New Exhibit Explores Oneonta’s Identity
The Yager Museum of Arts and Culture at Hartwick College will open a new exhibition that explores Oneonta and the people who have lived
there over the past two centuries, with a reception on Thursday, April 17, at 5 p.m. The exhibition features artifacts and graphics from the collections of the Yager, as well as the Paul F. Cooper, Jr., Hartwick College Archives and the Greater Oneonta Historical Society.
Museum Coordinator Douglas Kendall noted that “Discovering Our Place: Working, Learning, and Playing Within These Hills” was developed by Hartwick museum studies students as part of a creative exhibits course. “They decided to focus on the way Oneontans – both long-time residents and college students spending a few years here – have experienced this place through work, learning and play,” he said.
A focal point of the exhibition is a portrait of young Otto Clark McCrum of Oneonta, painted by John Pardoe in the mid-19th century. The painting, part of the Greater Oneonta Historical Society collections, shows a young boy standing before a verdant landscape of hills and valleys, with a steam train in the background. McCrum’s portrait was created before the railroad reached Oneonta but foreshadows the importance of railroads to the prosperity of the community from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century. The “Working” section of the exhibition includes historical and artistic images, as well as artifacts of the railroads in Oneonta.
Interactive activities play an important part in “Discovering Our Place.” The exhibition includes images of “The Wall” at the corner of Center and West streets, where community members have memorialized political opinions, sporting triumphs, college events and even marriage proposals over the past half-century. In addition, a miniature version of “The Wall” is included in the exhibition and the museum encourages visitors to add their own messages. The exhibition also boasts an online component, discoveringourplaceoneontany.org, which invites visitors to add their own pictures, photos, and videos to the digital exhibition.
The Yager Museum’s galleries will also be open during the reception. Visitors can explore the museum’s current exhibits, including “No Child’s Play’: Impressionist Paintings by Anna Richards Brewster”; “With that Shadow Over Them: Constructing Catskill Reservoirs, Remembering Home”; “Sculptures in Silver: America’s Standing Liberty Quarters, 1916-1931”; and “Masterpieces of European and American Art: the Hartwick College Art Treasure Room.” The museum’s traveling exhibit, ‘Black Lives at Hartwick, Then and Now,” will also be on display.
The museum’s regular hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. when the College is in session. The museum is closed on Sundays, Mondays, College holidays and when the College is not in session. Admission is free. More information is available on this and additional events through the museum’s Facebook page and webpage or by calling 607-431-4480 or emailing Kendall at [email protected].
