Otsego County

Mothers: Free Admission to Fenimore, Farmers’ Museum Sunday

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In recognition of Mother’s Day, all mothers and grandmothers will receive free admission to the Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers’ Museum on Sunday, May 9.

Visitors can start the day at the Fenimore Art Museum by taking in one of the new exhibitions, such as Empire Waists, Bustles and Lace: A Century of New York Fashion &#8211 an exciting exhibition of the Museum’s collection of historic dresses. The exhibition includes the oldest known example of a dress with a label, stunning examples of Empire, Romantic and Civil War era dresses and turn-of-the-20th century items. Afterwards, visitors can enjoy lunch on the terrace overlooking Otsego Lake and then stroll across to The Farmers’ Museum to visit the baby lambs and ride on The Empire State Carousel.

About the Fenimore Art Museum

The Fenimore Art Museum, located on the shores of Otsego Lake &#8212- James Fenimore Cooper’s “Glimmerglass Lake” &#8212- in historic Cooperstown, New York, features a wide-ranging collection of American art including: folk art- important American 18th- and 19th-century landscape, genre, and portrait paintings- an extensive collection of domestic artifacts- more than 125,000 historical photographs representing the technical developments made in photography and providing extensive visual documentation of the region’s unique history- and the renowned Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art comprising more than 800 art objects representative of a broad geographic range of North American Indian cultures, from the Northwest Coast, Eastern Woodlands, Plains, Southwest, Great Lakes, and Prairie regions. Founded in 1945, the Fenimore Art Museum is NYSHA’s showcase museum.

About The Farmers’ Museum

As one of the oldest rural life museums in the country, The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, New York, provides visitors with a unique opportunity to experience 19th-century rural and village life first-hand through authentic demonstrations and interpretative exhibits. The museum, founded in 1943, comprises a Colonial Revival stone barn listed on the National Register for Historic Places, a recreated historic village circa 1845, a late- nineteenth-century Country Fair featuring The Empire State Carousel, and a working farmstead. Through its 19th-century village and farm, the museum preserves important examples of upstate New York architecture, early agricultural tools and equipment, and heritage livestock. The Farmers’ Museum’s outstanding collection of more than 23,000 items encompasses significant historic objects ranging from butter molds to carriages, and hand planes to plows. The museum also presents a broad range of interactive educational programs for school groups, families, and adults that explore and preserve the rich agricultural history of the region.

Otsego County: A Historical Introduction Lecture

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F. Daniel Larkin will discuss the development of the Otsego County region from the late 18th century to the late 20th century at an evening lecture in the auditorium at the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown. The event will take place tomorrow night from 6 to 8 pm- the lecture is free and open to the public.

Larkin’s lecture will cover the expansion and movement of people and goods across the region as well as the rise and decline of agriculture, industrialization, and trade. Dr. Larkin is the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at SUNY College at Oneonta. The lecture is co-sponsored by Hyde Hall and Hanford Mills Museum.

For more information, contact the New York State Historical Association at (607) 547-1453

Illustration: Otsego County, 1792-1793

Young Interpreters Sought at The Farmers’ Museum

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The Farmers’ Museum is seeking applicants for its Young Interpreter Program. By pairing young people with museum staff, this popular summer program teaches students about America’s past, helps them develop new skills, and allows them to share their newfound knowledge with museum visitors. Boys and girls between the ages of 12 to 14 as of May 1, 2010, are invited to apply. A limited number of students will be accepted for the program.

The Young Interpreter Program began in 1993. The program takes place at The Farmers’ Museum, a premier rural history museum established in 1943. The museum presents the trades and crafts common to ordinary people of rural 19th-century New York State in its historic village and farmstead. Young interpreters will have the opportunity to work in various selected sites throughout the museum including: Peleg Field Blacksmith Shop, Bump Tavern, Lippitt Farmhouse, Dr. Thrall’s Pharmacy, The Middlefield Printing Office, Todd’s General Store, the Children’s Barnyard, or developing spinning and weaving skills.

