The Dark Side of Downtown Albany Tours

In honor of Halloween, join Historic Albany Foundation and Discover Albany for a special, sinister tour exploring the Dark side of Downtown Albany. This guided tour will delve into the stories behind the buildings you see every day in the downtown area of Albany, peeling back the layers of history to discover tales of true crime, spooky stories, and murderous mysteries.

Hear about an elevator accident, a murder at the luxurious Ten Eyck Hotel, attractions at a long-gone curiosity museum, and much more.

Booking is essential - each tour has a maximum of 15 attendees

Meeting point - Outside McGeary's, 4 Clinton Square, Albany, NY 12207. . Please note there will be a stop at a local pub midway through the route for a tipple on all tours, apart from 5.30 pm

20/21/26/28/31 OCT 2021


tickets here >>

Meet our #BUILT2021 Judges

Elizabeth Reiss

Elizabeth Reiss is a life-long arts advocate.  Her career has been guided by the simple belief that the arts belong in everyone’s life.  Raised in LI, Reiss has worked in NYC, Pittsburgh and the Capital Region, in art museums, children museums, arts festivals and now as the CEO of the Arts Center of the Capital Region.

Reiss has worked as a museum educator, education department director, exhibitions manager and development and public relations director, as well as organizational leader.  She is skilled in project development as well as strategic planning and business development.  Her favorite creative projects have been developing Craft in the Classroom, a K-12 craft education curricula developed with the NYC board of education, renovating an empty storefront to become the Children’s Museum of the Arts in SoHo, and, as part of the Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh, presenting public art projects that interacted with the environment.

Reiss has a BA from Bard College and an MS from Bank Street School for Education.  She has played an active role in community and professional service organizations.  In the past, she has served as the Chair of the NYC Museum Education Roundtable, VP of Greater Pittsburgh Arts Alliance and has served as a grants panelist for Institute of Museum and Library Services, New York State Council on the Arts, Cleveland Percent for Art, and the Pittsburgh Foundation.

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Kevin Kuhne

Kevin Kuhne specializes in watercolor depictions of the Capital region, with a special interest in local architecture and history.  He has a B.S. in Art Education from SUNY New Paltz and continues to teach and conduct workshops locally and regionally.

He is an active member of many local Arts organizations, including the Oak Room Artists and shows regularly in the Capital District and beyond. Kevin is a Signature Member of the Northeast Watercolor Society and has shown in the  Artists of the Mohawk Hudson Regional and the Adirondack National Exhibition of American Watercolors.  One of his sculptural constructions is in the collection of the Albany Institute of History and Art.

In addition, Kevin has submitted work to Historic Albany Foundation’s BUILT since the beginning, and serves as a volunteer helping to organize and hang the exhibit for the auction and event.


#WhereinAlbany - 473 South Pearl Street

This week’s #WhereinAlbany snap was taken on a trip to our wonderful friends at Historic Cherry Hill on South Pearl Street. We walked past 473 and had to take a photo. It is in need of some love, but as you can see the details are stunning.

This beautiful Greek Revival building with Italianate details dates back to before 1854. It was owned by a Patrick Clowry from 1860 until 1885. By 1930 is was the home of a physician Conrad Rissberger who also practised out of the building.

See the inventory form below for more information and photos of 473 South Pearl Street.

 
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Job Opening - ARCHITECTURAL PARTS WAREHOUSE ASSISTANT

The Warehouse Assistant should be an experienced “do-it-yourselfer” type having a construction background, as well as some knowledge of retail and merchandising with excellent customer services skill, with an interest and passion for historic preservation, recycling, and reuse which is part of the mission of the organization.

 

POSITION:   Part time, average of 16 hours / week on Friday and Saturday.  Hours can be flexible and varied based on need.  The Warehouse is open to the public on Friday (11am to 5pm) and Saturday (9am to 4pm) each week. 

 

RESPONSIBILITIES:

 

Tasks the warehouse assistant would perform:

  • assist customers in warehouse, check out customers making purchases, answer the warehouse phone

  • help carry items for customers 

  • help the manager move heavy items (radiators, sinks, large doors, etc)

  • Maintain the social media Facebook posting

  • staff the warehouse during open hours when the manager is out of the building

  • participate in salvages

  • go out on pick-ups of architectural items

  • process incoming donations to the Warehouse including doors, windows, plumbing items, lighting, etc.  This may require the removal of nails, cleaning and small repairs, as well as moving items to their proper place within the Warehouse.

  • Other duties as assigned


  • QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS:

  • High School diploma

  • Valid NYS Driver’s License and ability to drive a large truck or van

  • Skills in one or more of the following fields:  retail sales, construction, architectural history, historic preservation, architectural salvage, recycling, and/or building trades.

  • Ability to lift heavy objects.

  • Great communication skills, excellent team player, motivated independent worker, flexible schedule.

  • Creative and proactive self-starter


Resumes should be emailed to Pamela Howard, Executive Director at phoward@historic-albany.org by Friday, September 17, 2021.  No calls please.