Liza Donnelly: Comic Relief

Liza Donnelly - Live Drawing - Social Distancing

Liza Donnelly
Love in the Time of Social Distancing, March 2020
Ink and watercolor on paper
Collection of the artist

In discussing this drawing, Liza Donnelly said: “Our globe is experiencing a terrible pandemic, one that is killing thousands of people of every gender, race, class, and religion. As a cartoonist, it is my role to reflect what is going on in our world; I hope to shine light for change or to bring hope.” She created this drawing when she learned how severe the COVID-19 pandemic would be. Since posting it on social media, the image has been shared thousands of times, and has been used to inspire support for Global Giving, a nonprofit that connects donors with grassroots projects around the world.

Cartoons are a dialogue—a sharing of humor and a sharing of the human condition.

– Liza Donnelly

Don’t let the show’s name fool you: Charged with political awareness from feminism to Black Lives Matter, Donnelly’s career is a master class in using humor to heighten and amplify a dead-serious point of view.

– Murray Whyte, The Boston Globe

About the Exhibition

Whether irreverent, ironic, or absurdly entertaining, cartoons do much more than make us laugh. Incisive by nature, these witty, intelligent reflections on the human condition invite us, with clarity and empathy, to engage with the things in life that we sometimes may rather not confront.

For Liza Donnelly, hand-drawn lines are a means of launching political movements or calling leaders into account, of questioning the way we live our lives and finding common ground. “I don’t really think a cartoon can change someone’s mind,” she says, “but it can start a dialogue.” An accomplished cartoonist, writer, and visual journalist, Donnelly believes that humor can open the door to new ways of seeing, connecting us in ways that words alone cannot.

Donnelly’s incisive and delightful cartoons and visual essays are inspired by
the world around her. They have been featured in The New Yorker, where she has been a contributing artist and writer since 1979, and in The New York Times, Ms. Magazine, CBS News, NBC, CNN, Forbes, Fusion, Medium, Narrative, Politico, The Daily Beast, Salon, The Huffington Post, and Glamour, among others. She is the creator of live digital drawing and she has spoken internationally and at the United Nations on behalf of Cartooning for Peace.

This exhibition explores the organic evolution of Donnelly’s desire to express herself and to engage with the world through drawing, tracing her transformation from
a painfully shy child growing up in Washington, D.C. to her emergence as a New Yorker artist and activist. The artist’s humorous, buoyant drawings provide much- needed comic relief in uncertain times, and we are honored to celebrate her exceptional and memorable accomplishments.

About the Artist

Liza Donnelly

Liza Donnelly begins her day by checking major news outlets like CBS, CNN, NPR, and Twitter, creating and sharing digital drawings inspired by the day’s most pressing issues as they unfold in real time. Whether working remotely or on location, her images convey a sense of candor and authenticity, documenting the Oscar and Tony Awards and New York Fashion Week, the Democratic National Convention and Presidential Debates, women’s rights, or life’s small but notable moments. The artist’s live digital reporting and cartoons have been featured in The New Yorker, where she has been a staff artist since 1979; on CBS News, NBC, and CNN; and in Forbes, Fusion, Medium, Narrative, PoliticoThe Daily BeastOpen SalonThe Huffington Post, and Women’s eNews, among othersShe is the creator and editor of World Ink, which connects the work of cartoonists around the world, and she has spoken internationally and at the United Nations on behalf of Cartooning for Peace, an organization that defends fundamental freedoms and democracy as inspired by article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” Her column and drawings on politics and global women’s rights appear regularly in Medium.

A self-described feminist, Donnelly is the author of Funny Ladies: The New Yorker’s Greatest Women Cartoonists and Their Cartoons, which chronicles the history of women and cartoons in the venerable publication; Sex & Sensibility, which offers female perspectives on love; Women On Men, a 2014 finalist for the Thurber Prize for American humor, and many other humor books for adults. Dinosaur Day, Dinosaur Beach, and Dinosaur Valentine are among her children’s picture books.

Images

The Artist as a Young Cartoonist

As a quiet child who loved to draw, Liza Donnelly found that cartoons helped her to communicate and to share her observations of the world with family and friends. Art helped her to express herself, and more importantly, it made her mother laugh. Her father, a physician, was often working, and her sister was a rebellious child. “I thought it was my job as the younger, quieter daughter to make my mother happy.” A book of cartoons by American illustrator James Thurber—a gift from her mother—offered a glimpse into the possibility that being a cartoonist might be possible. “I became the artist in school, drawing my friends, drawing people, and that’s where my love of cartooning started.”