Young interpreters are expected to work one day a week for a period of eight weeks, beginning the last week in June and ending the last week in August. Students who would like to participate should submit a one or two-page letter expressing their interest and reasons for wanting to be a Young Interpreter, as well as an explanation of where they would like to work and why, to: Young Interpreter Program, The Farmers’ Museum, P.O. Box 30, Cooperstown, NY 13326. Letters of application must be received by May 15, 2010. Letters of reference are not necessary. A committee of museum staff will review the applications. Candidates may be asked for an interview. Applicants will be chosen based on their commitment and interest, maturity, willingness to learn, and ease with the public. Students applying for the Young Interpreter Program must have parental permission and transportation to the museum during the course of the program.

For more information, please contact Deborah Brundage at 607-547-1484.

Fenimore Art Museum Opens For Season

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The Fenimore Art Museum, in Cooperstown, reopened for the 2010 season with four new exhibitions on Thursday, April 1. These diverse exhibitions include examples of 19th-century fashion, folk art, photography, and contemporary landscape painting.

Starting this year, admission for children 12 and under is free. This price change will allow more families the opportunity to experience the Museum, its acclaimed exhibitions, and its unique educational programs. Adult admission (13-64) is $12.00 and senior admission (65 and up) is $10.50. NYSHA members, active military, and retired career military are always free.

Exhibition highlights include:

Empire Waists, Bustles and Lace: A Century of New York Fashion
(April 1, 2010 – December 31, 2010)

Empire Waists, Bustles and Lace is an exciting exhibition of the Museum’s collection of historic dresses. When viewed in conjunction with the John Singer Sargent exhibition (opening May 29), the show enables visitors to see and experience a broader historical context of men’s and women’s fashion. Even though upstate New York was considered the edge of the western frontier in the 19th century, residents of the area kept up with New York City and the world in terms of fashion. The exhibition includes the oldest known example of a dress with a label, stunning examples of Empire, Romantic and Civil War era dresses and turn-of-the-20th century items. Additionally, visitors will be able to peek at what was worn underneath the dresses which were vital to giving them their distinctive shapes. This exhibition is funded in part by The Coby Foundation.

In Our Time: The World as Seen by Magnum Photographers
(April 1, 2010 – September 6, 2010)

In Our Time was organized to celebrate 50 years of photography at Magnum Photos Inc. and the 150th anniversary of the invention of photography.

This exhibition of 150 black-and-white photographs is from a comprehensive survey of Magnum Photos, Inc., which is considered to be one of the world’s most renowned photographic agencies. These images are a result of the extraordinary vision of the many talented photographers who have been associated with Magnum since its founding in 1947.

The broad events captured in these Magnum photographs include the D-Day landing in Normandy, France (1944)- prisoners of war returning home to Vienna, Austria (1947)- Ghandi’s funeral in India (1948)- James Dean in Times Square (1955)- Castro delivering a speech in Havanna (1959)- Martin Luther King receiving the Nobel Peace Prize (1963)- Jacqueline and Robert Kennedy at Arlington (1963)- a Shriner’s parade in Boston (1974)- women supporters of Ayatollah Khomeni in Iran (1979)- and a crack den in New York City (1988).

In Our Time: The World as Seen by Magnum Photographers is toured by George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film.

Watermark: Michele Harvey & Glimmerglass
(April 1, 2010 – December 31, 2010)

Michele Harvey spends most of the year in her summer studio in upstate New York. Among her various formats, Harvey’s signature triptych formats often include quiet roads or paths framing a central scene that provides one with the sense of simultaneously entering and leaving her misted landscapes. The union of the darker colors of the trees and the distinct light of the vaporous sky create a calming rhythm that draws the viewer into a mysterious world where time appears to stand still.

Harvey is enchanted by the environs of Cooperstown and the opportunity to create works based here. &#8220The lake, its history, the views&#8230- all conspired to take me off the beaten path. I felt the lure of Glimmerglass as it must have felt to James Fenimore Cooper. For the first time I became a tourist, humbled by the scenery.&#8221

Watermark: Michele Harvey & Glimmerglass represents a melding of the two- adding her own style to the venerable history of landscape art already created here.

