The Albany Institute is dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting and promoting interest in the history, art, and culture of Albany and the Upper Hudson Valley. The museum achieves this mission through its collections, exhibitions, education programs, library, research projects, publications, and other programs offered to the general public.
One of America’s oldest museums, the Albany Institute of History & Art was founded in 1791, during the presidency of George Washington, making it older than the Louvre, the Smithsonian, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The museum's current location, at 125 Washington Avenue, a block south of the
New York State Capitol and the Empire State Plaza and Convention Center, was dedicated in 1908 and opened its first major exhibitions in 1909. In 1968, the museum purchased the historic William Gorham Rice home and the Rice House Annex and remodeled the buildings to house the administrative and curatorial offices and the library collections. In 2001, the museum celebrated completion of a state-of-the-art, glass-and-concrete atrium connecting the Rice House and Annex to the original museum building, resulting in a magnificent complex that added and enhanced space for the research library, educational offices and studios, auditorium, and shop. Today, the museum is a cultural nexus that provides comfortable and invigorating spaces for exhibition displays, art classes, educational workshops, distance learning, lectures, performances, cultural events, social gatherings, and much more.
Through four centuries, the Albany Institute’s renowned collections and exhibitions have comprised the definitive expression of the cultural, historical, and artistic heritage of this historic region. From its world-renowned Hudson River School collection, to the famous Albany Mummies, to the wide range of performances, lectures, and festivals, to its outstanding educational and family programming, each year this dynamic and engaging institution provides tens of thousands of visitors of all ages and interests with a splendid museum experience.
