Educational Programs for Formal and Informal Learning Experiences

At this time, the museum is hosting both virtual and in-person programming. Click on the event titles to learn more.

The Education Department connects our community to our collections and exhibitions by providing lifelong-learning opportunities.

We develop programs for school children and their teachers that provide formal learning experiences to support curricula.

We also offer a full range of exciting and engaging informal learning programs that help people of all ages connect to arts and culture and to each other.

Upcoming Events

2:00pm–3:00pm Join Elizabeth Nogrady, curator of The Leiden Collection, for a gallery talk on the current exhibition Delights of the Senses: Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art and Life, Featuring Paintings from The Leiden Collection. To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Fort Orange, the first permanent Dutch settlement that developed into the present-day city of Albany, the Albany Institute developed this exhibition centered around a partnership with The Leiden Collection, one of the preeminent private collections of seventeenth-century Dutch paintings in the United States. Delights of the Senses presents paintings and objects that explore seventeenth-century Dutch culture through the five senses. Paintings of everyday life by Dutch artists such as Gerrit Dou (1613–1675), Jan Steen (1626–1679), and Gabriel Metsu (1629–1667) are displayed alongside objects similar to those represented in the paintings. The program is free with museum admission, no registration required. Elizabeth Nogrady is the curator of The Leiden Collection, a significant private collection of Dutch seventeenth-century art founded in 2003 by Dr. Thomas S. Kaplan and Daphne Recanati Kaplan. Comprised of about 250 paintings, it includes works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and many of the Leiden fine painters. Elizabeth received her PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, where she wrote her dissertation on Abraham Bloemaert and his studio in Utrecht. She has served as a fellow at the Morgan Library & Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and was a specialist in Old Master Paintings at Christie’s. Before beginning her position at The Leiden Collection in 2023, she was the Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programs at the Loeb Art Center of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY. Elizabeth was co-curator on the exhibition Delights of the Senses: Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art and Life and is currently preparing a major exhibition of paintings from The Leiden Collection to be held at the H’ART Museum in Amsterdam in 2025 on the occasion of the city’s 750th anniversary. [Two Women in an Interior with a Basket of Lemons, Caspar Netscher (ca. 1639–1684), oil on panel, ca. 1664-65, The Leiden Collection, New York, CN-108]

2:00pm–3:00pm Enrich your experience of our current exhibitions through an insightful docent-led tour of the galleries. Docent tours are an excellent way to learn more about the artworks and objects on display, in addition to the stories they tell. Interaction and questions are encouraged, and visitors of all ages are welcome. The tour is free with museum admission, no registration required. Please plan to meet in the museum atrium, main level, near the front desk before the tour begins.

2:00pm–3:00pm Enrich your experience of our current exhibitions through an insightful docent-led tour of the galleries. Docent tours are an excellent way to learn more about the artworks and objects on display, in addition to the stories they tell. Interaction and questions are encouraged, and visitors of all ages are welcome. The tour is free with museum admission, no registration required. Please plan to meet in the museum atrium, main level, near the front desk before the tour begins.

5:30pm–6:30pm Author James M. Bradley is joined by Times Union editor Akum Norder in a Q&A-style discussion on the life and times of Martin Van Buren. The event is organized in conjunction with the publication of Bradley's biography, Martin Van Buren: America's First Politician, released on December 2, 2024. The book tells the complete story of the father of American political parties, and how the very party he developed came to overpower his political ambitions, while presenting a different angle of early US history, the development of US government, and the lead-up to the Civil War. The talk will conclude with a book signing by James M. Bradley with books available for purchase. The program is free; museum admission is free as part of Albany First Friday. James M. Bradley is co-editor of the Martin Van Buren Papers, based at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee. He is an Adjunct Instructor in the public history program at State University of New York at Albany, and was the Senior Project Editor of Encyclopedia of New York City, published by Yale University Press. Akum Norder is the Times Union senior editor for opinion. The author of The History of Here: A House, the Pine Hills Neighborhood, and the City of Albany (SUNY Press, 2018), she also writes occasional feature stories with an eye to local history.

1:00pm–2:00pm Enrich your experience of our current exhibitions through an insightful docent-led tour of the galleries. Docent tours are an excellent way to learn more about the artworks and objects on display, in addition to the stories they tell. Interaction and questions are encouraged, and visitors of all ages are welcome. The tour is free with museum admission, no registration required. Please plan to meet in the museum atrium, main level, near the front desk before the tour begins.

