Fenimore Art Museum

  • Admission

    Adults (20-64) $15.00
    Seniors (65+) $12.50
    Young People (19 and under) FREE
    Admission is always FREE for members, active military, and retired career military personnel.

    TWO-WAY TICKETS with THE FARMERS’ MUSEUM
    Adults (20-64) $25.00
    Seniors (65+) $22.50

    Tickets only available at the door. No online tickets sold.

    Download a visitor guide from the Fenimore’s website

  • Hours of Operation

    April 1 – May 6
    Open Tuesday – Sunday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. (Closed Mondays)

    May 7 – October 10 (Columbus Day)
    Open daily, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
    The Fenimore Café is open daily from 11am–4pm.

    October 11 – December 31
    Open Tuesday – Sunday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
    Closed Mondays, Thanksgiving and Christmas

    January 1 – March 31
    Closed for winter except for special programs and events.

  • Weather

    COOPERSTOWN WEATHER

Fenimore Art Museum

Fenimore Art Museum, located on the shores of Otsego Lake—James Fenimore Cooper’s “Glimmerglass”—in historic Cooperstown, New York, features a wide-ranging collection of American art including folk art; important American 18th- and 19th-century landscape, genre, and portrait paintings; more than 125,000 historic photographs representing the technical developments made in photography and providing extensive visual documentation of the region’s unique history; and the renowned Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art comprised of nearly 900 art objects representative of a broad geographic range of North American Indian cultures, from the Northwest Coast, Eastern Woodlands, Plains, Southwest, Great Lakes, and Prairie regions. Visit FenimoreArt.org.

Fenimore Art Museum is a museum of American art.

It is named for the property on which it stands, land once owned by the novelist James Fenimore Cooper. The Museum occupies a 1933 mansion built by Edward Severin Clark, an heir to the Singer Manufacturing Company fortune. Following his death the building was given to the Museum by his brother, philanthropist and art collector Stephen Carlton Clark, who also gave much of the fine art and folk art collections. Stephen later turned his brother’s farm complex across the road into The Farmers’ Museum, which to this day shares much of its staff with Fenimore Art Museum.

For a museum of its size, Fenimore Art Museum tells a remarkable range of American stories.

  • Its fine art collection illustrates everyday life in early America and chronicles the development of the young nation.
  • Its folk art collection shows the work of self-taught Americans who were inspired to create and who probably never thought their work would be in an art museum: traveling portrait painters, quilters, ship carvers, sign painters, students in female academies, and people from many different backgrounds and all walks of life.
  • The photography collection illustrates the entire history of photography in the United States, from early daguerreotypes to contemporary photographers.
  • The Cooper family collection shows the unique qualities of Cooperstown and Otsego Lake as seen in the writings of America’s first novelist, James Fenimore Cooper.
  • The American Indian Art collection shows the masterful artistry of Native peoples from across North America from prehistory to the present.
  • Special exhibitions and programs held regularly at the museum introduce visitors to a wide range of artworks and stories from our own as well as other museums and collections.
  • Our members and visitors give us valuable ideas and feedback to guide us in future programming.

Fenimore Art Museum, and the stories it tells, aspires to provide an engaging experience leading to a renewed or enhanced appreciation of American art, history, and culture, and the many and varied people who comprise the American story.

Events

Fenimore Art Museum Presents the Work of M.C. Escher

Start date: May 27, 2023
End date: September 4, 2023
All-day event
Location: Fenimore Art Museum, 5798 State Highway 80 (P.O.BOX 800) Cooperstown, NY 13326
Organizer: Fenimore Art Museum
Email address: INFO@FENIMOREART.ORG
Phone: 607-547-1400
Fenimore Art Museum Exhibits | Otsego County Exhibits
M.C. Escher Exhibit at the Fenimore Art Museum

New Exhibition Opening May 27

This monumental exhibition features more than 160 works spanning the entire career of the modern period’s most well-known graphic artist—M.C. Escher.

Cooperstown, New York — Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown brings the imaginative design, consummate draftsmanship, and dreamy visions of the renowned M.C. Escher to Upstate New York with the exhibition M.C. Escher: Infinite Variations, on view May 27-September 4, 2023. This monumental show from the private collection of Paul and Belinda Firos of Athens, Greece spans Escher’s entire career, from his training in Haarlem, his Italian period, to his final years in the Netherlands. Visitors will see nearly every iconic image he produced.

M.C. Escher: Infinite Variations

Date: June 7, 2023
Time: 12:30 pm
Location: Fenimore Art Museum, 5798 State Highway 80 (P.O.BOX 800) Cooperstown, NY 13326
Organizer: Fenimore Art Museum
Email address: INFO@FENIMOREART.ORG
Phone: 607-547-1400
Fenimore Art Museum
Infinite Variations MC Escher

Join Manager of Arts Education Kevin Gray for a lunch provided by Fenimore Art Museum, followed by a tour of the special exhibition M.C. Escher: Infinite Variations.

Experience a Summer Serenade in the Heart of Florence!

Date: June 17, 2023
Time: 3:00 pm
Location: 46 River St, Cooperstown, NY 13326
Organizer: Fenimore Art Museum
Email address: INFO@FENIMOREART.ORG
Phone: 607-547-1400
Fenimore Art Museum
Experience a Summer Serenade in the Heart of Florence

Escape to the enchanting city of Florence right here in Cooperstown! On June 17, 2023, at 3 pm, immerse yourself in the mesmerizing melodies of the Fenimore Chamber Orchestra at the historic Christ Church, Episcopal. Prepare to be transported to the sunny landscapes of Italy as we present an extraordinary repertoire that captures the essence of a Mediterranean summer.

M.C. Escher: Infinite Variations

Date: August 16, 2023
Time: 12:30 pm
Location: Fenimore Art Museum, 5798 State Highway 80 (P.O.BOX 800) Cooperstown, NY 13326
Organizer: Fenimore Art Museum
Email address: INFO@FENIMOREART.ORG
Phone: 607-547-1400
Fenimore Art Museum
Infinite Variations MC Escher

Join Manager of Arts Education Kevin Gray for a lunch provided by Fenimore Art Museum, followed by a tour of the special exhibition M.C. Escher: Infinite Variations.

Shaped by the Loom

Date: November 1, 2023
Time: 12:30 pm
Location: Fenimore Art Museum, 5798 State Highway 80 (P.O.BOX 800) Cooperstown, NY 13326
Organizer: Fenimore Art Museum
Email address: INFO@FENIMOREART.ORG
Phone: 607-547-1400
Fenimore Art Museum
thaw-3

Join us for a lunch and a special tour of the exhibition, Shaped by the Loom. The exhibition showcases the American Museum of Natural History’s Southwestern textiles alongside contemporary examples and pieces from the Thaw Collection. It is an in-depth study on Southwestern textiles as well as the network of relationships that sustain the world of weaving.

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RECENT UPDATES

Fenimore Art Museum Presents the Work of M.C. Escher

This monumental exhibition opening May 27 features more than 160 works spanning the entire career of the modern period’s most well-known graphic artist—M.C. Escher.

Stories from the People of the Longhouse with Perry Ground

Join master storyteller and cultural educator Perry Ground at Fenimore Art Museum for a family-friendly performance of stories from the Haudenosaunee Longhouse.

Fenimore Art Museum 2023 Exhibitions

An exhibition featuring the photography of Hall of Fame pitcher Randy Johnson opens April 1. Fenimore reopens for the season on Saturday, April 1.

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