thrill visitors- from history buffs to Hamilfans!
Leading exhibition support is provided by Lois and I. David Swawite, Omni Development Company, Inc., and the Cornelia Cogswell Rossi Foundation. Major support is provided by the Arnold & Jessie B. Cogswell Fund, Cooper Erving & Savage LLP, Dahl Taylor, Discover Albany, Times Union, Daughters of the American Revolution, Fan Association of North America, Deborah Groesbeck Bennett & John Bennett, Lawrence & Louise Marwill, and Douglas L. Cohn, D.V.M. This project is supported as part of the Dutch Culture USA program by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York. M&T Bank is the season sponsor of The Schuyler Sisters & Their Circle programs.
Season exhibition support is provided by Phoebe Powell Bender, Mr. and Mrs. George R. Hearst III, Charles M. Liddle III, and Lois and David Swawite. Programmatic and exhibition support is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
The Albany Institute of History & Art is located at 125 Washington Avenue in Albany, New York. Free parking is available in the museum’s lot at the corner of Elk and Dove Streets.
The exhibition galleries and the Museum Shop are open Wednesday 10am-5pm, Thursday 10am-8pm, Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday 10am-5pm, and Sunday noon-5pm. The Research Library is open on Thursdays from 1pm-4:30pm and by appointment. The Museum Café is open Wednesday through Saturday 10am-3pm and Sunday noon-5pm.
Admission rates are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors (62+) and students with ID, $6 for children aged 6-12, and free for children under 6. Albany Institute members are admitted for free. There is no charge to visit the Museum Café or Museum Shop. The museum offers $5 per person admission to the galleries on Thursdays from 5pm-8pm and free admission on the First Fridays of the month from 5pm-8pm. To learn about discounts and free admission days, please refer to the Visit section of www.albanyinstitute.org.
For more information, visit www.albanyinstitute.org or call (518) 463-4478.
