We’ve always enjoyed the art, science and history offerings at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, which includes the Trevor Mansion, a Gilded Age manse.
Now the museum has launched a new digital initiative, Museum From Home, for its audiences to experience all it has to offer. Joining other museums across the United States and abroad, the museum will feature new content, including videos, hands-on art and science activities, lesson plans for parents and teachers and other ways to participate in and explore its exhibitions and collection. These virtual experiences will be available on the museum’s website and shared through its social media channels, using the hashtag #MuseumFromHome.
There will be a variety of recorded programs and workshops available, with new content being added each week in the categories of Art Projects, Science Projects, Awesome Astronomy, Storytime, Teaching Resources and HRM Collections & Exhibitions. In addition, there will be live-streamed programs, including virtual tours with curators, workshops with artists, conversations and Q&As with experts on timely topics and community-curated exhibitions and playlists.
For children and families, there will be a wide selection of Art & Science Projects with easy-to-follow printable guides and/or video tutorials on how to create projects using materials from around your home. Parents and teachers can download more in-depth lesson plans that enable students in early elementary through high school to explore the themes of exhibitions and works of art in the collection through thoughtful looking, questioning, discussion and hands-on activities. The youngest audiences may enjoy HRM Storytime videos—in English and Spanish—featuring books read out loud by our educators.
Stargazers of all ages will learn about what’s happening in the night sky with weekly Awesome Astronomy videos featuring Marc Taylor, manager of the museum’s planetarium and science programs, with whom you’ll be able to chat live every week, sharing your observations, questions and at-home projects.
The HRM Collections & Exhibitions section offers new ways to dive in and discover the museum’s permanent collection and exhibitions, past and present. Current offerings include “Derrick Adams: Buoyant,” with work by the multidisciplinary artist, who depicts a world where black joy, love and leisure play central roles; “Frances Hynes: Constellations,” an evocative collection of abstract pastel skyscapes; and “Self in the City,” an exploration of the paradoxes of urban life featuring works by artists who include Archibald Motley Jr., Barbara Morgan and Jacob Lawrence.
Among the other highlights are online exhibitions on Google Arts & Culture; a special SCHudson River Museum app, which allows users to experience 10 works from the collection using super high-resolution zoom; and unique storytelling features and other social media initiatives like #HRMStaffFavorites and #ShowUsYourSketches.
For more, visit hrm.org.
– edited by Georgette Gouveia