Virtual Folk: A Blog Readers’ Choice
(April 1, 2010 – December 31, 2010)

Virtual Folk: A Blog Readers’ Choice is an exhibition of exceptional folk art objects from the Fenimore Art Museum’s vast collection, chosen by the readers of our folk art blog &#8211 American Folk Art @ Cooperstown.

Bits of Home
(April 1, 2010 &#8211 December 31, 2010)

Visitors to the Fenimore Art Museum have long enjoyed the extraordinary collections of fine art, folk art, and American Indian art held by the New York State Historical Association. Less well known are the thousands of historical artifacts in the collections storage areas. Bits of Home acquaints visitors with these historical collections by featuring a selection of more than 30 artifacts from NYSHA and The Farmers’ Museum’s extensive collections of domestic life in nineteenth-century New York.

Opening Later in the Season…

John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Praise of Women
(May 29, 2010 &#8211 December 31, 2010)

The Fenimore Art Museum presents the first major exhibition on the topic of portraits of women by the well-known American artist John Singer Sargent (1856-1925). The exhibition explores Sargent’s range of styles and depth of characterization in his portraits of society women, as well as his fascination with exotic working-class women of Venice and Capri. The paintings and drawings provide an intimate glimpse into the lives of these women of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Included will be drawings of Madame Gautreau, the mysterious subject of Sargent’s famous portrait Madame X.

Picturing Women: American Art from the Permanent Collections
(July 18, 2009 &#8211 December 31, 2009)

Ongoing Exhibitions…

Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art
Eugene and Clare Thaw Gallery

The Coopers of Cooperstown
Cooper Room

Genre Paintings from the Permanent Collection
Paneled Room

American Memory: Recalling the Past in Folk Art
Main Gallery

From April 1 through May 10, the museum will be open Tuesday through Sunday, from 10 am to 4 pm, closed on Mondays. Summer hours begin on May 11 and continue through October 11. During the summer season, the museum is open seven days a week from 10 am to 5 pm. Please visit their website for more information – www.fenimoreartmuseum.org.

Call For Artists: Fenimore Art Museums Art By The Lake

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Fenimore Art Museum is now accepting submissions for its third annual outdoor, summer event Art By The Lake &#8211 formerly called A Taste of the Sublime. It will be held Saturday, August 7, 2010 on the museum’s spacious grounds overlooking Otsego Lake.

Art by the Lake is a juried art invitational that welcomes artists from across New York State in a celebration of the historic relationship between the artists and the landscape that surrounds us. The event features outstanding artists in all genres of landscape art, interactive demonstrations, educational programming, live entertainment, and tastings of some of the best food, wine, and beer from across the state.

Prizes will be awarded in the following categories:
• Best Interpretation of New York Landscape
• Most Outstanding Use of Color
• Most Original Style
• Audience Favorite

An artist’s information packet and application form can be found on the Fenimore Art Museum’s website at FenimoreArtMuseum.org.

Applications must be postmarked by May 3, 2010. (Late applications may be accepted at the discretion of the jury if space is available.) Artists will be notified of their acceptance by May 17, 2010, at which point they will receive detailed event information and an artist’s contract.

NYSHA Research Library Offers Genealogy Workshops

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The New York State Historical Association Research Library will be offering three workshops for both the beginner and intermediate genealogist on Wednesday, April 7- Thursday, April 8- and Wednesday, April 14.

Workshops will be held from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm in the NYSHA Research Library in Cooperstown, NY. Each session is $10 for NYSHA members and $15 for non-members. Registration required- contact the Research Library at (607) 547-1470 or via e-mail at [email protected]. Genealogy Workshops may be taken individually, although it is recommended that Researching Your Family History: An Introduction Part I and II be taken in sequence.

Wednesday, April 7: Researching Your Family History: An Introduction, Part I
This workshop provides an introduction to family history research and an overview of the genealogical records at the New York State Historical Association’s Research Library. Some popular online databases and websites will be demonstrated.

Thursday, April 8: Researching Your Family History: An Introduction, Part II
This workshop will teach you how to research your ancestors using major genealogical sources, including cemetery records, Bible records, church records, and other primary resource materials. In addition, Revolutionary War and Civil War soldiers will be covered. (Attendance at Workshop Part I helpful but not required.)