Travel Drawing, Soviet Union, 1976

Liza Donnelly
Travel Drawing, Soviet Union, 1976
Ink on paper and board
Collection of the artist

As a student at Earlham College, a liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana, Donnelly explored a number of experiential opportunities including travel to the Soviet Union in 1976. While there, she studied art and created a series of drawings based upon her observations, focusing largely on people. In one drawing, a woman wears a dress patterned symbolically with the word Lenin, after Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, known as Lenin, the Russian revolutionary, political theorist, and Soviet leader.

Youth Drawing, c. 1970

Liza Donnelly
Youth Drawing, c. 1970
Pencil on paper
Collection of the artist

During her teenage years, Liza Donnelly and her family moved to Rome, Italy, where they lived for a period of a year. It was a formative time for the young artist, and drawing provided a means to observe and record her new cultural environs. As is evident in these works, she enjoyed people watching and looked closely at the qualities and idiosyncrasies of the people around her. The experience cemented her identity as an artist and reinforced her desire to be a cartoonist.

Youth Drawing, c. 1970

Liza Donnelly
Youth Drawing, c. 1970
Pencil on paper
Collection of the artist

Letter to Charles Schulz, April 15, 1965

Liza Donnelly
Letter to Charles Schulz, April 15, 1965
Ink on lined paper
Collection of the artist

As a girl growing up in Washington, DC, Liza Donnelly loved to draw cartoons, and Charles Schulz, the creator of the popular strip Peanuts, was a favorite artist. This letter was likely never sent, but the young artist wrote: “Dear Mr. Schulz, I have read almost all of your books. I like to draw too. So I hope you like these.” She signed the letter: “A Charlie Brown fan, Liza Donnelly.” The artist also names illustrators James Thurber and Theodore Geisel, otherwise known as Dr. Seuss, as important influences on her work. Of Schulz, Donnelly notes that “his characters reflected life and also current events, without being too specific.” Donnelly identified with Snoopy’s quiet nature and especially enjoyed his dancing. It’s interesting to note that the dog in her dinosaur books is an homage to that beloved character.

All for Love

Love, marriage, divorce, sex, and parenting have been ongoing themes in Liza Donnelly’s art, perhaps with good reason. She has been married to veteran New Yorker cartoonist Michael Maslin for more than thirty years, and their cartoons reveal the humor and pathos in relationships from both a male and female perspective. The challenges of co-habitation, communication, and child-rearing invite Donnelly’s hilarious perspectives on the way that relationships work, or sometimes fall down on the job. Cartoon Marriage, a 2009 book that Donnelly and Maslin collaborated on, is a comedic inside look at the life’s small moments and the complications inherent in loving relationships. “We weren’t sure if it would damage our marriage,” she said, “but it probably brought us closer together because we had a lot of cartoons about marriage to start with.”

I'd invite you in but my life's a mess.

Liza Donnelly
I’d invite you in but my life’s a mess, 1997
Cartoon for The New Yorker, January 20, 1997
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist

This popular cartoon hit a chord with readers who identify with the challenge of getting one’s life together. “People really love that one, though I’m not exactly sure why,” the artist said. “I think we can all relate to it in some way.”

He just came through a nasty engagement, 2003

Liza Donnelly
He just came through a nasty engagement, 2003
2013
Cartoon for The New Yorker, February 17, 2003
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist

I think I’d look better without you, 2012

Liza Donnelly
I think I’d look better without you, 2012
Cartoon for The New Yorker, August 6, 2012
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist

Cartooning helped Liza Donnelly to find her voice, and she feels that “humor can help women break down the rules.” In her drawings, women sometimes deliver pithy statements addressing the challenges that many experience in relationships. “Cartoons can take on difficult subjects in a more palatable way,” she observes.

Womanpower

When Liza Donnelly was in college, the second wave of feminism was in full swing, and though she championed equal rights for women from the start, “I didn’t think I was a feminist cartoonist—I just wanted to be a cartoonist.” But while working at The New Yorker, she realized that there were very few women drawing cartoons, and that female artists could offer unique and meaningful perspectives. Tina Brown, editor of The New Yorker from 1992 to 1998, especially appreciated Donnelly’s work and published “a lot of it.” This helped to foster Donnelly’s humorous voice as a woman and inspired her to view cartooning as a means of bringing sexism and other feminist concerns to light. The subject of equality and women’s rights at work, at home, in society, and around the globe remains a significant theme in her work today. Her books Funny Ladies: The New Yorker’s Greatest Cartoonists and Their Cartoons (2005) and Sex and Sensibility (2008) highlight the contributions of noted and lesser-known female visual humorists.

