The Post Office c1838 is located in Bedford Village. An example of Greek Revival style, the Post Office was originally a harness shop. It has been the village Post Office since around 1900. It first stood next to the Library but was moved in 1930 to make room for the Fire House. It was purchased in 1972 by the Society and enlarged in 1975 so that the Post Office could remain in the village.

Press blue button for more information about the Bedford Historical Society and its historic properties.

The many artists living in the area represent an important constituency for the Museum. A very active Katonah Museum Artists Association offers lectures, workshops, and other events of special interest to its more than 300 members. The Museum also presents tri-state juried exhibitions, selecting outstanding curators to serve as jurors.

Brief History: The Katonah Museum of Art was founded 50 years ago as The Katonah Gallery, a small volunteer-run institution dedicated to encouraging the enjoyment, appreciation, and study of the visual arts by visitors of all ages.The Gallery, initially located in a small room over the Katonah Village Library, was committed to presenting "the best of art from the past to the present" and, as a "teaching museum," to communicating the special pleasures of the visual arts to its visitors.

By the late 1980's, the need for expanded space became critical. The Museum launched $5 million capital campaign and engaged the distinguished architect, Edward Larrabee Barnes, to design its new home. In 1990, the renamed Katonah Museum of Art moved to its present site and hired its first Executive Director. The Museum's elegant new facility provided space for a more comprehensive treatment of exhibition material, a wider range of participatory art education activities, and a greater variety and frequency of public programs.

As it made this growth-driven expansion, the Katonah Museum of Art reaffirmed its commitment to its mission. It remains a non-collecting institution dedicated to the study, appreciation, and enjoyment of the visual arts. It remains committed to its innovative and challenging range of educational programs, its lively array of public programs, and its uniquely effective use of talented volunteers. Press blue button for Exhibitions, The Learning Center, Programs and Events, and more about the Katonah Museum of Art.

"To please the eye, there are the textures of stone scrolled with the delicate designs of lichen, the patterns of tree trunks and clusters of foliage, the play of light and shadow, the varying shades of green as well as the seasonal colors of great beauty. To please the ear, there are the songs of native birds, the hum of insects the chorale of frogs and the occasional splash of carp in the lake, the crunch of pebbles underfoot, the whisper of wind through the pines. To please the sense of scent, there are dry pine needles in the sun, the fragrance of flowering shrubs, a breeze through mimosa or the pungency of loam after a night rain."

Things To Do
Birding
Brush Painting
Children's Workshops
Educational Tours
Restaurant
Stroll Garden

Press blue button for more about Exhibition, Arts-in-Residence, Education and Public Outreach, and Special Projects programs at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art website.

The Herrick House is a restored Victorian building that was owned by Dwight S. Herrick, a prominent Peekskill attorney. The Peekskill Museum was presented to the Field Library by Mrs. Ida M. Adams by deed dated January 3, 1944. It is one of Peekskill's most famous Victorian houses. The house was designed by the famous architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and Bigelow. The Herrick House is a fine example of a "well to do" Victorian home - with a spacious staircase, library, parlor and a fireplace with Dutch 'Delft' tiles depicting Biblical scenes.

The house was built between 1873 and 1877, occupied by the Herrick family until approximately 1912. Mr. Herrick's picture, presented to the Museum by Jennie Mabie in 1948, hangs on the wall in the front foyer, ready to greet visitors as Mr. Herrick would have done. The house itself was published in the best architectural journal of it's day, "The American Architect and Building News" on June 2, 1877. More recently, the house has been mentioned by Vincent Scully, a professor of Art History at Yale, in his book "The Single Story". Press blue button for more information about the Herrick House and the Peekskill Museum.

The sculpture gardens feature 45 sculptures by some of the best-known artists of the 20th century. Capricorn,” Max Ernst’s largest freestanding sculpture is among the inspiring works. The grounds themselves are 168-acres of green lawns, trees, ponds, fountains, and landscaped gardens with a topiary, well-tended hedges, flower beds and water-lily ponds. These spectacular grounds were conceived as an integration of architecture, landscape, and sculpture. It is a landscape exhibiting superior thought and attention, a thorough knowledge of plants, a respect for what has come before, and a working effort to remain true to a vision.

Things To Do
Visit the beautiful 168-acre Sculpture Gardens

Ponds
Fountains
Landscaped gardens
Topiary
Water-lily ponds

Map is available from the security guard at the headquarters entrance.
Admission is free.

Imagine a unique learning space – colorful, clean, with “a sense of space, light and air…” Filled with creative hands-on exhibitions and public programs. The Westchester Children's Museum will be an institution of distinction for our children, one that is fun and educational, and which reflects the true needs and interests of this community, from children and teenagers, to parents and caregivers, to teachers and educators. Drawing from the dramatic history, extensive cultural diversity, flourishing environments and ecosystems, and the rich literary and artistic traditions of Westchester, the exhibitions and programs of the Museum will be state of the art and:

• Highly innovative, dynamic, engaging, fun and enriching
  
  
• Appeal to audiences of different generations, backgrounds, emotional, physical, and learning abilities
  
  
• Present visitors with the opportunity for hands-on interaction
  
  
• Stimulate repeat visitation with changing exhibits, performances, and public programs
  
  

The Museum's collections have evolved from the original holdings of the Yonkers Museum, which was founded at City Hall in 1919 and relocated to the Yonkers Museum of Arts and Science in 1924. In 1937, H. Armour Smith, an avid collector of fine art, Americana and documentary materials, became director. Smith advocated changing the Museum's name to The Hudson River Museum to acknowledge that its collections documenting the Hudson River Valley were of primary importance to the Museum's goals. In 1956, the transfer of the stuffed elephant Tip, a popular display since 1929, to the Elephant Hotel in Somers, New York, was indicative of the changes that had occurred in the Museum's perception of its mission.

By 1948, the collection had grown to include a small group of 19th and 20th century fine arts, paintings, sculptures, and graphic works, as well as Victorian furniture, decorative arts and costumes, and materials documenting local history. In 1969, the New Wing added approximately 15,000 square feet of gallery space. Whereas previously much of the museum in the Mansion had been devoted to permanent displays, the new galleries were used for changing exhibitions of art, history and science. At the same time, the Mansion's first floor was partially restored, with four furnished period rooms and two small galleries for displaying decorative and historical materials from the collection.

Today, the Museum's collections reflect its mission to provide for development, preservation, and display of 19th and 20th century American art and history. The staff regularly organizes special collection exhibits and loan exhibits in which the permanent collections can play a role. Paintings, furniture and decorative arts are also always on view in the six period rooms in Glenview Mansion and its second floor hall and Lifflander Galleries. Press blue button for more information about The Hudson River Museum.