ABOUT FENIMORE
MISSION
Preserving – Engaging – Educating
Fenimore Art Museum is dedicated to welcoming and connecting people to our shared cultural heritage through exhibitions and programs that engage, delight and inspire.
WHAT IS FENIMORE ART MUSEUM?
Fenimore Art Museum is a museum of American art.
It is named for the property on which it stands, land once owned by the novelist James Fenimore Cooper. The Museum occupies a 1933 mansion built by Edward Severin Clark, an heir to the Singer Manufacturing Company fortune. Following his death the building was given to the Museum by his brother, philanthropist and art collector Stephen Carlton Clark, who also gave much of the fine art and folk art collections. Stephen later turned his brother’s farm complex across the road into Fenimore Farm and Country Village, which to this day shares much of its staff with Fenimore Art Museum.
For a museum of its size, Fenimore Art Museum tells a remarkable range of American stories.
- Its fine art collection illustrates everyday life in early America and chronicles the development of the young nation.
- Its folk art collection shows the work of self-taught Americans who were inspired to create and who probably never thought their work would be in an art museum: traveling portrait painters, quilters, ship carvers, sign painters, students in female academies, and people from many different backgrounds and all walks of life.
- The photography collection illustrates the entire history of photography in the United States, from early daguerreotypes to contemporary photographers.
- The Cooper family collection shows the unique qualities of Cooperstown and Otsego Lake as seen in the writings of America’s first novelist, James Fenimore Cooper.
- The American Indian Art collection shows the masterful artistry of Native peoples from across North America from prehistory to the present.
- Special exhibitions and programs held regularly at the museum introduce visitors to a wide range of artworks and stories from our own as well as other museums and collections.
- Our members and visitors give us valuable ideas and feedback to guide us in future programming.
Fenimore Art Museum, and the stories it tells, aspires to provide an engaging experience leading to a renewed or enhanced appreciation of American art, history, and culture, and the many and varied people who comprise the American story.
Dear Friends,
This is going to be a season of positive change for our beloved museums. As many of you know, I have announced my retirement effective September 25, after which my former student, esteemed colleague, and good friend Joshua Torrance will become the next President & CEO. You couldn’t be in better hands.
Joshua came on board in early January as my Senior Vice President and has been very busy learning the operations of Fenimore Art Museum and Fenimore Farm, meeting with staff members, and mapping out a plan to continue our long-standing record of excellence and community engagement. Like me, he sees your support and involvement as vital to our success. During this time of transition to new leadership, we want you to know how much we appreciate you and everything you bring to the museums. Thank you all for being members!
Other positive developments are coming your way in 2026. Our new Education and Regional History Center is now completed, as some of you saw at our Open House during Community Day in early May. The new spaces are stunning, and include an arts and crafts space for school groups, a research room for historians, genealogists, and the public, and a large multi-purpose program space for lectures, meetings, performances, and more. This space will be available for use by community groups as well.
Our biggest new feature will open in late September as I pass the museums over to Joshua. We will finish and open Fenimore Art Museum’s new American Masterworks Gallery, which will feature the 27 new acquisitions we made with the help of the Thaw Charitable Trust in 2023 and 2024 along with many of the old favorites given to us in years past by Stephen C. Clark. The gallery will include works by Thomas Cole, William Sidney Mount, Frederic Church, John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, Georgia O’Keefe and many others! While you are waiting for the new gallery to be completed, come out and enjoy The Linda McCartney Retrospective: From the Light, In Nature’s Studio: Two Centuries of American Landscape Painting, Faded Elegance: Portraits of Havana by Michael Eastman, and Autumn in New York: Paintings by Janet Munro, along with our other sensational exhibitions!
