Hudson River Museum Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day With Online Programs and Activities

YONKERS, NY, April 21, 2020 — Fifty years ago this week, 20 million Americans took to the streets across the United States in the first united effort to protest environmental degradation—the first celebration of Earth Day. While we may not be able to gather in person this year, the HRM is proud to provide free resources all week you can access from home to mark this historic anniversary of Earth Day. Celebrate, learn about, and become an advocate of the natural world with the Hudson River Museum! See the full schedule of events here, which include:

Science & Nature Video: Springtime Along the Hudson River with Bob Walters
Take a virtual stroll with Bob Walters, former Director of Groundwork Hudson Valley’s Science Barge in Yonkers, along the banks of the Hudson River in springtime. In this video, he’ll discuss the importance of the river to the indigenous Lenape people; folk singer and activist Pete Seeger’s many contributions to environmental awareness; ways people can contribute and clean up the environment; and what to plant to help our pollinators, the bees and Monarch butterflies, survive and thrive. The video, produced by Media Triangle / L. Brandon Krall, will be posted on the Science & Nature Projects page on Wednesday, April 22, at 10am.

Awesome Astronomy: Learn All About the Youngest Moon!
Buckle up and get ready to head to the skies! For millennia, cultures have used the first sighting of the new crescent moon as a way to mark the first day of the month. Learn all about it by watching our latest video, The “Youngest” Moon. Fortunately, this new moon is so bright, you should be able to see it on April 23, 24th or 25th even if you live in the middle of the city. Then on Friday, April 24 at 4pm, join us for Awesome Astronomy LIVE Facebook event about current astronomy sights and news, including suggestions for activities you can do from your home. Led by Marc Taylor, HRM’s Manager of Planetarium and Science Programs.

Art Project LIVE: Landscape Haiku
Visual artists and writers have always used nature as inspiration for their works. Join us on Wednesday, April 22, at 3pm for a live, interactive workshop to celebrate Earth Day, spring, and National Poetry Month! See a selection of HRM’s beautiful collections of landscape art, and then practice writing your own haiku, a traditional form of Japanese poetry that focuses on the natural world for its subjects. Led by Bridget McCormick, Manager of School Programs. Recommended for ages 6–18. Join the Zoom workshop here.

Art & Science Projects
The HRM is offering a series of new art activities for kids and their families in celebration of Earth Day, including Create Your Own Landscape and Landscape Haiku (ages 6–18); and the science and nature projects The Best Nest and Create a Naturalist’s Journal (ages 4–11).

Teaching Resources
Environmental education connects us to the world around us, teaching us about both natural and built environments. Whether we bring nature into our classrooms and homes, step outside to learn, or find impromptu moments on a nature walk, our HRM environmental education, rooted in inquiry and experiential learning, has benefits for youth, educators, schools and communities.

This week, interdisciplinary lesson plans inspired by the collections and exhibitions at the HRM, including Hudson River School paintings and Hudson Riverama, our environmental teaching gallery, are available for educators and parents in Dreamy Landscapes and Naturalist’s Journey. Students experience what artists and scientists have in common through close observation and appreciation of their natural surroundings.

Hudson River Stories Films
Enjoy and learn from a series of short documentaries about the environmental risk and activism of the Hudson River, including The Hudson: A River At Risk and Hope on the Hudson, produced by noted oceans expert, adventurer, and award-winning journalist Jon Bowermaster, Director & Executive Producer, Oceans 8 Films, with support from the One Ocean Media Foundation. These beautifully produced films have been screened in our Hudson Riverama environmental teaching gallery and are also available online.

#MuseumFromHome #EarthDay #EarthDay50

Press contact:
Jen McCaffery
jmccaffery@hrm.org
(914) 963-4550 x240

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About the Hudson River Museum

The Hudson River Museum is a preeminent cultural institution in Westchester County and the New York metropolitan area. Situated on the banks of the Hudson River in Yonkers, New York, the HRM is a place where diverse communities come together and experience the power of art, science, and history.

The Museum offers engaging experiences for every age and interest, with an ever-growing collection of American art; dynamic exhibitions that range from notable nineteenth-century paintings to contemporary art installations; Glenview, an 1877 house on the National Register of Historic Places; a state-of-the-art Planetarium; an environmental teaching gallery, Hudson Riverama; and an outdoor Amphitheater. Accredited by the American Association of Museums (AAM), the Museum is dedicated to collecting, preserving, exhibiting, and interpreting these multidisciplinary offerings, which are complemented by an array of public programs that encourage creative expression, collaboration, and artistic and scientific discovery.

The Hudson River Museum’s general operations are supported in part by Westchester County, the City of Yonkers, the Yonkers Board of Education, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the Westchester Delegation of the New York State Assembly and Senate.