2:00pm–3:00pm Award-winning fiber artist Salley Mavor returns to the Albany Institute of History & Art for a free artist talk. Mavor's works are the subject of our current exhibition, Enchanting Threads: The Art of Salley Mavor, on view through February 23, 2025. The talk is free with gallery admission, and AIHA members get first access to registration. Registration opens to members on Wednesday, November 6, then to the general public on Sunday, November 10. We anticipate the event will reach capacity and encourage those interested in attending to reserve early. Not a member? Join today and enjoy free gallery admission in addition to exclusive member-only programming, early access to events, and discounts in the museum shop.  

10:00am–4:00pm Drop-in art-making in the classroom Enjoy your visit to the museum, and explore your artistic side with an art project inspired by the museum's exhibitions and collections. Museum patrons may enjoy drop-in art-making on the second Saturday of each month. Activities are offered from September 2024–May 2025. The program is free with museum admission; no registration required. All ages are welcome to participate.

2:00pm–3:00pm Enrich your experience of our current exhibitions through an insightful docent-led tour of the galleries. Docent tours are an excellent way to learn more about the artworks and objects on display, in addition to the stories they tell. Interaction and questions are encouraged, and visitors of all ages are welcome. The tour is free with museum admission, no registration required. Please plan to meet in the museum atrium, main level, near the front desk before the tour begins.

2:00pm–3:00pm Enrich your experience of our current exhibitions through an insightful docent-led tour of the galleries. Docent tours are an excellent way to learn more about the artworks and objects on display, in addition to the stories they tell. Interaction and questions are encouraged, and visitors of all ages are welcome. The tour is free with museum admission, no registration required. Please plan to meet in the museum atrium, main level, near the front desk before the tour begins.

Calling all young artists, ages six through twelve! Join us at the Albany Institute for fun, hands-on activities led by our museum educators. Prepare to learn new things, experiment with new ideas and connect with new people. Throughout school breaks and the summer, we will explore the galleries at the Albany Institute and create our own works of arts!

2:00pm–3:00pm Enrich your experience of our current exhibitions through an insightful docent-led tour of the galleries. Docent tours are an excellent way to learn more about the artworks and objects on display, in addition to the stories they tell. Interaction and questions are encouraged, and visitors of all ages are welcome. The tour is free with museum admission, no registration required. Please plan to meet in the museum atrium, main level, near the front desk before the tour begins.

10:00am–4:00pm Drop-in art-making in the classroom Enjoy your visit to the museum, and explore your artistic side with an art project inspired by the museum's exhibitions and collections. Museum patrons may enjoy drop-in art-making on the second Saturday of each month. Activities are offered from September 2024–May 2025. The program is free with museum admission; no registration required. All ages are welcome to participate.

10:00am–4:00pm Drop-in art-making in the classroom Enjoy your visit to the museum, and explore your artistic side with an art project inspired by the museum's exhibitions and collections. Museum patrons may enjoy drop-in art-making on the second Saturday of each month. Activities are offered from September 2024–May 2025. The program is free with museum admission; no registration required. All ages are welcome to participate.

10:00am–4:00pm Drop-in art-making in the classroom Enjoy your visit to the museum, and explore your artistic side with an art project inspired by the museum's exhibitions and collections. Museum patrons may enjoy drop-in art-making on the second Saturday of each month. Activities are offered from September 2024–May 2025. The program is free with museum admission; no registration required. All ages are welcome to participate.

10:00am–4:00pm Drop-in art-making in the classroom Enjoy your visit to the museum, and explore your artistic side with an art project inspired by the museum's exhibitions and collections. Museum patrons may enjoy drop-in art-making on the second Saturday of each month. Activities are offered from September 2024–May 2025. The program is free with museum admission; no registration required. All ages are welcome to participate.

10:00am–4:00pm Drop-in art-making in the classroom Enjoy your visit to the museum, and explore your artistic side with an art project inspired by the museum's exhibitions and collections. Museum patrons may enjoy drop-in art-making on the second Saturday of each month. Activities are offered from September 2024–May 2025. The program is free with museum admission; no registration required. All ages are welcome to participate.