Special Exhibits
UPCOMING EXHIBITS
CURRENT EXHIBITS
Saranac Lake at the Wheel: June – November 2025
“This was the automobile, the great democratizer of American vacations and leisure.” — Phil Terrie, Contested Terrain
The automobile transformed the Adirondacks, granting vacationers new
mobility to explore the North Country.
As cars replaced trains, a new landscape of roads, campsites, motels, and
roadside businesses emerged, forever changing the Saranac Lake region.
Saranac Lake: At the Wheel explores the milestone markers and local icons that shaped our region’s automotive history.
PAST EXHIBITS
Sanatorium: Inside the Architectural Cure for Tuberculosis – Mid 2026
This special exhibit features a selection of photographs by John Lazzaro from his upcoming book, Sanatorium: Inside the Architectural Cure for Tuberculosis.
Lazzaro’s photographic survey documents the contemporary remnants of over 25 former tuberculosis hospitals across the United States—including the historic Trudeau Sanatorium in Saranac Lake.
The exhibit, featuring 10–15 of Lazzaro’s stunning images alongside artifacts from the HSL collection, explores the vital role sanatoria architecture played in treating tuberculosis before the discovery of antibiotics. It is a look at the visionary buildings constructed during America’s first modern public health crisis, examining the structures that remain—some abandoned, some decaying, and others repurposed.
Pet Portraits: Then and Now – 2025
From downtown shop cats to cure cottage canines, HSL’s collection of photographs reflects the deep bonds between our community and its pets. In August, HSL will launch a new exhibit showing how our pets are much more than silent observers – they’re active participants and important members of our families, our lives, and our history.
North Country Neighbors – 2024
The Saranac Lake School District covers 700 square miles. The people who call this area home are as varied as the landscapes and hamlets spread throughout the region.
Visit with present-day neighbors shaping their communities through traditional arts, crafts, and work.
Pandemic Perspectives – 2021
Throughout history, pandemics have transformed individuals and society in a multitude of ways. This exhibit draws parallels between the COVID-19 era and Saranac Lake’s history as a community that welcomed people suffering from tuberculosis.
What is your pandemic perspective?
ONLINE EXHIBITS
Art of the Cure – 2019
This collection displayed an array of arts and crafts created by the diverse community of tuberculosis patients who came to Saranac Lake during the curing years. Patients were encouraged to participate in occupational therapy programs which allowed them to develop new skills, socialize with other patients, find a sense of purpose, and improve their mental wellbeing. At the Sanatorium worship, patients learned jewelry making, leather craft, bookbinding, basket making, and photography, among other artistic crafts. Artists such as Amy Jones and Ray Ridabock offered lessons to patients and performers such as the opera singer Grace Moore put on benefit shows. The flourishing arts community established during this time period continues to influence Saranac Lake today.
PAST EXHIBITS
The Roaring Twenties – Step in to a Grand Hotel (2017)
The Roaring Twenties exhibit explored the decade of the roaring twenties through the context of hotels of the time period. The exhibit was created to coincide with the reopening of the historic Hotel Saranac. Featuring local photographs, historic films, and 1920’s artifacts, this interactive exhibit allows you to step back in time. Visitors could explore the fashion trends while diving through the social change occurring during the Roaring Twenties. The exhibit was supported by Humanities NY.
Medical Marvels (2015)
The Medical Marvels exhibit explored a vast range of seemingly strange medical treatments from throughout history. The collection included devices donated from Saranac Lake local residents as well as an array of medical curiosities on loan from the renowned Ripley’s Believe It or Not!® collection. From pleural fluid drains to the Super Marvel Ultraviolet Ray to a pneumothorax apparatus, some of the pieces on display were used to treat tuberculosis before antibiotics. These various machines, tools, and techniques allow us to reflect on how medicine has evolved over time, and ask the question, was it science or quackery? How will we look back on today’s medicine 100 years from now? The Medical Marvels Exhibit was produced with support from Humanities NY and in consultation with the Dittrick Museum of Medical History at Case Western Reserve University.
Pet Portraits: Then and Now – August 2025
From downtown shop cats to cure cottage canines, HSL’s collection of photographs reflects the deep bonds between our community and its pets. In August, HSL will launch a new exhibit showing how our pets are much more than silent observers – they’re active participants and important members of our families, our lives, and our history.