HRM to Join Association of Art Museum Directors’ Ninth Annual Celebration of Art Museum Day

YONKERS, NY, May 3, 2018 — To celebrate the 9th annual Art Museum Day, the Hudson River Museum will offer free admission on Friday, May 18, 2018. An initiative of the Association of Art Museum Directors’ (AAMD), Art Museum Day gathers hundreds of institutions from across North America to recognize the arts and the important role that art museums play in their communities, and the Museum is pleased to be participating for the second year.

This year, in addition to free admission, visitors will be able to experience the Museum’s permanent collections, Hudson Riverama, and Glenview, with tours of this 1876 historic home at 1 & 3pm. The Museum presents the exhibitions Wondrous Devices: Astronomical Instruments and Teaching Tools of the Victorian Era, with a selection of 19th-century scientific instruments used by astronomers and enthusiasts alike; On the Homefront: WWI Posters from the Collection, which was organized to commemorate the centennial of World War I, focusing on the power of the poster to galvanize public opinion and support the country’s war efforts; and the site-specific installation Dying of Curiosity by artist Jennifer Angus in Glenview, comprised of 1,800 preserved insects arranged in geometric patterns.

The Hudson River Museum will also provide a special Curatorial Tour at 2pm that will focus on water and landscapes. Laura Vookles, Chair of the Curatorial Department, and Assistant Curator Ted Barrow will explore works on view in the permanent collection as well as the #HRMObjectOfTheMonth for May, Samuel Colman’s Moonlight in Venice. We invite visitors to share their experiences on Art Museum Day via social media with the hashtag #ArtMuseumDay.

The theme for Art Museum Day 2018 is Hyperconnected Museums, a recognition of the many ways in which museums serve as central points of connectivity within their communities, both online and in person. Art museums are often anchors for public spaces and neighborhoods, and they partner with school systems and civic organizations in ways that make their towns, cities, and regions better places for everyone who lives and works there. Hyperconnected Museums also serve as engines for the creative economy, tapping the human creativity embedded in works of art—whether thousands of years old or as recent as 2018—to inspire new ideas and ways of thinking.

HRM Director Masha Turchinsky states, “Participating in AAMD’s Art Museum Day is s an excellent way to shine a light on how important museums are to their communities, and this year’s theme of ‘Hyperconnected Museums’ could not be better suited to the HRM, where we strive to be a welcoming cultural destination for audiences of all ages and backgrounds.”

“I am thrilled that the Hudson River Museum is again participating in Art Museum Day, an opportunity to bring communities together to experience great art and special programs, both in Yonkers and across North America” said Christine Anagnos, Executive Director of AAMD. “Art is vital to our lives, a reflection of both the incredible diversity of humanity and the many common elements that unite us.”

AAMD’s Art Museum Day is an opportunity to focus attention on the role of art museums in North America, an extension of the International Council of Museums’ (ICOM) International Museum Day. AAMD represents 240 art museums across the United States, Canada, and Mexico—from regional museums in small towns to large museums in major urban centers. Last year, the Hudson River Museum—along with more than 161 other AAMD member museums—participated in Art Museum Day. A comprehensive list of participating AAMD member art museums will be available on the AAMD website. Note that while AAMD’s Art Museum Day and ICOM’s International Museum Day are formally held each year on May 18, some institutions shift their celebrations to adjacent dates.

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