Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, NY, Ghid vizitatori și ce de văzut în apropiere

The Albany Institute of History & Art is a museum at 119 Washington Avenue in Albany, New York, and one of the oldest museums in the United States. It is best known for its Hudson River School paintings and for the Ancient Egypt Gallery, home to two mummies that locals call the Albany Mummies.

The story behind it

The Institute traces its roots to 1791, when its earliest predecessor, the Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, Arts and Manufactures, was founded as a learned society. Over the years it grew into a museum of art, history and culture for the Hudson Valley, and it is still a place where the region's story is told through objects.

The mummies arrived in 1909. One is a man named Ankhefenmut, who lived in ancient Egypt roughly three thousand years ago. The other dates from the Ptolemaic Period and still has its coffin. They were brought to Albany by Samuel W. Brown, who obtained them in Cairo and shipped them from the Nile to the Hudson. They have been on show to visitors ever since. The collection also holds landscapes by Hudson River School painters such as Thomas Cole, Frederic Church and Asher B. Durand.

What to look for

• In the Ancient Egypt Gallery, look for the mummy of Ankhefenmut and the second mummy with its coffin, and take a moment to read their names and stories.
• Seek out the Hudson River School landscapes, where wild valleys, ruins and big skies show how artists of the 1800s saw the American landscape.
• Look for Thomas Cole's work in the collection, since Cole is one of the founders of the Hudson River School.
• Notice how the museum is made of different buildings of different eras, so the exterior on Washington Avenue shows several periods of Albany's history side by side.

Tips for your visit

• Plan on one to two hours inside if you like museums, and longer if you want to read the labels in the galleries.
• Check current opening hours and any special exhibitions before you go, as they change through the year.
• The museum is close to the State Capitol and the Empire State Plaza, so it pairs easily with a walk through downtown Albany.
• Go early in your day so you can enjoy the galleries unhurried, then spend the afternoon walking the nearby streets.

See it on a quest

You can reach the museum on foot as one stop of Ghost Hunt in Albany, a spooky-themed walk through the area. The app tells you about each place as you arrive and sets a puzzle in what is in front of you. One ticket covers the whole group.

Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows in Albany, NY also passes the Institute. It is a self-guided walk on your phone, so you can start whenever you like, hear about the place as you stand there and solve a puzzle on the spot. One ticket covers the whole group.