ALBANY — Two popular Albany Museum of Art education programs — Toddler Takeover and Homeschool Day — will be conducted virtually in February and March. Museum officials say they expect both programs to return to in-person sessions in April.
With the post-holiday rise in COVID cases in the Albany area, AMA officials paused and rescheduled winter programming for later dates. The museum remains open to visitors during normal hours of operation: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and 10 a.m.-7 p.m. on Thursdays. Visitors are asked to observe current health guidelines, including wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.
“We want to stay engaged with the toddlers and students while we pause live sessions for the next several weeks,” AMA Director of Education and Public Programming Annie Vanoteghem said. “We have learned a great deal about transforming our programs into online experiences since the COVID shutdown last year, and we’ll be using that knowledge to bring these sessions into toddlers’ and students’ homes in February and March.”
The Toddler Takeover online experiences will be posted to the AMA’s website (www.albanymuseum.com/kids-staying-inspired) by 10 a.m. on the program’s regular first Tuesday dates: Feb. 2 and March 2.
Homeschool Day, which provides students with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) education art projects, will be available on the AMA website (www.albanymuseum.com/kids-staying-inspired) by 11 a.m. on that program’s regular dates: Feb. 11 and March 11.
Links to the Toddler Takeover and the Homeschool Day virtual programs both months also will be placed on the AMA’s Facebook page (www.facebook.commmmm/AlbanyMuseumOfArt).
“We plan to return both of these programs to in-person sessions in the museum with the April 6 Toddler Takeover,” Vanoteghem said. “It will depend on what we hear from health officials when that time comes, but we are hopeful that things will return closer to normal.”
The Albany Museum of Art is located at 311 Meadowlark Drive adjacent to Albany State University’s West Campus just off Gillionville Road. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.
