Rainy summer day? Visit the museum.

Ah, but WHICH museum, you wisely ask. For we have quite a few to choose from!

We recently visited the ROCKWELL MUSEUM in Corning, as we often do when there’s a special exhibit on. Just now there are two complementary photo shows. One is a set of Kodachrome photos from 1975 by Nathan Benn, who was commissioned to take a year shooting film for a “National Geographic” feature on four seasons in the Finger Lakes. I quickly spotted the faces of vintners Walter Taylor and Konstantin Frank, and I loved the view of wine casks in the rising sun. Maybe the most fun picture was the tour boat on Skaneateles Lake, but you could also enjoy Waterloo Memorial Day, Cohocton Fall Festival, or behind-the-scenes at the Glass Works.

The contemporary portrait photo exhibit, by Chris Walters, included Megan Frank (Dr. Konstantin’s great-granddaughter) and Corning Inc. president Wendell Weeks, but particularly aimed to move past the lily-white 1975 collection into non-white and marginalized groups. The photos focused on Asian Americans, Native Americans, African Americans, women Americans, Americans in drag, and Americans protesting or campaigning for a BETTER America. Each exhibit is worth seeing, especially for we who know the region – both together are even better.

We also made a recent visit to GLENN CURTISS MUSEUM in Hammondsport, where “Art at War” is showing through December 31. This exhibit was built from two remarkable collections of fuselage art. Movies and family history have made many people familiar with “nose art” in World War II airplanes, showing pretty girls, menacing monsters, or cartoon characters. These are earlier versions, going back to the Great War, where the art and symbols were painted right onto the fabric covering the airplane’s framework.

Fabric damaged easily, and was routinely replaced, with the old material (including art) often tossed onto the fire without a second thought. For this exhibit we can thank a couple of individuals a hundred years ago, who preserved the art and even the camouflage for us to see today. Of course the museum also includes Curtiss aircraft, early motorcycles, Hammondsport history, and turn-of-the-century life – not to mention the always-popular workshop, where volunteers repair, restore, or reproduce historic aircraft.

Earlier in our summer season we visited SENECA ART & CULTURAL CENTER at GANONDAGON STATE HISTORIC SITE, near Victor on the site of one of the Seneca cities. Besides its captivating museum exhibitry, Ganondagon screens “Iroquois Creation Story,” a remarkable 17-minute film that has won awards from Stuttgart to Los Angeles. It combines animation and live-action, dance and mask. A short walk uphill is a reproduction Seneca longhouse, offering a good chance to get a feel for local life in the 1500s through 1700s.

We actually started our (personal) season at Arnot Art Museum in Elmira, and just last week enjoyed Gmeiner Art & Cultural Center in Wellsboro. Locally we also have Finger Lakes Boating Museum and (of course) Corning Museum of Glass. Our region further offers Rochester Museum and Science Center, Memorial Art Gallery, George Eastman Museum, and the Strong National Museum of Play… Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Museum of the Earth, Roberson Museum and Science Center… not to mention small historical museums broadcast through our counties and communities. Enjoy yourself!