It's Columbus Day. It's a day of reflection. A day many people have off - but someone has to write the paper so I'm not one of those people. Lucky you :)

It's also a day in which the Albany Institute is offering free admission all day today.

Here's more info:

ALBANY, NY- The Albany Institute of History & Art will offer FREE admission to the museum on Monday, October 14, 2013 from 10AM-5PM. Gallery Talks will take place at 11AM and 2PM and there will be Drop-In Art Making in the art studio from 10AM-4:30PM. This Holiday Monday free admission day is sponsored by M&T Bank.

Guests of all ages are invited to spend the day viewing several new exhibitions, GE Presents: The Mystery of the Albany Mummies; Big and Bold: Contemporary Paintings, Collage, and Sculpture from the Albany Institute’s Collection (in the recently renovated Lansing Gallery); and The Hudson River School and the Nineteenth-Century Landscape. Additional exhibitions include, Traders and Culture: Colonial Albany and the Formation of American Identity; Nineteenth-Century American Sculpture: Erastus Dow Palmer and His Protégés Launt Thompson, Charles Calverley, and Richard Park (in the recently renovated Sculpture Court); Robert Hewson Pruyn: An Albanian in Japan, 1862-1865; and A Gather of Glass: Selections from the Museum’s Collection. Gallery Talks, led by museum docents, will start at 11AM and 2PM, and are also free.

Families are encouraged to visit and create Egyptian-inspired artwork in the Institute’s art studio. Anyone interested in making art in the studio should dress for mess! There is also an interactive education gallery offering hands-on activities. These activities are offered for free as part of this special Holiday Monday.

The Albany Institute is open Wednesday-Saturday 10AM-5PM, Thursday until 8PM, and Sunday Noon-5PM. On Tuesdays, the museum is open to registered groups only. The museum is closed on Mondays and some holidays. Admission is FREE for Albany Institute members; $10/adults; $8/seniors and students with ID; $6/children 6-12; FREE/children under 6. For more information, visitwww.albanyinstitute.org or call (518) 463-4478.