The Every Day of Women’s Rights (Passed Over), 2014

Liza Donnelly
The Every Day of Women’s Rights (Passed Over), 2014
Cartoon for Forbes, January 7, 2014
Ink and watercolor on paper
Collection of the artist

In a January article for Forbes in 2014, Liza Donnelly looked back at the previous year’s advancements and those revealing “a back-slide in equality for women.” She notes that “misogyny and sexism still exist in many, if not most, cultures,” as noted in this drawing documenting the daily injustices that women face at home, at work, and around the world.

"I don't see liking trucks as a boy thing. I see it as a liking-trucks thing." 2008

Liza Donnelly
“I don’t see liking trucks as a boy thing. I see it as a liking-trucks thing.” 2008
Cartoon for The New Yorker, June 30, 2008
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist

Attitudes about gender are examined in Donnelly’s cartoons, which sometimes feature children as commentators. The mother of two daughters, she recalls reading articles about the influence of specific kinds of toys on children and their identities, which likely inspired this drawing.

I am supposed to be here, 2015

Liza Donnelly
I am supposed to be here, 2015
Cartoon for The Gina Davis Institute on Gender in Media, September 2015
Ink and watercolor on paper
Collection of the artist

The artist created this drawing for The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, a non-profit organization and project of Mount St. Mary’s University that researches gender representation in media and advocates for the equal representation of women.

Political Observer

As she grew as an artist and visual commentator, Liza Donnelly shifted her focus to matters of national and global importance. Right after 9/11, she “spoke out more” and dedicated herself to circulating cartoons focused on the political landscape for the pages of The New Yorker and other outlets, both print and digital. “There were things in the news that inspired me, such as Hillary Clinton’s 2008 run for president,” she said. Though she has a particular political viewpoint, she avoids strident negativity and “tries not to be that loud, because you can get more of a conversation going that way.” Still, Donnelly feels that it is important for political cartoonists to scrutinize elected officials and to hold them accountable, an artistic tradition that is centuries-old.

You'd better call back later. He's still trying to get the Perot bumper sticker off his car, 1993

Liza Donnelly
You’d better call back later. He’s still trying to get the Perot bumper sticker off his car, 1993
Cartoon for The New Yorker, December 13, 1993
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist

American business magnate and politician, Henry Ross Perot (1930-2019) ran an independent presidential campaign in 1992 and a third party campaign in 1996. Though he never reached his political goals, as referenced in this drawing, both campaigns were among the strongest presidential showings by a third party or independent candidate in United States history. His second campaign was marred somewhat by controversy, and many people withdrew their support. George H.W. Bush won the 1992 election.

You will find love and happiness and will vote for Fritz Mondale, 1983

Liza Donnelly
You will find love and happiness and will vote for Fritz Mondale, 1983
Cartoon for The New Yorker
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist

This cartoon about the candidacy of Walter “Fritz” Mondale was Liza Donnelly’s first published political drawing. While having a meal in a Chinese restaurant, a man receives an admonition to vote for the Democratic presidential nominee in his fortune cookie message. “I remember noticing that people were not that excited about him,” Donnelly recalled. Mondale served as vice president to Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981, but lost the 1984 presidential election in an Electoral College landslide. The artist had always wanted to be a political cartoonist, and this entry provided a path forward.

So you’re a democrat and you’ve won. How does that make you feel? 2008

Liza Donnelly
So you’re a democrat and you’ve won. How does that make you feel? 2008
Cartoon for The New Yorker, November 17, 2008
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist

In Donnelly’s cartoon, a therapist references the 2008 elections, when Democratic Senator Barak Obama of Illinois won the presidential election, and Democrats bolstered their majority in both houses of Congress. “It was a time in politics when Republicans had been in office a long time, and Democrats were somewhat not used to winning,” she said. In this cartoon, Donnelly chose to draw both characters as women, something she tries to do when she can.

