Fenimore Art Museum Offers Virtual Vacations in January and February

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y.—On select Saturdays in January and February, the Fenimore Art Museum will offer a series of distance learning field trips to distant locales featuring intriguing subjects, such as Butterflies, Rain Forest Birds, and Sea Life. These exciting programs, created by the Center for Puppetry Arts, the Cincinnati Museum Center, and the Mariner’s Museum, use the Fenimore Art Museum’s videoconferencing technology to bring a unique, interactive experience for children ages 5 through 12. After each lesson, museum educators will work with participants on a hands-on activity based on the theme of the virtual visit. The programs will be held on January 19 & 26 for ages 5-8 and February 2 & 9 for ages 9-12. All programs are held from 10 – 11:30 am.

January 19: Butterflies
Ages 5-8

Each student will construct a Butterfly Marionette while participating in learning activities about the lifecycle of the butterfly, what makes a butterfly an insect, and coloring and camouflage. Video clips and photographs of the different stages in the life of a butterfly are included.

January 26: Walk in my Shoes: Paleontologist
Ages 5-8

How does a paleontologist do her job? What tools are required to examine rocks that are millions of years old? And, what do fossils tell us about life 65 million years ago? This program examines these questions and more, allowing participants to see the life of a scientist.

February 2: Rain Forest Birds
Ages 9-12

Students will construct a flying Tropical Bird Rod puppet. They will participate in learning activities about the location of tropical rain forests and their relationship to the equator and tropic lines, various animals found in the rain forest and the different layers in the rain forest.

February 9: Life at Sea
Ages 9-12

This exciting program literally opens a sailor’s sea chest and allows students to investigate items that would have been carried and used by a typical 19th-century sailor. Students will discover items such as clothing, food, eating utensils, tools, and musical instruments. Students will learn a craft in a hands-on experience that illustrates the daily life of a sailor.

Each workshop costs $15/$12 for members of the New York State Historical Association. For reservations and information, please call (607) 547-1414.

About the Fenimore Art Museum
One of the nation’s premier art institutions, the Fenimore Art Museum is home to an exceptionally rich collection of American folk art and American Indian art as well as important holdings in American decorative arts, photography, and twentieth-century art. Founded in 1945 in Cooperstown, New York, the museum is part of the New York State Historical Association (NYSHA), founded in 1899. The museum’s renowned Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection, housed in the American Indian Wing, is a masterpiece collection of more than 800 art objects, representing a broad scope of North American cultures. The collections of folk and American art include seminal works by Grandma Moses, Gilbert Stuart, Thomas Cole, William Sidney Mount, Benjamin West, and John H. I. Browere. The museum offers a range of interactive educational programming for children, families, and adults, including lectures and workshops for museum visitors and distance learning instruction for classrooms nationwide. The museum further explores and examines our cultural history by organizing and hosting nationally touring art and history exhibitions, including Grandma Moses: Grandmother to the Nation; Treasures from Olana: The Landscapes of Frederic Edwin Church; A Deaf Artist in Early America: The Worlds of John Brewster, Jr.; Winslow Homer: Masterworks from the Adirondacks; and Ralph Fasanella’s America.

The Fenimore Art Museum is located on 5798 State Hwy. 80, Lake Road, in Cooperstown. The museum’s Fenimore Café, overlooking beautiful Otsego Lake, features wonderful views and a tranquil setting amid the terraced gardens. The Museum Shop offers fine jewelry, art reproductions, and a wide selection of publications on folk art, history, and Native American art. Museum admission is $11 for adults, $9.50 for visitors age 65 and over, and $5 for children age 7 to 12; children 6 and under and NYSHA members are admitted free. Reduced price combination admission tickets that include The Farmers’ Museum and The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum are also available. The museum is open from April 1 through December 31. For museum hours or general information, please call 1-888-547-1450 or visit www.fenimoreartmuseum.org.

For more information and photographs, please contact:
Christine Liggio, Public Relations Office
Fenimore Art Museum & The Farmers’ Museum
P.O. Box 800, Cooperstown, NY 13326
Tel: (607) 547-1472/E-mail: c.liggio@nysha.org