Fenimore Art Museum — Attraction in Town of Otsego

We recently returned after a long absence when we were in the vicinity. The Fenimore Art Museum was once well known for its displays of American folk art, and still shows several rooms with folk art paintings and objects. More recently, their collection has evidently moved in other directions, purchasing traditional "American" academic art, apparently funded by the Thaws, whose art philanthropy has been in evidence at the Met and Morgan in NYC for some time. Unlike many of the works in NYC institutions that were once part of the Thaws' own carefully assembled collections, the American works in Cooperstown were apparently only bought with their money and are of inconsistent quality. That growth, combined with unrelated special exhibitions on multiple levels, makes a visit a haphazard time. A couple of summer 2025 exhibitions featured an extensive displays of American photography, while another showcased paintings and works on paper by impressionists Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot. If we hadn't read about it on their website in advance, we would have likely missed that awkwardly wedged into a dark lower-level room of American Indian art was a model of the truss work at Notre-Dame Paris which was recently restored after a terrible fire, and that although not visible from the museum itself, out on the beautiful rear lakeside lawn was actually a towering replica of a truss. While it is always nice to encounter unexpected art treasures, the overall Fenimore experience was not consistent, and despite picking-up and consulting their map, we may have missed other installations we would have enjoyed. We were fortunate to find one of the few remaining parking spots in front of the Museum. We didn't spend time in the gift shop, but they have a simple cafe run by a bakery a few towns over from which we enjoyed a sandwich and slice of cake. The Fenimore is across the street from a farm museum and adjacent to a golf course, which combine to make for a busy...

Fenimore Art Museum, which I have affectionately nicknamed “The Fen”, is a wonderful electric, eclectic, boutique museum, in a gorgeous setting, across from the Farmers Museum, which is conveniently located and can be packaged into one dual price admission.

I traveled, on a single day trip, four hours each way, to be dazzled and surprised by four collections: North by Nuuk, the Al Hirschfeld caricatures, the Wyatt Figure Studies, and most importantly, Unmasking Venice: American Artists in the City of Water. I had been lucky or fortuitous enough to spy an ad on my iPad for these events. I imagined from past trips to “The Fen” only domestic art narratives, not the international, relevant, and exciting presentation I encountered.

Challenged by the fast approaching end date, I attended the Saturday, August 26 webinar, zoom of a intellectual trip: Virtual Symposium on Venice: Where Art, Science, and Activism Meet This cemented my desire and energy to drive north.

The well crafted, compelling narrative experience, of the Unmasking Venice exhibition was thought-provoking and illuminating. Most importantly, arriving on Monday afternoon, I had the attention and focus of a well traveled and well educated docent, named Sue, who shared her extensive training and gave me her thoughts, experiences and enthusiasms.

The overwhelming impact of my experience led me to reach out directly to friends and neighbors who might make the drive north. I wish I were more proficient on Facebook to spread the word before its closing on Labor Day September 5, 2022.

Go if you can — it...

I wish I could give it a ticking zero!!! My friend and I took our 3 kids to this museum who are all 4th- 6th grade. I was at this museum before and other security guards have never done this before. The moment we walked in the security guard was completely inappropriate. Her name was Mary O’Brien. The moment we walked into this museum, she followed us around , in every single room while everybody else that was there were left alone. When we finally approached her we asked her why was she going following us around, and she said it’s cause she was told by 3 other security guards that our kids were touching the art work. We asked the front desk , where these security guards are, she said she’s the only one here, they weren’t even in that building. The whole time we were there, I made sure kids don’t touch nothing as I was within a couple feet of them making sure . Instead of coming to me and telling me just make sure the kids don’t touch anything , as I would’ve expected any professional to. she continued to follow us around and ruined the kids entire experience . Very racist as we clearly didn’t look like we were from the small town of Cooperstown. My kids felt completely uncomfortable and I would never recommend this...