About George Eastman Museum
Founded in 1947, the George Eastman Museum is the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the largest film archives in the United States, located on the historic Rochester estate of entrepreneur and philanthropist George Eastman, the pioneer of popular photography. Its holdings comprise more than 450,000 photographs, 31,000 motion picture films, the world’s preeminent collection of photographic and cinematographic technology, one of the leading libraries of books related to photography and cinema, and extensive holdings of documents and other objects related to George Eastman. As a research and teaching institution, the Eastman Museum has an active publishing program, and its L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation’s graduate program (a collaboration with the University of Rochester) makes critical contributions to film preservation. The George Eastman Museum is supported with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Current Press Releases
This Week: George Eastman Museum opens two exhibitions and kicks off film series as part of Stories of Indian Cinema
Stories of Indian Cinema, which comprises two exhibitions—Abandoned and Rescued and Nandita Raman: Cinema Play House—will open at the George Eastman Museum on Saturday, November 11, with a preview on the evening of Thursday, November 9. Abandoned and Rescued tells the intriguing story behind the Eastman Museum’s recent acquisition of a collection of contemporary Indian films and posters. Raman’s Cinema Play House series features photographs the artist made in various single-screen cinemas in India, many of which are threatened by the emergence of multiplexes. Both exhibitions will be on view in the museum’s main galleries through May 13, 2018.
George Eastman Museum announces 2018 photography and film workshop schedule
The George Eastman Museum has announced its 2018 schedule of photography workshops, including several new programs, including a one-day tintype boot camp; hand-coloring film; creating Niepceotype, hyalotype, and albumen on glass plates; and an introduction to analog photography. In addition to workshops being held at the museum, excursion workshops are being offered on the Erie Canal and at Letchworth State Park.
George Eastman Museum acquires rare collection of Lumière films
The George Eastman Museum has recently acquired and restored a rare collection of eighteen Lumière films. The nitrate reels, all in nearly pristine condition, consist of seven 35mm negatives and eleven 35mm positive prints, dating approximately between 1896 and 1903. The restored films will make their debut at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival in Italy on Wednesday, October 4, at 8:30 p.m.
The George Eastman Museum’s Wish You Were Here lecture series returns on September 28
The George Eastman Museum has announced the fall lineup for its Wish You Were Here lecture series. For more than 16 years, this popular photography lecture series has brought artists and photojournalists to the Rochester to share their stories and photographs. The series will begin on Thursday, September 28 at 6 p.m., with photographers Ahndraya Parlato and Gregory Halpern.
George Eastman Museum to offer FREE DAY on September 23
The George Eastman Museum will be open to the public for FREE on Saturday, September 23, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. In the spirit of Smithsonian Magazine’s Museum Day Live!, the Eastman Museum is opening its doors to all visitors for the day to encourage the Rochester community to experience the photography exhibition Eugene Richards: The Run-On of Time before it closes on October 22.
George Eastman Museum launches Technicolor Online Research Archive
The George Eastman Museum has officially launched the Technicolor Online Research Archive available at technicolor.eastman.org. The online archive contains more than 40,000 documents from the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation, ranging in date from 1914 to 1955. Notes, journals, correspondence, film tests, technical drawings, and other documents are now available for the public to search and browse.
The George Eastman Museum and Table Top Opera present Within the Quota as part of KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival
As part of the KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival, the George Eastman Museum and TableTopOpera will present a multi-media presentation titled Within the Quota on Tuesday, September 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the museum’s Dryden Theatre.
George Eastman Museum appoints Kevin Gavagan as Chair of its Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees of the George Eastman Museum has appointed Kevin Gavagan as its new Chair.
Ben Morey and The Eyes to perform at the George Eastman Museum on Saturday, August 19
Due to a major restoration project that has temporarily closed the East Porch and East Vista of George Eastman’s historic mansion, this is the first summer in 22 years that the George Eastman Museum is not hosting its annual Garden Vibes concert series. The museum plans to keep the music alive, however, with a special Hidden Garden Concert on Saturday, August 19, at 6 p.m.