Wednesday, April 14: How to Find Your Ancestors in Census Records
The first federal census was taken in 1790. During this workshop, participants will learn how to search censuses and use the indexes to them in their family history research. Participants will also learn how to use the census taken by New York State.

Cooperstown: Dinner at A 19th Century Tavern

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Escape to the 1800s with The Farmers’ Museum’s &#8220Evening at the Tavern&#8221 and experience music and merriment topped off with an authentic period dinner. Evenings at the Tavern will be offered on Saturday, April 10 and 24 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Guests will enjoy a dining experience featuring a four-course candlelit meal, period music and games, and old-fashioned hospitality in the Museum’s historic Bump Tavern. The menu is designed and based on foods that were served in rural 19th-century New York taverns. Dinner includes soup, vegetables, roast meat, fresh bread, and dessert. During the evening, guests will be offered a tour of the historic tavern with the Museum’s interpretative hosts, learning about the history of taverns and travel in the 19th century.

Bump Tavern was built by Jehiel Tuttle in the late 1790s in the village of Ashland, Greene County, New York. Strategically located on the Catskill and Windham Turnpike, the resting spot served cattle drovers and other travelers passing through the area. The tavern was purchased in 1842 by Ephraim Bump, who expanded the building and updated the Federal period architecture with Greek revival porches. In 1952, Bump Tavern was moved to Cooperstown, where it became part of the collection of historic buildings at The Farmers’ Museum.

Space is limited- reservations are required and are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Full payment is required in advance by check or credit card. The fee, which includes the complete meal and an unforgettable experience, is $60- $55 for members of the New York State Historical Association. Wine and beer will be available for an additional fee. For more information or to make reservations, please call The Farmers’ Museum at 547-1452.

Farmers Museum Offers Spring Craft Workshops

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Beginning April 3, The Farmers’ Museum will offer a series of workshops based on 19th-century trades and crafts with topics ranging from blacksmithing to beekeeping. All workshops are held at The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown. Registration is required. For more information and reservations, call Karen Wyckoff at (607) 547-1410. Information on future workshops can be found on their website at www.farmersmuseum.org.

Farm Family Meal (parent/child)
April 3, 10 am – 2 pm / Fee: $50
Learn what it took to create a meal during the 19th-century. Participants will cook a simple meal over the fire while learning about daily chores of parents and children during the 1840s.

Heritage Vegetable Gardens
April 10, 10 am – 2 pm / Fee: $40 per family
Spend the day learning about historic and current practices for planting and maintaining heritage vegetable gardens. Participants will discuss layout of gardens, cultivation and pest control, and storage of vegetables. They will also have the opportunity to build a hot frame and plant seeds and will leave with packets of heritage seeds.

Farm Chores
April 12, 19, and May 3, 8 – 11 am / Fee: $50 per family or $20 per person
Spend the morning with the farmers preparing the farm for a day’s work: open the barns, clean stalls, feed the animals, thresh wheat, etc. Each day will bring different tasks, just as it does on any farm. A perfect &#8220morning out&#8221 for a family or adults.

Growing a Taste of Yesterday: an Heirloom Gardening Workshop
April 17, 10 am – 2 pm / Fee: $40
This hands-on workshop will focus on starting and maintaining your own supply of heirloom vegetables. Participants will have the opportunity to plant a selection of vegetable varieties for their home gardens. In addition the process for starting a hot frame and composting for your garden will also be discussed. There will also be a discussion and demonstration of propagation methods for saving your favorite vegetable varieties.

Happy Healthy Hen House
April 24, 9 am – 1 pm / Fee: $40
This half-day workshop will introduce participants to techniques and information about the care and housing of chickens. Learn both about historic and contemporary methods of breed selection, nutrition, housing, management and general care for raising your own backyard flock. Come prepared to work in The Farmers’ Museum’s barnyard.

Spring Beekeeping
May 15, 9 am – 1 pm / Fee: $40
Are you interested in learning about the ancient art and science of beekeeping? This hands-on workshop will introduce you to the fundamentals of keeping bees. We will discuss the different ways to get started as a beekeeper and prepare you for the tasks involved. You will also learn some of the history and folklore of beekeeping.

