Our Mission
The Chapman Museum presents the history of the Glens Falls – Queensbury community and its connection to the Adirondack region. By encouraging discovery, understanding, and appreciation of the region’s heritage, the Museum provides perspective for the present and the future.
Land Acknowledgement
The Chapman Museum is located on land formerly of the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk), N’dakina (Abenaki), and Mohican People dating back centuries before colonization. We honor and acknowledge the ancestral stewards of this land through the generations, whose practices and traditions are forever connected to it.
Staff
Executive Director: Nicole Herwig
Curator of Collections: Maureen Folk
Curator of Education & Programs: Rebecca Tommell
Board of Trustees
Dan Dudley (Chair), Melissa Montgomery (Vice Chair), Brianne Ryan (Treasurer), Robert Terwilliger (Secretary), Martin Seelye, Tianna Williams, Rhonda Triller, Judy Villa-White, Ken Tingley, Maureen Chase, Anthony Derrick, Tim Raffile, Nancy Raffile, Mark Ostrander, and Connie Bosse.
Accessibility
The Chapman Museum is accessible for those with limited mobility. The ramp entrance is located from the parking lot at the rear of the building off Bacon Street.
Our Story
In 1867, Glens Falls hardware merchant Zopher DeLong remodeled a modest wood frame home on Glen Street, building the two story brick structure with a mansard roof seen by visitors today. Following Zopher’s death in 1901, his son John took over the home and remodeled it to reflect his desire for modern tastes and conveniences.
Six decades later, Juliet Chapman, a relative by marriage, donated the house to the community to become a local history museum. The organization was granted a provisional charter from the New York State Board of Regents in 1965. In the years since the Chapman Museum has added an exhibition gallery, climate controlled collections storage, a research room, multi-purpose classroom, and a museum shop.
Our Vision
The Chapman Museum will elevate the popularity of local history and inspire a greater sense of community among those who visit and live in the Glens Falls and Queensbury area. The Museum provides a welcoming and inclusive setting for the open exchange of ideas and viewpoints, expands knowledge through programming and exhibits, and celebrates the diversity of our community in our efforts to reach new audiences and build a constituency for the future.
Our Grounds
Around the Chapman Museum property, you will find a series of sculptures created by local artist, Ronn T. Mattia. Ronn’s artist statement regarding the installation:
The Phoenix is a mythical bird who, after living a cycle of life, succumbs to flames only to rise again from the ashes. For many, life is similar to that of the Phoenix. Anyone who has been acquainted with a major life change may have been left to feel as though their own existence lie in ashes. Yet, it is possible to rise again; to experience rebirth physically, mentally, spiritually. One can flourish after decline to find renewal and rebirth; to experience an awakening of increased clarity and self-awareness.
Rebirth and renewal, like that of the Phoenix, have inspired this body of work. Rebirth, growth and change have always been central to my sculpture. Influenced by my love of nature, these ideas represent nature’s upward movement; its need to thrive. The concept of nature is evident in the form and shape of my work; a contrast to the chosen medium of discarded steel, influenced by my urban upbringing. In the spirit of the Phoenix, steel is repurposed; given new life in my sculpture.
My work as an artist began with the medium of glass. I found myself drawn to incorporate the contrasting forms of steel and glass in order to represent both the strength and the fragility of nature. The origin of my work, glass, breathes new energy and strength into each configuration of steel and preserves the idea that nature is simultaneously strong and fragile.
Front Garden, Glen Street: #1 ROOT, aged steel and glass, #2 CASCADE, galvanized steel and glass, #3 SAUNTER, galvanized steel and glass
Back Garden, Parking Lot: #4 TRILOGY, galvanized steel and glass, #5 SERPENTINE, aged steel and glass