Community Calendar

Presented by the Four Freedoms Park Conservancy and the National Coalition Against Censorship, Unbanned is a free, outdoor celebration of the freedom to read. At a time when books and ideas are being increasingly challenged across the country, this series invites the public to engage in timely conversations about censorship and creative expression. Held at the iconic FDR Four Freedoms State Park, Unbanned offers three signature events alongside a daily banned book library and ongoing community programming.

When:
May 16 – June 2, 2025
Park hours: 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM, Wednesday through Monday
(Closed on Tuesdays)

The event is to celebrate the right to read freely, encourage public discourse, and offer community-centered programming on the topic of censorship.
Ongoing Activities:
1. A Banned Book Library open daily with curated titles for all ages
2. Interactive events including talks, readings, and art-focused discussions
3. Free book giveaways of frequently challenged titles
4. Volunteer opportunities for community members

Event Highlights (Registration Encouraged):
1. Art Censorship in America, May 17 at 1:00 p.m. Elizabeth Larison (Director, Arts & Culture Advocacy, NCAC) leads a discussion on how art censorship impacts creativity and expression in the U.S.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/art-censorship-in-america-tickets-1320122334439

2. Censorship and the First Amendment, May 22 at 5:00 p.m. NCAC Executive Director Lee Rowland explores the contours of the First Amendment and today's threats to free expression.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/censorship-and-the-first-amendment-q-a-tickets-1320134049479

3. Read in Resistance with Mike Curato, June 1 at 12:00 p.m. Join author Mike Curato for readings from banned books, followed by an open afternoon of reading in the Park as an act of resistance.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/read-in-resistance-with-mike-curato-tickets-1320144520799

The Reflux Online Summit 2025 is a free virtual event bringing together leading doctors, researchers, and health experts to explore effective, evidence-based strategies for managing acid reflux, GERD, LPR, and related digestive issues. Over several days, attendees will gain practical tools, cutting-edge insights, and holistic approaches to healing—from diet and lifestyle to functional medicine and integrative care. Ideal for patients, caregivers, and professionals alike.

Registration is free. Join from anywhere.

The Norman Rockwell Museum is honored to present a rare series of early twentieth century lighting advertisements by Norman Rockwell and fellow Golden Age illustrators Maxfield Parrish, N.C. Wyeth, Dean Cornwell, Stanley Arthurs, Worth Brehm, and Charles Chambers created for Edison Mazda Lamps, a division of the General Electric Company. These luminous, richly painted works were widely circulated in published advertisements through the 1920s and are on loan to the Museum for the first time through the generosity of GE Aerospace.

Norman Rockwell: Illustrating Humor highlights selections from Rockwell’s most amusing artworks drawn from the Museum’s permanent collection.

Norman Rockwell: Illustrating Humor runs concurrently with What, Me Worry? The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine, this summer’s landmark exhibition of original art from one of America’s oldest humor publications. These thematically linked exhibitions juxtapose and illuminate two strikingly different veins of American humor, from the gently comical to the outrageously satirical. The underlying unity, however, is apparent in the brilliance of the illustrations and the successful intent to prompt viewers’ laughter and, perhaps, invite rueful self-recognition.

“Once a Tree: Continuity, Creativity, and Connection” explores the deep-rooted significance of trees in Haudenosaunee culture, tradition, and creative expression. Featuring the work of 42 artists and more than 100 objects—including decorative and utilitarian baskets, cradleboards, snowshoes, ladles, lacrosse sticks, toys, instruments, carvings, and sleds—this exhibition highlights the important relationship between nature and artistry. Selected from the Museum’s permanent collection, the exhibition was created with guidance from curatorial consultants Terry Chrisjohn III (Oneida), Preston Jacobs (Mohawk), and Sheila Ransom (Mohawk).

"Separated but Unbroken: The Haudenosaunee Boarding School Experience" explores the lasting impact of the Thomas Indian School, once located on the Cattaraugus Reservation south of Buffalo, NY, and The Mohawk Institute near Branford, Ontario. These institutions, which enrolled a significant number of Haudenosaunee students, were part of a larger system that sought to erase Indigenous identities while deeply shaping the lives of those who endured them. Co-curated by Erin Keaton (Mohawk), the exhibition sheds light on Haudenosaunee resilience.

Lake Myosotis Boat Launch

Join Stewardship Garrett Chisholm every Thursday to help tackle the invasive species that threaten the health of the Preserve. Volunteers will learn how to identify and manage a different invasive species every week.

folds and faults is an exhibition of new work by Kingston based artist Lindsey A. Wolkowicz. Wolkowicz’s dynamic use of figure plays with duality: space and object, surface and form, the corporeal and the psychodynamic. Her distinct mark-making and intersecting planes of color present the viewer with bodies trying to find grounding within the rugged landscape of change. These figures struggle to maintain connection– to each other, to place, to softness, to familiar structures and familial roles – as anchors of belonging within a constant state of transition and uncertainty.

Opening Reception: Sat, May 17, 4-6pm

Since 2020, I've started making marker drawings, which took away my ability to erase unwanted lines. I thus started to make a very different kind of drawing, in addition to the ongoing pencil drawings.

For a while in my adolescence, I became fascinated by architecture, and drew everything with rulers. The free, curvilinear drawing on display here was a reaction to that highly-structured method. However, recently, architectural details (stairs, rooflines) have started to re-appear in these biomorphic abstractions.

I read the nature of the lines in my drawings as being abstracted from the human body, as well as the increasingly curvilinear forms of technological products seeking to be more "high-touch”, to somewhat hide the decidedly “no-touch" world of the structure of the machines themselves.

So, in short, you have the environment (designed objects) and inhabitant (human body) together. The rest is a mystery to me, but a compelling one.

Exhibition Dates - May 17 - June 21, 2025
Opening Reception - Sat, May 17, 4-6pm
Gallery Hours - Thurs/Sun - 12-5pm, Fri/Sat - 12-6pm

Join us in the classroom of the Arkell Museum and Canajoharie Library on May 29th at 2 pm as we partner with the Alzheimer’s Association of New York to present Managing Money: A Caregiver’s Guide to Finances. Through this interactive program, you will learn about important legal and financial issues, how to put plans in place, and how to access resources near you.

This is a free program.

For questions, please call 518-673-2314 ext. 106 or email info@arkellmuseum.org

“Vividly immersive thriller!” raved the 'New York Times' about the 60-minute, outdoor experience 'In A Grove.' During this can’t-miss event, speakers hidden in the trees provide nature’s surround sound as audiences enter the grove during this operatic adaptation of Akutagawa’s classic short story — which offers a searing investigation into the impossibility and elusiveness of truth. This exciting site-specific electronic opera was composed by Chris Cerrone with libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann and will be held at the Ferndell Pavilion in Spa State Park at 5 and 7 pm on May 28 and 29 (rain date is May 31). Film buffs might recognize the story from Kurosawa’s renowned Rashomon. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to OperaSaratoga.org