Auburn Part I – Seward House Museum & Schweinfurth Art Center

My friend Krista and I had the best and most ambitious intentions of hitting all of the Auburn sights in one day, but after construction on I-90 delayed us by at least a half hour, we decided to take things as they came and to take the pressure off of ourselves. It was a new sensation for me!

We arrived at the Seward House Museum just as another couple were about to go on a tour. They, like us, had only put enough change in the meter for an hour, so between that and the fact that our docent had to start upstairs rather than down (another tour was still occupying the first floor), we were not only a bit rushed, but also out of order. Our docent was very knowledgeable and animated, but also a bit flustered by having to tell us about the assassination attempt on William Seward before telling us about how he came to live in the house in the first place, and all of his incredible accomplishments.

Seward was known for his
"dining room diplomacy"

Although I had visited the museum with my friend Nanette almost six years ago, I didn’t remember much about it or him, other than the highlights. Back then, she was already blogging about her adventures, but I hadn’t yet caught the bug. And looking back over what Nanette wrote (to see her blog click HERE), I can see that she captured many of the details better than I have the patience to! But her blog didn’t include photos, so their policy must have eased since then. 

Thomas Cole replica

Also, since then, the large and too-valuable-to protect Thomas Cole painting, “Portage Falls on the Genesee,” was replaced with a replica. The original, currently appraised at $18 million, is to be sold at auction, to help sustain the museum for future generations.

Seward was a man ahead of his time, not only in securing the purchase of Alaska, but in his views about the Constitution. This, on the base of the statue of him outside the museum: “The Constitution regulates our stewardship, the Constitution devotes the domain to union, to justice, to defense, to welfare and to liberty. But there is a higher law than the Constitution, which regulates our authority over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble purposes.”

Elderberry Pond

After our history lesson, we enjoyed a leisurely and delicious lunch at the Restaurant at Elderberry Pond and stopped briefly for Krista to buy some fresh eggs. On our way back to town to tour the Harriet Tubman Home, we took a detour to the Schweinfurth Art Center and its Made in NY 2018 exhibit (which runs until June 17). 

"Anomalous" by Eileen
Fioramonti. "I once desperately
wished I could mold and reshape
my body into a form that I
thought was more desirable.
This piece was created by a new
and more accepting me."

"The Question is Why" by Mary Giehl
"There are 250,000 people killed each
year from the AK47. Each of the 250
crochet flowers represents 1000 people."

Almost everything was for sale, and there were a couple of pieces that caught my eye, but not my pocketbook. Krista did, however, purchase a lovely piece called “Replaying the Dance” that perfectly captured the mood of a ballerina post-performance.

Between the exhibit and the gift shop, our short detour became a long one, so we decided to end our day there. Besides, we need to go back in June to collect Krista’s purchase, so we’ll plan to finish our exploring then…

Seriously?!