The Finger Lakes Boating Museum will open a new exhibit Friday in Hammondsport that explores how waterways connected people, industries and communities across the region.
The exhibit, "Finger Lakes Water Ways: The People, Boats, and Maritime Systems That Shaped the Region," opens July 10, with an opening reception from 3 to 5 p.m.
The museum said the exhibit highlights north-south connections that linked Keuka, Seneca, Cayuga and other Finger Lakes to broader commercial networks.
The exhibit is located in the museum's main building and is designed to be visually engaging, colorful, interactive and informative.
Artifacts include a rare ark rudder, a recovered rudder post from the depths of Seneca Lake, original artwork and underwater wreck models.
Visitors will be welcomed into the gallery by a mural created by local artist Brian Buckley. The museum said the artwork introduces the exhibit's central theme: waterways are more than geographic features and are living connections between people, places and stories.
A representative of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, which helped fund the exhibit, is expected to attend the reception.
The exhibit is funded in part by the state of New York and the National Maritime Heritage Grants Program, administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
The Finger Lakes Boating Museum is located at 8231 Pleasant Valley Road in Hammondsport.
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