Cartooning for Peace

Cartooning for Peace was launched after the 2005 Jullands-Posten Muhammad cartoon controversy, which was sparked after twelve editorial cartoons depicting Muhammad, a principal figure of Islam, were published in the Danish newspaper. Islam has a strong tradition of aniconism, the absence of material representations of the natural or spiritual world. Muslim people were deeply offended by the drawings, and their widespread internet distribution led to violent protests around the world. In questioning the editorial cartoonist’s role, French artist Jean Plantu imagined Cartooning for Peace and brought it to the attention of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. On October 16, 2006, Unlearning Intolerance—Drawing Peace, a seminar organized by Plantu and Annan, was held at the UN, and Donnelly was one of twelve international cartoonists invited to participate. A fan of the medium, Annan said, “I have always thought that cartoons are one of the most important elements in the press. They have a special role in forming public opinion—because an image generally has a stronger, more direct impact on the brain than a sentence does, and because many more people will look at a cartoon than read an article.” Today, more than one-hundred-fifty artist are members of Cartooning for Peace. “We use our craft to talk about global issues and how cartoons can be used to inspire dialogue and understanding—how they can be used for good,” said Donnelly, who helps to jury the organization’s global cartooning awards, which are presented every other year.

Teach peace

Liza Donnelly
Teach Peace, n.d.
United Nations Cartooning for Peace
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist

Created for a Cartooning for Peace initiative, this cartoon uses the peace symbol to address the importance of teaching peace. Its various iterations seen in the children’s thought bubbles convey that “people are going to interpret it differently and embody it differently,” as the artist observed.

Freedom to Make You Shut Up, 2010

Liza Donnelly
Freedom to Make You Shut Up, 2010
United Nations Cartooning for Peace
Ink and watercolor on paper
Collection of the artist

Words and graphic metaphors come together in this work, which references the phrasing of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous Four Freedoms. Here, the artist comments upon the use of force as a means to control others, nationally and across the globe.

Surviving COVID-19

Liza Donnelly lives in New York State and has closely observed the impact of COVID-19 on the lives and psyches of the American people. Her cartoons on the subject have been both poignant and funny, tracing the lives of everyday citizens who are trying in their own way to cope with a challenging situation. “This is what cartoonists do, we comment upon what’s going on in life, and so the pandemic is life now,” she observed. “I’ve had to draw a lot of people wearing masks.”

She was zen five minutes ago

Liza Donnelly
She was Zen five minutes ago
, 2020
Cartoon for The New Yorker, April 20, 2020
Ink and watercolor on paper
Collection of the artist

Do you play drums? 2014

Liza Donnelly
Do you play drums? 2014
Cartoon for The New Yorker, January 20, 2014
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist

Liza Donnelly created this cartoon about ten years before The New Yorker published it—artists are free to resubmit work that has been rejected for reconsideration. Today, the concept of being confined to one’s balcony and to finding a way to join others in making music from a distance is relevant as a part of life during a pandemic. “It’s a COVID cartoon now,” Donnelly said; the drawing has been shared online thousands of times.

Our Lives and Times

When working on single panel cartoons for The New Yorker and other publications, Liza Donnelly is a theatrical director who acts as the “script writer, casting director, set designer, and choreographer.” Though the narratives that unfold in her art are inspired by real life, artistic license is an essential aspect of making things work. Captions sometimes come first, but more often than not, Donnelly finds that cartoon images and words evolve simultaneously—a craft that is learned over time.  “My cartoons are not laugh-out-loud, necessarily, they are slices of life, observations about what’s going on and the things that people say to each other. Those things can be funny,” Donnelly said. “So it’s a sharing, it’s about experiencing life together and not always about a joke.”

I'm sorry, Sue, but Will can't come out. He has to stay in and finish his screenplay, 1994

Liza Donnelly
I’m sorry, Sue, but Will can’t come out. He has to stay in and finish his screenplay, 1994
Cartoon for The New Yorker, March 21, 1994
Ink and watercolor on paper
Collection of the artist

This is Donnelly’s take on the classic kid cartoon, in which a mother keeps her child from going out to play until their homework is done. In this case, the overachieving tyke is working on a screenplay, which kicks things up a notch. Though New Yorker cartoons are generally black and white, the magazine’s editor Tina Brown was a proponent of a more colorful approach at the time, as reflected here.

I didn’t protest this war, but I’ll try to protest the next one, 2003

Liza Donnelly
I didn’t protest this war, but I’ll try to protest the next one, 2003
Cartoon for The New Yorker, April 21, 2003
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist

This cartoon was drawn in response to protests in the US against the Iraq War. Many protests seemed to become cultural events and people felt peer pressure to join in.

