HRM Receives Award of Excellence from Greater Hudson Heritage Network
YONKERS, NY, October 11, 2024—The Hudson River Museum is excited to announce it has been selected as a winner of the 2024 Awards for Excellence from the Greater Hudson Heritage Network for our Free First Fridays initiative. The awards are given to projects that “exemplify creativity and professional vision resulting in a contribution to the preservation and interpretation of the historic scene, material culture, and diversity of the region.”
Free First Fridays offers free admission to the Museum on the first Friday of each month from 5–8pm, with special programs including collaborations with community-based arts groups, featuring dynamic and diverse performers. Past events include concerts under our Planetarium dome, innovative music and immersive dance in the galleries, and outdoor performances and programs in the courtyard. Live sketching with an artist is a consistent and popular offering. This project is made possible with generous support from Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program. The HRM was selected by the national arts nonprofit, founded by philanthropist Alice Walton, as one of 64 museums nationwide whose values matched those of the foundation to launch the initiative. This series has been an unequivocal success for the HRM, attracting more than 1,000 visitors, including many first-time visitors, from 102 zip codes across the region since its inception.
“We are immensely proud that the Hudson River Museum has received this Award of Excellence from the Greater Hudson Heritage Network,” said Director and CEO Masha Turchinsky. “Free First Fridays is much more than free admission to our galleries. The initiative aligns with the HRM’s core values by helping to build relationships with new audiences, engage current audiences in new ways, and emphasize interdisciplinary programming.
We are honored to share this recognition with Art Bridges Foundation and their Access for All initiative, which has enabled us to welcome audiences and provide exciting ways for all to experience culture and community together in new ways.”
Anne Kraybill, CEO, Art Bridges stated, “We are thrilled to celebrate the Hudson River Museum’s remarkable achievement in receiving the Award of Excellence from the Greater Hudson Heritage Network. At Art Bridges, our mission is to ensure that all communities across the country have access to the transformative power of art. The HRM’s Free First Fridays initiative is a perfect embodiment of this, inviting audiences from all walks of life to connect with art in meaningful ways. We are honored to support this program through our Access for All initiative and look forward to seeing its continued impact on the region.”
The Greater Hudson Heritage Network’s mission is to serve the museum and history communities as a catalyst to advance professional standards and practices, build the capacity of organizations to meet their missions, and create a network of effective and professional stewards of regional history and culture – now and in the future. The awards will be presented at the GHHN’s ‘Embracing Innovation’ Conference on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, at the Reid Castle on the picturesque grounds of Manhattanville University in Purchase, New York.
Image: Free First Fridays: Mariachi for May with Mariachi Citlalli in May 2024. Photo by Camille Knop.
Press contacts:
Jeana Wunderlich
jwunderlich@hrm.org
(914) 963-4550 x240
Samantha Hoover
shoover@hrm.org
(914) 963-4550 x216
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The Hudson River Museum is a preeminent cultural institution in Westchester County and the New York metropolitan area. The Museum is situated on the banks of the Hudson River in Yonkers, New York, with a mission to engage, inspire, and connect diverse communities through the power of the arts, sciences, and history.
The HRM offers engaging experiences for every age and interest, with an ever-evolving collection of American art and dynamic exhibitions that range from notable nineteenth-century paintings to contemporary art installations. The campus, which recently expanded to include a West Wing with exhibition galleries and sweeping views of the Hudson River, features Glenview, an 1877 house on the National Register of Historic Places; a state-of-the-art planetarium; an environmental teaching gallery; and an outdoor amphitheater. 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 Museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums (AAM), an honor awarded to only 3% of museums nationwide.
Hours and Admission: The Hudson River Museum is open to the public Wednesday–Friday, from 12–5pm, and Saturday–Sunday, from 11am–5pm. On Free First Fridays, the Museum is open and free of charge on the first Friday of the month, from 5–8pm. Learn more and purchase tickets at hrm.org/visit.
General Admission: Adults $13; Youth (3–18) $8; Seniors (65+) $9; Students (with valid ID) $9; Veterans $9; Children (under 3) FREE; Members FREE; Museums for All* $2, *SNAP/EBT card with photo ID (up to 4 people). Planetarium tickets: Adults $7; Youth (3–18) $5; Seniors (65+) $6; Students (with valid ID) $6; Veterans $6; Children (under 3) Free. Glenview tours: Adults $7; Youth (3–18) $5; Seniors (65+) $6; Students (with valid ID) $6; Veterans $6; Children (under 3) Free. The Museum is accessible by Metro-North (Hudson Line—Yonkers and Glenview stations), by Bee-Line Bus Route #1, by car, and by bike. If you plan on taking Metro-North Railroad to Glenwood Station and want to leave your car behind, you can save on discounted round-trip rail fare and discounted admission by getting an MTA Away package. Learn more here.