Our Mission

While our name has changed from the Adirondack Museum to the Adirondack Experience, our mission remains the same:

A Museum For The 21st Century

The Adirondack Experience is committed to being a welcoming and inclusive environment that serves our visitors and our communities for the equal benefit of all.

The Adirondack Experience is situated on the aboriginal territories of the Mohawk and Abenaki communities. Indigenous people continue to live in this region and practice their teachings and lifeways. Today, the Adirondacks remain an important place for many Indigenous peoples. As a regional institution, it is our responsibility to acknowledge this historical context and build reciprocal relationships with the Indigenous nations on whose lands we are situated.

We foster the next generation of learners—from pre-school to college students.

• Regional artisans and Mohawk Akwesasne artists lead workshops and demonstrations for our visitors, continuing the traditions of North Country and indigenous craftsmanship.
• We offer free school programming for public schools in all 12 counties that are found within the Adirondack Park. The creation of our ADKX Digital Learning Lab will reach an even broader population with free curriculum-based programs from our own campus.
• We provide paid internships for undergraduate and graduate students pursuing museum and library careers and fellowships to students from under-represented communities in the arts and museum professions. Internships and fellowships can be onsite or virtual.

Watch the 2019 Diversity Fellows video below:

We strive to make the campus accessible to and representative of all visitors.

• We are collaborating with the Wild Center on a federal and state-funded project to reach out to Black and Latinx communities in Albany, Utica, Syracuse, and Plattsburgh to identify opportunities to connect our institutions to them.
• The museum is Sensory Inclusive certified by Kulture City.
• Our video programs In the Shop and Black Experience in the Adirondacks provide insights into those who live and work in the North Country today.
• We offer free admission to Adirondack Park residents on select days throughout our open season.
• Our digitized collections ensure that researchers and scholars have access to our stories and materials from anywhere.
• Regular programs and events and permanent exhibitions explore the diverse people that have called the Adirondacks home—both in historic times and today. Beginning with our Life in the Adirondacks exhibition, ADKX has expanded its representation of the Indigenous peoples of the region. We collaborated with the Adirondack Architectural Heritage and Seagle Music Colony to preserve and move to our campus Fulton Fryar’s “Closet,” the 1957-1958 lodgings of Seagle’s first Black student.

The museum has long served as an economic catalyst for those who live or own businesses in the region.

• We are one of the biggest employers in Hamilton County.
• We offer professional training and National Association of Interpretation (NAI) certification for seasonal staff.
• We provide platforms for local makers through our Arts and Artisans Market and our Mohawk and Abenaki Art Market. Works by regional authors and locally made goods are available through our ADKX Store.
• We are one of the key tourist attractions in the central Adirondacks and draw tens of thousands of visitors who patronize local businesses.