Artists & Inspiration in the Wild

Hurricane Mountain, ca. 1956
James N. Rosenberg
Oil on canvas, 24″ x 30″
2011.063.0001
BROADREACH III (red billow), ca. 2007
John Van Alstine
Steel/Stone, 11.5″ x 14″ x 4.5″
2007.077.0001
Evening at Home, ca. 1959
Edna West Teall
Acrylic paint on canvas board
2018.013.0016
Cascade Sunset (The Dark Hills), ca. 2001
Paul Matthews
Oil on linen, 50″ x 60″ x 2.25″
2001.053.0001
Evening on Lake Raquette, Adirondacks, ca. 1874
James David Smillie
Oil on canvas, 18″ x 30″
1966.098.0003

Permanent Exhibition

Artists & Inspiration’s four main galleries illustrate how the natural features of the Adirondacks—light, forests, water, and mountains—have sparked the creative visions of painters, sculptors, and expert artisans.

From the renowned—men such as Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait, Seneca Ray Stoddard, and Rockwell Kent—to the groundbreaking—Edna West Teall, Dorothy Dehner, Margaret Bourke-White, Takeyce Walter, Niio Perkins, and Natasha Smoke Santiago—Artists & Inspiration will offer an inclusive and wide-reaching interpretation of Adirondack art. These visionaries have looked at the same landscapes and drawn from the same materials to create an incomparable artistic legacy.

After exploring the main galleries, visitors end their journey in a makerspace created in collaboration with Adirondack artist Barney Bellinger.

Visit Artists & Inspiration in the Wild in 2023 to make new memories.

What will inspire you?

Intro Gallery

The Adirondacks’ rich artistic heritage is defined by a distinct sense of place. From the first people to inhabit the region through today’s digital creators, artists have been deeply inspired by the beauty of this vast landscape. Their resulting works have shaped how we, in turn, think of and feel about the Adirondacks. In these galleries, about 200 works illustrate the rich traditions of Adirondack art and offer insight into artists’ own views about the natural wonders of the region.

Light Gallery

Artists have long been moved by the way light looks across the Adirondack landscape, a quality that has attracted them to seek out the region. The works that they create depict the interplay of light with water, forests, and mountain peaks, revealing a deeply personal, emotional response to nature.

Light also serves as a metaphor for how artists interpret the world. They use light to create mood, change perception, or give meaning. The light permeating the Adirondacks can evoke tranquility, comfort and healing, or sorrow and anger.

Forest Gallery

Painters, architects, photographers, and sculptors have long memorialized their time in Adirondack forests through their creations. During the 19th century, many of these artists helped to define a romantic ideal of wilderness; today, Adirondack art documents how significantly the landscape has changed at the hands of humankind.

Scattered throughout Artists & Inspiration are unparalleled examples of Adirondack Style—an artistic tradition unique to this region. It is noted for the use of natural materials that have been taken directly from the surrounding forests.

Water Gallery

The places where land and water meet are among the most universal scenes depicted in Adirondack artwork. The forces of nature—and the forces of humanity—are evident in the way artists have portrayed the region. Their works use water to convey mood and the human experience, from stormy waves in turbulent times to light breaking through clouds when the future offers more hope.

But Adirondack waters are also themselves fragile, vulnerable to pollution and climate change; contemporary artists reinforce our shared responsibility to preserve their splendor.

Mountains Gallery

For centuries artists have been moved by the striking peaks of the Adirondacks, feeling small against the sheer magnitude of nature and, for some, in the face of divine creation. Whether blanketed by snow and ice, shrouded in clouds, or ablaze in glorious fall colors, the impressive vistas of the Adirondack Mountains have proved deeply inspiring.

Artists have used the Adirondack landscape as a metaphor for the complex relationships people have with the land. Their works have contributed to both a deep love of the outdoors and to resounding calls for its preservation.

ADKX Art Lab

No visit is complete without time in the ADKX Art Lab. Artist Barney Bellinger helped design this uniquely Adirondack makerspace, one that is inspired by Bellinger’s own studio. The materials and projects on hand are drawn from the works of Adirondack artists and artisans, many of whom offer workshops throughout the season and participate in the museum’s summer artist-in-residence program.

There is something for everyone at the ADKX Art Lab—young and old, skilled artisan or a true beginner. Here, everyone is an artist, builder, crafter, or maker.