First Friday is back at the Cayuga Museum with all new exhibits! Come check out the new 2023 exhibit “Fabrication: Telling Stories Through Clothing“ and a revamped exhibit exploring the history of the Auburn Correctional Facility.

STEAMLab Activity

Make your own drink koozie (or take a free one) to use during Brave Brews Weekend.

Explore the newly installed CNY Emerging Artist exhibit at the Cayuga Museum and Schweinfurth Art Center, featuring works by Oswego Artist Tyrone Johnson-Neuland. Be sure to catch his artist talk which will begin at 5:30 at the Schweinfurth Art Center and end at the Cayuga Museum. Meanwhile, bring the whole family to make your own paper dolls as you learn more about historic clothing in the STEAMLab.

Join the Cayuga Museum of History and Art and the Schweinfurth Art Center May 5 and 6, 2023, for a weekend of activities surrounding Haudenosaunee history, including a demonstration of the Smoke Dance and a free workshop examining the history of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.

The weekend begins with a demonstration of the Smoke Dance by Chris Thomas (Onondaga, Beaver Clan) and his Smoke Dancers during First Friday festivities from 5 to 7:30 on May 5. The dance will be performed on the lawn behind the Cayuga Museum, weather permitting.

Highlighted by lightening footwork that seems to float on air, the Smoke Dance is a traditional social dance of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, a confederated alliance of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora nations. Thomas is one of this generation’s most celebrated smoke dancers.

There will be no STEAMLab activity available during this First Friday.

Join us for a preview of our second CNY Emerging Artist exhibit, featuring the work of Farmington-based artist Kevin Carr. In his show I am a Friend of Dorothy, Carr explores themes of self-discovery and LGBTQ acceptance through fabric based media.

There will be no STEAMLab activity during this First Friday.

Explore the newly completed exhibition of our second CNY Emerging Artist, featuring the work of Farmington-based artist Kevin Carr. In his show I am a Friend of Dorothy, Carr explores themes of self-discovery and LGBTQ acceptance through fabric based media.

There will be no STEAMLab activity during this First Friday.

Enjoy a one time only pop-up exhibit featuring two historic wedding dresses (Aurora) and the uniform of Civil War surgeon, Dr. Benjamin Fordyce (Union Springs). Our friends from the Aurora Historical Society and Frontenac Historical Society will be onsite to answer questions about the pieces and highlight the stories they tell about the communities of Aurora and Union Springs!

There will be no STEAMLab activity during this First Friday.

Haven’t had a chance to take a tour of the Case Research Lab yet this year? Well come take one for free as part of September’s First Friday activities! Tours will be given at 5:30 & 6:30.

Attend an embroidery demonstration with a take-home DIY kit of materials from Artistic Impressions, led by Mary Lou Chappell. View the museum’s newest exhibition, A Stitch in Time: Historic Quilts from Cayuga County, as well as a special screening of the documentary, The True Cost. The embroidery demo will begin at 5 PM in the Cayuga Museum. The documentary will begin at 7 PM in the Carriage House Theater.

Paint, press, and create with the unique leaves from the Cayuga Museum’s historic ginkgo tree from 5-7 PM.

With our friends from the Seymour Library, come create your own storybook using crafting supplies between 5-7 PM. Once your story is finished, books will be laminated at the Library and put on display for a month, making you your own local author!