In the Medicine Cabinet
May 15, 10 am – 1 pm / Fee: $40
This workshop will cover growing, harvesting, and wild crafting of about fifteen herbs. In addition, instruction will be given for producing medical preparations from the various herbs. Preparations will include oils (hot and cold infused), ointments, compresses, tinctures, infusions, and decoctions.

Udder to Butter
June 12, 8 am – 12 pm / Fee: $40
Join the farm staff in a unique opportunity to participate in the process of transforming milk into butter. We will start in the barn where you will try your hand at milking the cow and end in the kitchen enjoying our freshly made butter on toast. Participants will separate cream and churn butter using historic and contemporary methods.

Blacksmithing 1
June 12 and 13, 9 am – 4 pm / Fee: $150
This class covers the core skills of blacksmithing. Try out blacksmithing for the first time, or expand your existing skills under the supervision of our master blacksmith. Practice managing a coal fire and forging skills such as drawing out, bending, twisting, and punching. Projects include making decorative hooks, fireplace tools, nails, and hanging brackets. No previous experience is necessary. (Fee includes materials and information packet.)

Blacksmithing 2
June 26 and 27, 9 am – 4 pm / Fee: $150
This class requires students who already have core blacksmithing skills. Work with more complex forging projects. Skills practiced include hot punching, mortise and tennon joints, forge welding, and reproduction of historic ironwork. Students should have taken Blacksmithing 1 or have prior permission of the instructor. (Fee includes materials and information packet.)

Sugaring Off Sundays at The Farmers Museum

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Sugaring Off Sundays, The Farmers’ Museum’s annual event which honors the maple sugaring season, will be held each Sunday throughout the month of March and will also include Easter Sunday, April 4th. The event features historic and contemporary sugaring demonstrations, children’s activities and more. A full pancake breakfast will be served from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. with all other activities scheduled 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Visitors will be treated to demonstrations of traditional methods of maple-sugaring. Other hands-on demonstrations will allow visitors to experience the traditions of sugaring in the region.

Children’s activities will take place in the Filer’s Corners Schoolhouse throughout the day and maple cooking demonstrations will be held in the More House. Visitors are invited to have a taste of “jack wax” &#8211 hot maple syrup poured over snow! The blacksmith will also be working in his shop – stop in to watch a true craftsman.

The Empire State Carousel, a favorite attraction at The Farmers’ Museum, will also be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Facebook fans receive one free ride.

The Farmers’ Museum Store and Todd’s General Store will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Each offers unique gifts, books and crafts.

Admission to Sugaring Off Sundays is $8 for adults- $4 for children age 7 to 12- admission is free for children 6 and under. Admission includes full breakfast. No reservations are required.

Call for Quilts From The Farmers’ Museum

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The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown is seeking submissions for its 2010 quilt contest entitled A New York State of Mind. The entries will be exhibited October 16 and 17, 2010 and will be judged by a team of museum professionals and textile experts.

Quilters are welcome to submit an original quilt project that fits one of the three contest categories: New York Beauty Quilts &#8211 quilts based on traditional motifs, styles and construction methods from the 18th- through 20th-centuries- Hometown New York Quilts – quilts that celebrate the hometown of the crafter in original designs- and Carousel Quilts &#8211 quilts drawing on the color and creativity of the carousel tradition.

Category winners will be exhibited in Cooperstown at the Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers’ Museum as a precursor to a major quilt exhibition that will run from April through December of 2011. Additional prizes will be awarded for audience favorite, judge’s choice, and others.

The Farmers’ Museum and the Fenimore Art Museum have long been associated with collecting and interpreting decorative and utilitarian textiles &#8211 including a large collection of quilts that date back to the 18th century. The Museums’ quilt collection has now grown to several hundred. Contest winners will have their quilts displayed alongside many of these rare works during the 2011 exhibition.

For additional information, a complete list of contest rules, or an entry form, please contact Kajsa Sabatke at The Farmers’ Museum, Box 30, Cooperstown, N.Y. 13326, (607) 547-1453, or via email at [email protected]. Information can also be downloaded from the Museum’s website at www.FarmersMuseum.org. All entries must be postmarked by August 2, 2010. Entry fee: $20.