Currently in the John L. Wehle Gallery
New to the John L. Wehle Gallery as of May 2026, this exhibit highlights the extraordinary people, artifacts, events, and stories that helped create the third largest Living History Museum in the country. The exhibit is filled with photographs of the early Village, buildings being moved and reconstructed, camps, special events, special people, and more. View highlights from a sampling of artifacts from our museum collection and wares made by our tradespeople. Learn what makes our Museum so extraordinary.
Admission to the John L. Wehle Gallery is included with general Museum admission.
This exhibit is sponsored by:
Patricia Wehle
People
Discover the people who brought our Museum to life. Learn about our founder Jack Wehle’s vision of creating a Village, our first director Stuart Bolger who traveled all over New York state taking pictures of potential buildings, and early architects Harwood Dryer and Carl Schmidt who helped to dismantle and move the buildings to our Village. Find out who decorated our houses, who took thousands of photographs of our events, and which historic tradesperson has been with the Museum for all of our 50 years!
Nature Center, Art Gallery, and Special Events
More than just a Historic Village, explore the love Jack Wehle had for art and nature by learning about our Art Gallery and Nature Center. View nature related art Jack collected and enjoy a display of 19th century maple sugaring tools and how these relate to our Nature Center’s maple syrup programming in the form of camps and demonstrations. View photographs of our many special events taken by a long-time dedicated museum volunteer.
Artifacts
The GCV&M has an amazing collection of artifacts. Highlighted in the exhibit are beautiful examples of glassware, furniture, stoneware, and much more. Explore a selection of historic clothing from our Susan Greene Costume Collection. View 19th century woven baskets and intricately beaded birds and dolls made by Indigenous Western New York artists.
Tradespeople
Learn about our amazing tradespeople who have helped to bring our Village to life by preserving and demonstrating the techniques and skills of various trades of the 19th century. Be sure to look at our “Made By Us” portion of the exhibit which highlights a variety of objects made by our talented staff. Quilting, weaving, woodworking, blacksmithing, tinsmithing, basketry and pottery making examples made over the past 50 years fill this room.
Be Part of the Exhibit!
Stop by the John L. Wehle gallery and share your memories with us.