The Beat

Southampton, N.Y. – Visit a haunted Southampton Village inhabited with ghosts, goblins and ghouls all on the grounds of the historic Rogers Mansion.

The museum’s outbuildings will be open and occupied with the unimaginable. Explore the Creepy Carpenter’s Shop, meet Debbie Downbeat in the old Hildreth’s Department Store, and encounter a Bloody Blacksmith with many more shocking surprises.

The Wolk Concourse will serve as the main thoroughfare in the museum’s new visitor center

Rochester, N.Y., September 14, 2020—The Louis S. and Molly B. Wolk Foundation has pledged $350,000 to support the George Eastman Museum’s transformative Thomas Tischer Visitor Center. The Wolk Foundation’s gift will be recognized with the dedication of the largest space in the visitor center as the Wolk Concourse. This broad thoroughfare—with educational and interpretative content that will introduce the museum and George Eastman—will lead visitors to the education and meeting hall, the museum café and store, George Eastman’s historic mansion and Terrace Garden, and the museum’s exhibition galleries.

Albany, N.Y. – The New York State Museum is offering programming to commemorate the 19^th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Beginning Friday, September 11, 2020, a display of World Trade Center artifacts will be added to the  Windows on New York (http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/exhibitions/windows-new-york) exhibition in the museum’s Madison Avenue lobby window. While the museum facility remains closed to the public, the display can be viewed outside while socially distancing during our closure.

To Launch in the Saratoga Spa State Park on September 21

Socially distanced, Interactive, Outdoor Experience Co-Commissioned by SPAC 

Saratoga Springs, NY (September 10, 2020) – On September 21, 2020, Saratoga Performing Arts Center will present Ellen Reid SOUNDWALK, a GPS-enabled work of public art in the Saratoga Spa State Park that uses music to illuminate the natural environment. Created by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Reid and co-commissioned by Saratoga Performing Arts Center as part of its SPAC REIMAGINED 2020 season, Ellen Reid SOUNDWALK is an immersive audio experience tailor-made for the Saratoga Spa State Park featuring its famous natural springs, wooded areas, a geyser, a waterfall and more. The New York Philharmonic, also a co-commissioner of this work, is presenting the World Premiere of Ellen Reid SOUNDWALK today, September 10 in New York City's Central Park. The exhibit is free to the public, and can be experienced while following social distancing guidelines.

One of the best festivals for a weekend family outing or getaway

Ticonderoga, NY – Fort Ticonderoga, surrounded by magnificent autumn backdrops of the Adirondacks and Green Mountains will present the Annual Heritage, Harvest, & Horse Festival on October 3, 2020.  The full day of autumn fun will be set in the midst of the King’s Garden heirloom apple trees and the beautiful landscape of the mountains and Lake Champlain.

Guests are invited to discover the historical importance of horses and other working animals during exciting demonstrations, meet our friendly oxen duo, stroll through Fort Ticonderoga’s farmers’ market featuring local food, beverages, and crafts, participate in family fun activities, and tackle the six-acre Heroic Corn Maze. This fall favorite event, combined with daily Fort Ticonderoga programs, makes for a great annual family tradition.

Exhibition features work by 100 female and non-binary artists including Firelei Baez, Renee Cox, Chioma Ebinama, Nan Goldin, Juliana Huxtable, Carrie Moyer, Laurel Nakadate, Catherine Opie, Deborah Roberts, Wendy Red Star, Lorna Simpson, Kiki Smith, Cindy Sherman, Tschabalala Self, Sarah Sze, Barbara Takenaga, Mickalene Thomas, Kara Walker, Carrie Mae Weems, and more

Saratoga Springs, NY (September 8, 2020) — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College announces the September 17 opening online of the election-year exhibition Never Done: 100 Years of Women in Politics and Beyond.

Online Talk with D. Jack Solomon: Saturday, September 26, 2020 at 4 pm

Lake George, N.Y. – The Courthouse Gallery has announced a new exhibition of the paintings of D. Jack Solomon. The exhibition will be installed in the gallery, and available for the public to view (gallery hours listed below).  In place of on-site gallery reception, Join us for a Live Online Talk with Jack Solomon on September 26 at 4pm. In advance, we will provide a link, with directions on how to join the discussion at the gallery’s website.. 

D. Jack Solomon’s vibrant paintings are a complex mix of imagery, often whimsical, with rich colors and surfaces. Working from a red undercoat creates luminous eye-popping effects where the red paint is exposed. It also serves to unify the contrasting forms weaving through the paintings intricate space. Solomon draws from many sources, including early modernism, surrealism, abstract expressionism, pop art and cartoon imagery, to name a few.  But Solomon finds inspiration everywhere.  He says: “There is not a day that goes by that I am not inspired by something or someone.  I’m very grateful for this.” Finding inspiration from so many places has led to a prolific painting career spanning many decades. …

Ticket Reservations Available Now On AMNH.ORG

To view the Museum’s reopening video, please click here . 

FOR MEDIA: In-person press visits should be scheduled in advance by contacting the Museum’s media relations department at 212-769-5800 or communications@amnh.org.     

New York, N.Y. – The American Museum of Natural History has reopened its doors to the general public, ending the longest closure in the Museum’s 150-year history. For reopening, attendance in the building will be limited to 25 percent of normal capacity to allow ample room for physical distancing, providing a unique, intimate opportunity for visitors to reacquaint themselves with such beloved Museum icons as the blue whale, the Titanosaur, and T. rex. With New York City public schools opening on September 21, in the coming days the Museum can offer families a place to learn and discover together, or to simply enjoy one another’s company. In addition to most of the Museum’s permanent halls, visitors will be able to see two special exhibitions: the blockbuster T. rex: The Ultimate Predator and a new exhibition, The Nature of Color, an exploration of what color reveals about the natural world and ourselves, which was on view for only a few days before the Museum closed in March.

Staatsburg, N.Y. (9/10/20) —This fall, Staatsburgh State Historic Site invites families and groups of friends to explore the beautiful grounds of the Gilded Age estate (now Mills Memorial State Park) by taking a photographic scavenger hunt challenge. A phone with a camera and some walking shoes are all that is needed to complete ten fun riddles on a loop through the beautiful landscape along the Hudson River. All ages are invited to participate. Learn about some of the highlights of the historic grounds around the mansion while having fun! Find the signs located near the mansion with the QR code for “Virtually Staatsburgh” to download the clue sheet, or visit https://millsfriends.org/virtual/family-fun/ .

99% of Guests Feel Safe and Recommend Visiting the Museum

Jamestown, NY – The National Comedy Center, the nation’s official cultural institution and non-profit museum dedicated to comedy, has surveyed guests who have visited the Comedy Center since it reopened its doors nearly four weeks ago and the results are in. Visitors are giving the Comedy Center high marks for LaughSafe, its new, state-of-the-art health and safety program, which has transformed one of the most interactive museums in the country and revamped the experience with new health and safety protocols specifically designed for the COVID era. The post-visit research results confirm that National Comedy Center guests feel comfortable and safe during their visit, and report that their museum experience has been worry-free, stress-free and touch-free.