Daddy, can I stop being worried now? 2002

Liza Donnelly
Daddy, can I stop being worried now? 2002
Cartoon for The New Yorker, March 3, 2002
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist

After the tragic events of 9/11, Liza Donnelly questioned her role as a cartoonist. The idea to incorporate her own fears and the worry of the nation into this drawing, purchased by The New Yorker a couple of months later, got her back on track. As in many of her cartoons, philosophical questions that are not easily answered are delivered by children.

I never date—I’m too niche, 2004

Liza Donnelly
I never date—I’m too niche, 2004
Cartoon for The New Yorker, November 15, 2004
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist

This is an example of a cartoon that uses a particular word, in this case “niche,” which is being bantered around in culture, for whatever reason. “Cartoonists are like sponges,” Donnelly often says. “They pick up what the world is either doing or talking about.”

The Art of the Picturebook

In the 1980s as Liza Donnelly was building her career as a cartoonist, “people kept suggesting that I try children’s books, but I couldn’t much focus on it.” She did, however, create a mockup of a book concept inspired by the monsters she drew as a child, but editors at Scholastic asked if she might turn her imaginary creatures into dinosaurs. In 1987, Dinosaur Day launched a series of seven books about a little boy and his dog with a fascination for prehistoric animals and a love of adventure. She found children’s books to be an enjoyable respite from the news and world’s realities, which more directly inspire her cartoons. Bright and colorful, Donnelly’s books have minimal text, with narratives that are propelled forward by the fun-filled experiences of her endearing characters. Dinosaur Halloween, Dinosaur Thanksgiving, Dinosaur Beach, The End of the Rainbow, and A Hippo in Our Yard are among her many books for young readers.

Illustration for Dinosaur Garden by Liza Donnelly, Scholastic, Inc., 1990

Liza Donnelly
Illustration for Dinosaur Day by Liza Donnelly, Scholastic, Inc., 1988
Ink and Luma dyes on paper
Collection of the artist

Liza Donnelly loved drawing monsters as a child, and her initial concept for a children’s picture book featured otherworldly creatures. An editor at Scholastic recommended that she consider focusing on a subject that never fails to fascinate young readers, and her first in a series of seven dinosaur books began to take shape. In this fanciful tale, a boy named Rex and his dog Bones are crazy about dinosaurs and imagine that they are buried under every mound of snow in their neighborhood. Their fantasy continues until the real things actually come along.

Live Drawing

Liza Donnelly is passionate about live digital drawing, which allows her to capture and share the immediacy of any moment, whether on location or in the comfort of her living room. About five years ago, she received a gift of an iPad and explored its possibilities. “I was watching a State of the Union address on television and began drawing, sending out each sketch on Twitter.” Public response was enthusiastic and positive, “and the drawings were loose, bold, and colorful—impressions of the people in the room and the president himself.” Digital drawing soon became a way for Donnelly to converse with people through social media, and the art form has become an important and enjoyable aspect of her career. CBS and CNN have hired Donnelly as a visual correspondent at the Oscar, Grammy, and Tony awards, and she has also covered the Democratic National Convention and the Women’s March on Washington. Each evening at 5p.m. on Instagram, she draws and narrates her impressions of the events of the day. “It’s so fluid,” she said. “I love the feel of a crowquill pen on paper, but I like the immediacy of digital drawing and love sharing it with people.”

Liza Donnelly: Live Drawing Gallery
Published: July 2020

Media

Exhibition Video – Liza Donnelly: Comic Relief
Published: July 2020

Exhibition Preview – Liza Donnelly: Comic Relief
Published: July 2020
NOTE: We apologize in advance for the audio issues with Liza Donnelly’s microphone.

Cartoon Marriage: A Conversation with Liza Donnelly & Michael Maslin
Published: August 2020

Finding Funny in a Screwed Up World: A Conversation with New Yorker Cartoonists
Published: July 2020

Liza Donnelly: Time-Lapse Museum Lobby Mural
Published: June 2020

Black Lives Matter Drawing
Published: June 2020

Noteworthy by Medium: Liza Donnelly is “The Observer”
Published: October 2017

TED Talk: Drawing upon humor for change
Published: December 2010

Venue

Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA      Dates: July 12, 2020 through September 2020

Hours

OPEN
Mon 10am-4pm
Tue 10am-4pm
Thu 10am-4pm
Fri 10am-4pm
Sat 10am-5pm
Sun 10am-5pm

CLOSED
Wednesdays
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day
New Year’s Day
ROCKWELL’S STUDIO
Re-opens May 2 – November 10, 2024
closed Wednesdays
TERRACE CAFÉ
Closed for the season.
Re-opens June 2024

Special Holiday Hours: Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve: 10am-3pm.
When attending the Museum, please observe our COVID-19 policies; in addition to Massachusetts Travel Guidelines.