At Fenimore Farm, we will be back with our signature events – Harvest Festival and Tractor Fest – along with the debut of Scarecrow Village, a six-week extravaganza in September and October featuring artist-made scarecrows throughout the grounds. This new event, the brainchild of Joshua’s, will delight young and old alike in the lovely autumn season at the Farm. We will, of course, be back with our fourth annual Glimmer Nights Holiday Light Show in November and December. A visit to the Farm is always in order if you want to unwind, chat with our knowledgeable and engaging interpreters, and see our ever-popular farm animals. Our pigs Lucy and Ethyl are back, bigger than ever, and our sheep, goats, and new calves never disappoint!
Please remember that you are the reason we are able to do everything we do for the community! These museums are yours, and I hope to see you often during the remarkable season ahead!
Paul S. D’Ambrosio
President & CEO
OFFICERS
Jeffrey H. Pressman, Chairman
Charles B. Kieler, Vice Chairman
Paul D’Ambrosio, Ph.D., President & Chief Executive Officer
Joshua Campbell Torrance, Senior Vice President
Joseph Siracusa, Vice President for Operations
Edward Heaney, Treasurer
Andrew R. Marietta, Secretary
Steve Christel, Assistant Treasurer
TRUSTEES
Laurene Krasny Brown
Gary Cassinelli
Jane Forbes Clark
Kathleen Flanagan
Robert S. Hanft
Edward S. Heaney
Charles B. Kieler
Doris Fischer Malesardi
Robert Nelson
Carl R. Nold
Anne G. Older
Jeffrey H. Pressman, M.D.
Anne Putnam
John Ryland
Henry F.C. Weil, M.D.
Kay White
Francesca Zambello
SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM
Joshua Campbell Torrance, President and CEO
Joseph Siracusa, Vice President for Operations
Kerri Green, Director of Marketing and Communications
Briana Ingraham, Director of Education
Julia Madore, Director of Exhibitions and Curatorial Affairs
Mary Myers, Director of Human Resources
Lynette Moore-Witte, Director of Executive Affairs
Christine Olsen, Director of Registration, Collections and Library
ANNUAL REPORT
Find our 2024 Annual Report here.
POLICIES
For the safety of our collections and our visitors, we ask that you please check the following items in the coin-operated lockers in the Visitors’ Room:
• Video recorders
• Briefcases
• Backpacks
• Shopping Bags
• Oversized Purses
• Umbrellas
• Baseball Bats and similar athletic equipment (seriously, this is Cooperstown!)
Non-flash photography is permitted only in select galleries; please check with the admissions desk, security, or refer to your visitors guide. Videotaping is not permitted.
Service animals are welcome but need to wear their service identification jacket or vest.
Pets and non-service animals are not permitted in the museum or on museum grounds.
Smoking, food, and beverages are not permitted in the galleries.
JOBS and INTERNSHIPS
To apply to an opening listed below, send a completed Employment Application to Human Resources, PO Box 800, Cooperstown, NY 13326. (Note: Some job postings specify a different application process.) Internships are located at the bottom of the page.
JOBS
Security/Safety Guard • Full-time, year-round position
Applicants must have a clean driving license, be able to walk considerable distances in all weather conditions and have open availability including weekends and holidays. The workday includes using computer based monitoring systems, walking extensive museum grounds, completing incident reports, and troubleshooting for potential hazards. We provide training, certification, an excellent benefit package, including health and dental insurance, paid holidays, vacation, and sick pay. $18-$20/hr. based on experience. 2nd and 3rd shift positions available.
Download Employment Application. Email completed applications to: hr@fenimoreart.org, or mail to PO Box 800, Cooperstown, NY 13326. EOE
Museum Teachers • Seasonal, Part-time (Academic School Year) position
Fenimore Farm and Fenimore Art Museum seek enthusiastic and engaging seasonal museum teachers to share their knowledge and expertise of the trades of the 19th century. If you enjoy speaking with students and visitors of all ages this is the job for you! Qualified candidates will demonstrate strong communication skills and be comfortable speaking in a one-on-one or group setting. Flexible schedule necessary, minimal hours required. $16/hr. Training will be provided.
Download Employment Application. Email completed applications to: mary.myers@fenimoreart.org, or mail to PO Box 800, Cooperstown, NY 13326.