The George Eastman Museum seeks funding for major restoration and redesign projects
The George Eastman Museum is hosting a community forum on Monday, July 17, at 6 p.m. to share information about its historic mansion restoration program and update community members about the next phase. In addition, the museum will share information about its plan to relocate and redesign the museum’s main public entrance to enhance accessibility for all visitors.
Happy Birthday, George Eastman!
In honor of George Eastman’s birthday, today the George Eastman Museum will unveil a new interactive offering in Eastman’s historic mansion. In the screening room on the second floor of the museum, visitors can now watch historic footage and recent documentaries related to George Eastman—many of which are only available on-site at the museum.
Celebrate America’s Favorite Pastime this summer at the George Eastman Museum
The George Eastman Museum will be celebrating baseball this summer with America’s Favorite Pastime, a film series of twelve features spanning nearly ninety years of cinema history. As part of the series, which is presented in collaboration with the Rochester Red Wings, the Eastman Museum will host two special events: a screening of Bull Durham (1988) with writer/director and former Rochester Red Wing Ron Shelton in person on July 6, and a screening of Field of Dreams (1989) with writer/director Phil Alden Robinson in person on August 4.
Lucinda Devlin: Sightlines now on view at the George Eastman Museum
Lucinda Devlin: Sightlines is now on view at the George Eastman Museum through December 31, 2017. Photographer Lucinda Devlin has devoted her forty-year career to exploring the relationship between our bodies and the spaces they inhabit. Her work, made with a 2¼-inch camera and wide-angle lens, consists in large part of photographs of interiors associated with pleasure or pain.
George Eastman Museum to present David Levinthal: War, Myth, Desire in 2018
The George Eastman Museum has announced it will premiere a retrospective of artist David Levinthal’s work next summer. The exhibition, David Levinthal: War, Myth, Desire, is set to open on June 2, 2018, and will run through December 30, 2018.
Registration Now Open for 7th Annual George Eastman Museum PhotoFinish 5K
The seventh annual George Eastman Museum PhotoFinish 5K will take place on Saturday, October 14, at 8 a.m. With a scenic course through Rochester’s Neighborhood of the Arts, the run/walk is open to everyone, including wheelchair users, and raises funds for local nonprofit organizations that make Rochester a great place to live and work. Individuals and teams can register now at eastman.org/5k.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards $5,000 Grant to Support Dryden Theatre’s Silent Tuesdays
The George Eastman Museum announced that it has been awarded a grant of $5,000 from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences through its FilmWatch program. Grant funds will support live musical accompaniment for more than 15 silent films to be screened in the museum’s Dryden Theatre as part of the 2017–18 Silent Tuesdays program.
George Eastman Museum reveals Film Titles for the 3rd Nitrate Picture Show
The George Eastman Museum has released the official program for this weekend’s 3rd Nitrate Picture Show, the world’s first festival of film conservation. Following a day of workshops, behind-the-scenes tours, and talks in the Dryden, the 3rd Nitrate Picture Show will begin its official program at 4:30 p.m. today with a series of seven short nitrate films, and conclude the day with The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (Irvin Reis, US 1947), starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Shirley Temple, at 10 p.m.
The Nitrate Picture Show Kicks Off on May 5 at the George Eastman Museum
The George Eastman Museum will present the 3rd Nitrate Picture Show on May 5–7, 2017, at the Dryden Theatre in Rochester, NY. The schedule for this year’s festival includes ten programs of feature-length and short films from twelve international archives and collections. The titles in this year’s lineup—which have collectively won five Academy Awards—will be revealed at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 5.
Eugene Richards: The Run-On of Time will open at the George Eastman Museum on June 10
Eugene Richards: The Run-On of Time, an exhibition co-organized by the George Eastman Museum and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, explores Eugene Richards’s career as a photojournalist and documentary photographer from 1968 to the present. The Run-On of Time is the first museum retrospective devoted to Richards’s work and will open at the George Eastman Museum on June 10. The exhibition will remain on view through October 22.
George Eastman Museum to begin restoration of historic mansion’s East Porch in June
At George Eastman’s historic mansion, the restoration of the East Porch—the second stage in a series of critical preservation projects taking place over several years—will begin in June. These projects are addressing historic structures and architectural elements that were not included in the major restoration of the mansion in 1990.
