Whodunnit at Night at Our Museum?

By Amy Hollister, Cooperstown Graduate Program Student

If you didn’t attend Night at Our Museum last weekend at Fenimore Art Museum, you missed an evening of art, crafts, music, and mystery. Will & Will entertained with musical stylings for the entire family, while the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown Art Association, The Glimmerglass Festival, The Brookwood School, and Cherry Valley Artworks provided art activities.

Will and Will were a highlight of the evening.

The excitement of the night centered on a mystery – just before the concert, a visitor’s purse went missing. Visitors divided into groups and worked with a detective and security to solve the case. And solve it they did! Using clues, young detectives roped off the galleries and scoured the crime scenes – and by crime scenes, we mean paintings. It turns out that at night the paintings come to life, and within the artwork lay the clues to catching the culprit!

Even if you didn’t attend, it’s not too late to solve the mystery. The clues and pictures of the crime scene are posted below. There are many things to consider when looking at art, but there are a few questions that provide a good start to your investigation:
1. “What is going on in this painting?”
2. “What do I see that makes me say that?”
Now it’s time to test your sleuthing skills! We’ve provided the clues and the paintings below.

Feathers at the scene of the crime
When our young detectives checked the purse’s last known location, all they found was bird feathers.

Quilting in the Clark
Two women sitting in the Unfolding Stories: Culture and Tradition in American Quilts exhibition were putting together a friendship quilt and had some conflicting tips. One woman said the purse thief was wearing black, and the other said she was wearing blue. It was hard to get a straight story, though, since they were arguing over quilting styles – and boy, was that a heated argument! We didn’t want our detectives to get caught in the cross-fire of fabric swatches and thread, so we left the gallery pretty quickly.

Young Boys Run Amuck in the Genre Gallery

Detective Henson and young detectives question the Village Post Office Lady and Mrs. McCormick.

In the genre gallery, we overheard Mrs. McCormick grumpily explaining to the Village Post Office Lady about the dangers of young boys. Unfortunately, neither Mrs. McCormick nor the Village Post Office Lady had much to contribute to the investigation. Do you see anything in the painting that could solve the case?

Eliza

Eliza rocks in front of her post-mortem portrait. Can you find any clues in the painting?

Poor Eliza; she’s sad, and we don’t know why. Eliza was rocking in her chair when we got up to the gallery. From her, we learned that the thief was skinny, mean, and had a covered head. But this describes too many people! Investigate the painting to see if you can figure out anything to add to the case – or a clue to Eliza’s melancholy state. Is she upset because she stole the purse?

Those were all the clues the young detectives found. With such little information, it would take outstanding skills to find the thief. But, by vote of applause, the case was solved! The thief came forward. Check the comments section of this post for the answer – but only after you do your best to solve the case. Who do you think took the purse and why?

Visitors voted, by round of applause, on who they thought stole the purse.

A Night at Our Museum was a great success. Next year will bring a new mystery, new clues, and new crime scenes. We hope to see you there!

It's Almost Time!

By Olivia Cothren, Cooperstown Graduate Program student

We’re now just two days away from Night at our Museum at Fenimore Art Museum!

We’ve been hard at work putting together the mystery tour. We’ve chosen our cast, outfitted the actors in costumes from The Farmers’ Museum, and had fun, productive rehearsals. Only one more dress rehearsal and then it’s show time!

One of the many joys of studying at the Cooperstown Graduate Program is getting the chance to participate in all aspects of the local museum programming. Last year, I was delighted to play one of my idols, the Statue of Liberty, in the Night at Our Museum mystery tour. This year, I’ve gotten to work behind the scenes while another crop of my classmates gets to show off their theatrical talents. Night at our Museum is a fun, educational experience for the community as well as for the staff and students involved in the planning and implementation of the event.

Although the mystery tour will be a highlight of the evening, there will be plenty more to do and see on Saturday night. Be sure to take a moment to visit with representatives from local community groups who will be providing fun activities. Sad that your stash of Halloween candy is now a crumpled pile of wrappers? Save the tears—we’ll have plenty of treats on hand to keep the sugar rush going. And don’t even think about missing the evening’s musical act, Cooperstown’s own “Will and Will.” Everyone knows they say “where there’s a will, there’s a way”…but do you know what they say about two Wills? You’ll have to attend to find out!

