Shaker museum logo on a white background.

Shaker Museum

SHAKER MUSEUM: OPENING 2028
We are building a new home for Shaker Museum in downtown Chatham, NY.
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FINDING SHAKER
What brings you to Shaker? A short film featuring Director of Library & Collections Jerry Grant.
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SHAKER MUSEUM: OPENING 2028
Join us as we embark on the construction of a Selldorf Architects-designed building in downtown Chatham, NY.
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SEARCH THE COLLECTION
View over 18,000 objects in Shaker Museum's collection.
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The collection is getting a new home.

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Follow the world’s most comprehensive collection of iconic Shaker design on Instagram. 

A woman in a black outfit and black boots stands on a sidewalk with buildings in the background.

IN THE NEWS

Shaker Museum Welcomes Claudia Gould as New Executive Director

AUG 14, 2025

Shaker Museum has named Claudia Gould, renowned for her transformative tenure at the Jewish Museum, as its next Executive Director. Gould’s appointment arrives as the museum commences the boldest evolution in its history: construction of a new flagship space by Selldorf Architects in downtown Chatham. 

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EXHIBITIONS

A Time to Build

Opens Saturday, May 31

Shaker architecture is known for its simplicity, utility, and beauty. A Time to Build, featuring Shaker tools and other architectural objects, debuts at the Kinderhook Knitting Mill Saturday, May 31. 

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A wooden handheld tool with a curved ergonomic design, two small metal pins at one end, and a small metal component embedded at the other end, placed on a plain gray background.

EXHIBITIONS

The Shakers: A World in the Making

Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany

JUNE 7 - SEPTEMBER 28, 2025

The Shakers: A World in the Making explores the design legacy of the Shakers, a religious group whose values of community, labor, and equality shaped their furniture, architecture, and everyday objects. Through works by contemporary artists influenced by the Shakers, alongside original Shaker-made pieces, the exhibition considers how their design principles remain relevant today.

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Three stacked Shaker boxes—two ochre and one dark blue—sit on a simple wooden table against a white wood-paneled wall.
Blue-toned illustration featuring trees, birds, musical instruments, and abstract shapes, arranged in a symmetrical pattern with a decorative border.

IN THE NEWS

Statement Regarding National Endowment for the Humanities Grant Termination

MAY 9, 2025

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IN THE NEWS

Shaker Museum Breaks Ground on New Building Designed by Selldorf Architects

APR 8, 2025

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A group of ten people with shovels participate in a groundbreaking ceremony near a large brick building.

Upcoming events

The Fix-It Picnic

MAR 20, 2024

A free, monthly textile reuse, mending, upcycling, and crafting community meet-up

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A person weaving colorful fabric strips on a loom.
  • Follow the Makers rethinking the relationship between past and contemporary culture and values with us.
A collage of people in blue and white.