“Eastman Entertains” returns to the George Eastman Museum May 9–21
In the early 20th century, George Eastman frequently entertained friends, family, and business colleagues at his grand East Avenue residence. As Rochester’s leading citizen, Eastman was accustomed to entertaining, and he ensured that each luncheon, dinner party, and event was a memorable experience for his guests. In honor of this history, the George Eastman Museum presents Eastman Entertains: At the Movies for two weeks only, Tuesday, May 9, through Sunday, May 21.
George Eastman Museum to host free screening of Muhammad: The Messenger of God on Sunday, March 26
As part of its celebration of the work of cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, the George Eastman Museum will present the East Coast premiere of Muhammad: The Messenger of God (Majid Majidi, Iran 2015) on Sunday, March 26 at 2 p.m. The film will be introduced by Vittorio Storaro, who will receive the George Eastman Award in recognition of his contribution to the art of film on the evening of Saturday, March 25. At the end of the screening, Dr. Muhammad Shafiq, executive director of the Brian and Jean Hickey Center for Interfaith Studies and Dialogue and professor of religious studies at Nazareth College, will provide context and commentary on the film, which has been the source of international controversy.
Robert Cumming: The Secret Life of Objects to premiere at the George Eastman Museum on February 18
The George Eastman Museum will present Robert Cumming: The Secret Life of Objects, the first major US exhibition in nearly twenty years dedicated to the evolution of artist Robert Cumming’s practice. The exhibition will be on view February 18 through May 28, 2017.
Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro to receive George Eastman Award
The George Eastman Museum will honor Academy Award–winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro with the George Eastman Award on Saturday, March 25. The award recognizes Storaro’s distinguished contribution to the art of film. In accepting the honor, he joins the company of film legends such as Charles Chaplin, Joan Crawford, Cecil B. DeMille, Michael Douglas, Greta Garbo, Lillian Gish, Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, Martin Scorsese, James Stewart, Meryl Streep, and most recently, Michael Keaton. The George Eastman Award was established in 1955 as the first retrospective film award to honor artistic work of enduring value.
After 40 years, two collections of George Eastman’s papers reunite at the George Eastman Museum
The George Eastman Museum and the University of Rochester have announced that two collections of George Eastman’s papers have been reunited at the Eastman Museum. The university’s Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation (RBSCP) has recently transferred a group of letters and photographs that it has housed since 1976 to the museum’s George Eastman Legacy Collection, established in 1989.
Jack Garner shares his 2017 Academy Awards predictions at the George Eastman Museum on Monday, February 13
Democrat and Chronicle entertainment columnist Jack Garner will offer his take on the 2017 Academy Award nominations and predict the winners in the major categories on Monday, February 13 at 6 p.m. in the Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman Museum.
Dutch Connection will be on display at the George Eastman Museum beginning February 10
The George Eastman Museum presents virtual springtime, with the annual Dutch Connection floral display, on view Friday, February 10, through Sunday, February 26. This colorful two-week display will feature thousands of flowering bulbs, displayed throughout the historic mansion.
The George Eastman Museum receives $468,881 grant award to continue restoration of George Eastman’s historic mansion
The George Eastman Museum has received a grant of $468,881 from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation, via the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council, to continue its ongoing restoration of George Eastman’s mansion, a National Historic Landmark.
George Eastman House Unveils New Photographic Process Video Series
George Eastman House announced today the official launch of its completed Photographic Process Videos project. The video series was funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services Museums for America Program. The complete series can be found on the museum's YouTube channel.
The University of Rochester and George Eastman House Announce Joint Master's Degree Program in Photographic Preservation and Collections Management
The University of Rochester and George Eastman House will jointly offer a new master’s degree in Photographic Preservation and Collections Management (PPCM) beginning in the fall of 2014. The program will be the only one in the United States dedicated to the study of the photograph as an object (the care and handling of photographs) as well as the related academic study of images (theoretical and historical context). Enrollment begins this month, with the first students beginning their courses in fall 2014.
George Eastman House receives Museums for America grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services
George Eastman House has received a federal grant for its project, Opening Up Collections: Charting Technicolor’s History through New Technologies, in the amount of $48,254 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Museums for America Program. George Eastman House is one of 186 museums across the nation to be awarded the IMLS grant out of 707 that applied for funding.
