Enjoy five minutes in the bright, engaging company of lifelong Yonkers resident Masha Turchinsky, and you’ll know, without question, that both art and the Hudson River have been constants in her life—for her entire life. Each, she says, has been formative and a guiding force; and they became beautifully entangled in the fall of 2016, when she stepped into the role of Director and CEO of the Hudson River Museum, which is perched on a grassy hill overlooking the river in Yonkers, a veritable gateway to the Hudson Valley.
“I spend a lot of time looking at the river,” she muses. “I’m inspired by it… and how it flows both ways.” Thoughtfully, she continues, “I feel like the museum is a natural expression of that current, because we’re not just here to tell, we’re here to listen.” A philosophy that has undoubtedly contributed to the recent uptick in visitors—from 43 states including Alaska and Hawaii, for the past two years in a row.
Growing up not far from the water’s edge, Turchinsky was raised in a home surrounded with art. “It was full of paintings,” she says, recalling the moment as a young girl when she discovered that her house was different. “My grandfather was a poet who emigrated from Ukraine, and he was very connected to the immigrant art scene. He was always bartering for art, exchanging poems for paintings.”
A proud product of Yonkers public schools, Turchinsky studied Spanish there, which led to a major in language at Georgetown. “Language offered me this incredible window into another world consisting of literature, art, history, conversations, friendship, and travel.” After graduation, she set off for Madrid with no home or job, just a suitcase in each hand.
“I realized quickly that this was the first time in my life that no one was waiting for me; the first time I felt alone.” Determined to “carve out a life,” Turchinsky sought the familiar: art. “In this city of museums, it dawned on me that in a museum, you can be alone without being lonely. There’s a sense of place.” This was a pivotal point in her life, as “it crystalized in me that museums are a place of connection, even if you’re not with anyone.”
After three years in Spain, Turchinsky came home and pursued a job at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she’d spend the better part of two decades. Although she held various positions over the years, “the basis of them all was my role in making an enormous global institution into something more intimate, less intimidating, and manageable to visitors.”
And then, the Hudson River Museum called her name, and her focus flipped: “My role became how to make a smaller museum more expansive and turn it into a high caliber institution that is still available and welcoming to all.”
“Museums are a place of connection, even if you’re not with anyone.”
Turchinsky says her “north star” then and still today, nearly a decade later, is “to create a space where everyone feels invited and empowered to walk through the door to learn and contribute.” She says for far too long, representation—of women and people of color—has been a problem at museums. “When you cross the threshold, you should feel respected, reflected, seen, and able to share an affinity with the art.” While she acknowledges that anyone can admire a painting of a landscape, “it takes genuine commitment and effort to help the viewer see where they fit” into the picture. “To me, that defines relevance.”
And just as every river flows into something greater, Turchinsky says, “We place a strong emphasis on creating exhibitions and programs that resonate locally as they connect our audience to national and global issues that matter deeply to them.” It’s an ethos that’s evident across the many galleries of historic and contemporary American art (from the 19th century to today), and most notably, throughout the new West Wing, an $11 million project Turchinsky spearheaded and debuted in the summer of 2023. The expansive space, with walls of glass that gaze at the river, increases the museum’s footprint to 52,000 square feet.
Other recent developments on her watch include a reaccreditation by the American Alliance of Museums, a distinction granted to just 3 percent of museums—which buoys her assertion that the Hudson River Museum is “doing things thoughtfully, authentically, and differently” from all other museums. “We are potently juxtaposing well-known artists with emerging artists in exhibitions and installations so our visitors are introduced to them with a whole new perspective and the ability to compare and contrast the two.”
Turchinsky suggests that this MO lends itself to viewing the museum as a sort of vibe, “much like the Hudson Valley is a vibe.” And just as the Hudson Valley has stretched beyond its beginnings as a little-known treasure, the Hudson River Museum is definitively on the map, as well, which pleases Turchinsky to no end. “We are proud to have been found, and I urge people to understand that we really seek their presence and participation; it makes us stronger and more vital,” while creating a ripple effect across the region it studies and serves.
Related: These Hudson Valley Spas Are the Perfect Places to Relax and Refresh