Admissions

Additional Discount Opportunities:

  • Front Line Medical Workers receive free admission.
  • AAA member, NARM member, Stockbridge Resident, and EBT/WIC/ConnectorCare Cardholder discounts available.

For Free and Reduced prices, you may be required to present a valid ID demonstrating your status for qualifying for discounted pricing.

Kids Free is supported by:
Connector Card is supported by:
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DIRECTIONS

Norman Rockwell Museum
9 Glendale Road Route 183
Stockbridge, MA 01262
413-931-2221

Download a Printable version of Driving Directions (acrobat PDF).

Important note: Many GPS and online maps do not accurately place Norman Rockwell Museum*. Please use the directions provided here and this map image for reference. Google Maps & Directions are correct! http://maps.google.com/

* Please help us inform the mapping service companies that incorrectly locate the Museum; let your GPS or online provider know and/or advise our Visitor Services office which source provided faulty directions.

Route 7 runs north to south through the Berkshires. Follow Route 7 South to Stockbridge. Turn right onto Route 102 West and follow through Main Street Stockbridge. Shortly after going through town, you will veer to the right to stay on Route 102 West for approximately 1.8 miles. At the flashing light, make a left onto Route 183 South and the Museum entrance is 0.6 miles down on the left.

Route 7 runs north to south through the Berkshires. Follow Route 7 North into Stockbridge. Turn left onto Route 102 West at the stop sign next to The Red Lion Inn. Shortly after you make the left turn, you will veer to the right to stay on Route 102 West for approximately 1.8 miles. At the flashing light, make a left onto Route 183 South and the Museum entrance is 0.6 miles down on the left.

Boston (two-and-a-half hours) or Springfield (one hour):
Take the Ma ssachusetts Turnpike (I-90) West, getting off at exit 10 (formerly exit 2) – Lee. At the light at the end of the ramp turn left onto Route 20 East and then immediately turn right onto Route 102 West. Follow Route 102 West into Stockbridge Center (about five miles). Continue going west on Route 102 (Main St.). Shortly after going through town, you will veer to the right to stay on Route 102 West for approximately 1.8 miles. At the flashing light, make a left onto Route 183 South and the Museum entrance is 0.6 miles down on the left.

from Albany and west: (one hour) Take I-90 east to exit B3 – Route 22. Go south on New York Route 22 to Massachusetts Route 102 East. Stay on Route 102 East through West Stockbridge. Continue on Route 102 East approximately 5.5 miles until you come to a blinking light at the intersection of Route 183. Make a right at the blinking light onto Route 183 South and the Museum entrance is 0.6 miles down on the left.

(two-and-a-half hours) Take either the New York State Thruway or the Taconic State Parkway to I-90 East. Follow I-90 East to exit B3 – Route 22. Go south on New York Route 22 to Massachusetts Route 102 East. Stay on Route 102 East through West Stockbridge. Continue on Route 102 East approximately 5.5 miles until you come to a blinking light at the intersection of Route 183. Make a right at the blinking light onto Route 183 South and the Museum entrance is 0.6 miles down on the left.

(one-and-a-half hours) Take I-91 North to the Massachusetts Turnpike. Take the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) West, getting off at exit 10 (formerly exit 2) – Lee. At the light at the end of the ramp turn left onto Route 20 East and then immediately turn right onto Route 102 West. Follow Route 102 West into Stockbridge Center (about five miles). Continue going west on Route 102 (Main St.). Shortly after going through town, you will veer to the right to stay on Route 102 West for approximately 1.8 miles. At the flashing light, make a left onto Route 183 South and the Museum entrance is 0.6 miles down on the left.

(five minutes)
Go west on Route 102 (Main St.). Shortly after going through town, you will veer to the right to stay on Route 102 West for approximately 1.8 miles. At the flashing light, make a left onto Route 183 South and the Museum entrance is 0.6 miles down on the left.