Press

ALBANY, NY – The New York State Museum will close early – 2 p.m. – on Christmas Eve., December 24 and New Year’s Eve, December 31.

The Museum will be closed on Christmas Day but open on New Year’s Day, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., in honor of the inauguration of Governor Elect Elliot Spitzer. The Museum will host a special exhibition that day, as well as other programs.

Running for Governor: New York Election Campaign Collections, 1777 to 2006 will be open outside West Gallery from New Year’s Day through mid-January and documents the gubernatorial elections spanning the eras from former Governor George Clinton to Governor –Elect Eliot Spitzer. Complementing the exhibition will be artifacts from other non-gubernatorial campaigns held in New York State, such as those for the Supreme Court, comptroller, attorney general, U.S. Senate and others.

The exhibition will include furniture, rare broadsides, early campaign buttons, bumper stickers, election leaflets, banners, artwork and other objects. The artifacts reflect important issues that were discussed and debated by candidates in New York State and the country-at-large, including transportation, civil rights, education, abolition, the environment and prohibition.

Other activities at the Museum on New Year’s Day will include gallery tours, Trash to Treasures and friendship bracelet crafts, various interactive exploration station activities and scavenger hunts. In addition, the Museum carousel will be operating and Discovery Place for children will be open.

The New York State Museum is a program of the New York State Education Department. Located at the Empire State Plaza on Madison Avenue in Albany, the Museum’s regular, non-holiday hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free and the Museum is fully

accessible. Further information about Museum programs and events can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the Museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.

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