George Eastman House receives grant from the Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation
George Eastman House has received a $32,000 grant for its History Through the Lens of Photography educational program from the Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation—“Engaging the Next Generation” initiative.
George Eastman House receives grant from Rochester Area Community Foundation to support Dawoud Bey: The Birmingham Project exhibition
George Eastman House has received a grant from the Rochester Area Community Foundation in the amount of $40,000 to support the exhibition Dawoud Bey: The Birmingham Project, which opened on Saturday, November 1 and will run through January 25, 2015.
George Eastman House Launches
George Eastman House announced today the launch of The Nitrate Picture Show, the world’s first archival festival of film conservation, showcasing vintage 35mm nitrate film prints made from the beginnings of cinema to the early 1950s. The inaugural edition of The Nitrate Picture Show: A Festival of Film Conservation will be held May 1–3, 2015 at the Dryden Theatre, George Eastman House’s historic venue for film exhibition in Rochester, NY. The Dryden Theatre—one of only a few archival venues in the world that can project nitrate film—is home to the museum’s ongoing program of past and present cinematic works from all countries.
Photographer David Pace and Filmmaker Siegfried Kühn Visit George Eastman House on Thursday, October 23
George Eastman House welcomes two visiting artists on Thursday, October 23—photographer David Pace and filmmaker Siegfried Kühn. Pace will be speaking as part of the museum’s Wish You Were Here lecture series at 6 p.m. in the Dryden Theatre. In a separate event, at 8 p.m., Kühn will be introducing his film Childhood before its screening in the Dryden, followed by a discussion with Eastman School of Music professor, Reinhild Steingröver.
Dawoud Bey: The Birmingham Project Opens at George Eastman House on November 1
Dawoud Bey: The Birmingham Project—organized by the Birmingham Museum of Art—makes its debut at George Eastman House on November 1. Chicago-based photographer Dawoud Bey’s The Birmingham Project is a reflection on the September 15, 1963, bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. This event resulted in the deaths of six African American adolescents, some of the youngest victims of the Civil Rights Movement: Addie Mae Collins (14), Denise McNair (11), Carole Robertson (14), and Cynthia Wesley (14), who were in the church at the time of the bombing, and Virgil Ware (13) and Johnny Robinson (16), who lost their lives as a result of the ensuing violence. The exhibition will be on view in the museum’s Project Gallery through January 25, 2015.
George Eastman House opens second installation in History of Photography gallery on Saturday
George Eastman House has dedicated its new History of Photography Gallery to rotating installations that trace photography’s historical path to the present through photographs and cameras from the museum’s collection. The gallery opened in May and the second rotation of photographs from its collection will be on display beginning Saturday, October 4. This installation of photographs was curated but Joe Struble, collection manager in the Department of Photography at George Eastman House.
George Eastman House receives digital laboratory from Eastman Kodak Company
George Eastman House announced today that it will operate a digital laboratory as part of its Moving Image Department, thanks to Eastman Kodak Company’s donation of state-of-the-art digital equipment. The gift will enhance George Eastman House’s in-house capabilities in film preservation, allowing broader access to the museum’s motion picture collection. The lab will be used for both digitizing select titles from the museum’s premier collection of more than 28,000 films, as well as preserving digitally-born works.
George Eastman House receives digital laboratory from Eastman Kodak Company
George Eastman House announced today that it will operate a digital laboratory as part of its Moving Image Department, thanks to Eastman Kodak Company’s donation of state-of-the-art digital equipment. The gift will enhance George Eastman House’s in-house capabilities in film preservation, allowing broader access to the museum’s motion picture collection. The lab will be used for both digitizing select titles from the museum’s premier collection of more than 28,000 films, as well as preserving digitally-born works.
George Eastman House appoints Jurij Meden as curator of film exhibitions
George Eastman House announced today that Jurij Meden will join its Moving Image Department as curator of film exhibitions. Meden comes to Eastman House after serving as head of the film programming department at the Slovenska Kinoteka—a member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF)—in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Meden will start in his new role with George Eastman House this fall and will be responsible for developing and managing the film and media programming for the Dryden Theatre and other exhibition spaces at the museum.