We hope you’ll join us on Saturday night for this special event. We need as many detectives as possible to help solve the mystery! Did anyone use the clues in this post to figure out which galleries the mystery tour will take you? If you have, congratulations! You’re well on your way to helping us solve the mystery. Now that you know what rooms you’ll see, try to figure out which pieces of art will come to life using these new clues:

• I don’t mind if you call my work wacky, eccentric, or zany…but I think CRAZY might send the wrong message!
• You’ve chosen me as one of your favorite paintings in the museum. Well, my rose and necklace are quite lovely, so I can’t say that I’m surprised…but I never let my emotions show on my face.
• Oh goodness, I feel like I’ve been waiting on this line all day. If we don’t get moving soon, I might just go postal!

See you on Saturday!

Night at Our Museum returns!

By Amanda Cohen, Cooperstown Graduate Program student

There’s a mystery at the Fenimore Art Museum, and we need your help in order to solve it. What is this mystery? It’ll have to remain a secret until Saturday, November 5. From 6:00 to 8:30 PM that night, the Fenimore Art Museum will open its doors to families, budding detectives, art lovers, and visitors of all ages to participate in Night at our Museum. Night at our Museum is an opportunity for families to share art experiences in unique ways. One of the highlights of the evening is a participatory tour of the museum, set around a mystery. Visitors will have the chance to interact with pieces of art come to life, finding clues that will help solve the mystery. The evening will also feature live music, food, and more.

As second-year students at the Cooperstown Graduate Program, a few of my classmates and I have the opportunity to help plan this special event. Our primary task is to make this mystery play happen, taking it from script to the galleries. As I work on this project, I’ve found that it’s a lot like producing a play. We must cast the actors, identify and secure costumes and props, make rehearsal arrangements, block scenes, and conduct rehearsals. Night at our Museum is a great way for us to hone our project management skills and gain valuable experience in implementing educational programs. Also, in working with museum staff on this event, we have the opportunity to collaborate with people outside of our usual cohort of classmates.

What are we up to right now? We’re casting the actors—they’ll be playing the artworks that come to life. We’re also picking out some great costumes, using resources from The Farmers’ Museum and thrift shops so our actors can dress like the characters in the art that they’re portraying. We’re very much looking forward to our first rehearsal.

Even though the subject of our mystery will remain under lock and key until November 5, I thought I’d give you a few hints as to which exhibits will provide the clues, witnesses, and crime scenes. This should give you a chance to sharpen your detective skills before Night at our Museum.

• We might keep you warm in the winter, but if you unfold us, we’ll tell you stories about the past.
• There’s definitely buzz about our art, but you won’t find any bees in our gallery; instead, you’ll find pieces picked by you.
• You’ll find a lot of genres in this room, but our paintings have nothing to do with rock, pop, jazz, or classical music.

Night at Our Museum: Rock Out!

By: John Buchinger, Associate Director of EducationThis week Fenimore Art Museum will be debuting a new program called Night at Our Museum from 7-10 pm. This new program will open our doors for a little after-hours fun for families and kids of all ages in the galleries of the museum. The night will feature family music artist and all around rocker Uncle Rock, who will do two sets during the evening. I was fortunate to find out about UR from a friend who had hired him for a party. She let me borrow some CDs, which I quickly tested on my four- and six-year-olds. They whole-heartedly approved. When from the speakers Uncle Rock yells “Are you Ready?!” Both girls in unison screamed “YEEEEAHHHHH! “ Rock plays off of classic rock sensibilities and merges them with kid and family friendly topics. He covers hard hitting issues like children pretending to be asleep in Playin’ Possum, and lost foot coverings in Shoe Bandit. My favorite is a montage of super hero songs which features several classics such as the Spiderman and Batman themes, and he throws in some contemporary examples such as REM’s I am Superman.

I was surprised at the infectious rootsy sounds that had me singing along. My favorite is Picnic in the Grave Yard. This is about a celebration of El Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. Rock sings “We’ll sit in the grass with people from the past and we will not be afraid.” His appeal to parents is strong as he hits topics important to families such as remembering loved ones, and offers us a chance to explore themes with our kids in a different way.

The evening isn’t all rock. Our paintings come to life as our “security guard” takes you on a tour where you will meet the people in the paintings, and characters or artists associated with the work. Some of our featured characters include artist Thomas Cole who will share with us his views on painting, and a Russian explorer will tell us about his meeting with Aleutian peoples in the Thaw gallery.

Local arts groups and businesses who support families and family related programming will be also be on hand to preview some of their holiday wares and provide crafts and activities to visitors.

This is a great chance to expose your family to the rich offerings that are always present at The Fenimore Art Museum, but also the larger community that is rich with cultural groups serving families and their children.