Nora Venezky says she has the best office space in the Village of Spencerport. That’s because she is the director of the Spencerport Depot & Canal Museum, located at 16 East Avenue, on the southern bank of the Erie Canal. The Spencerport native and 2008 graduate of Spencerport High School took over the reins from Doreen Castano in January 2016, and she says the experience is proving to be very exciting for her.
“I am trying to get everyone who lives in Spencerport to come in at least once,” she explains. “I want to make people more aware and have them appreciate this.”
Although she is young, Nora has an extensive background in history and museum studies to bring to the post. She graduated from SUNY Oneonta in 2012 with a degree in history and art and then received her masters in museum studies from the University of Toronto in 2014. She completed an internship at Genesee Country Museum and then at the Spencerport Depot & Canal Museum while she was a graduate student.
“I love museums,” Nora says. “They are a blend of my passions and interests.”
As soon as she received her master’s degree, Nora was hired by the Depot & Canal Museum board to document and organize the museum’s object collection. She was hired as assistant director to Doreen Castano before becoming director nearly one year ago.
The post is a part-time job, Nora explains, but she is also very involved in the Spencerport/Ogden community, serving as village historian and deputy Town of Ogden historian. She is also busy as a member of the committee planning the Ogden Bicentennial/Spencerport Sesquicentennial in 2017.
Nora says her first season as director has been wonderful. “We had great attendance, 4,000 people through this year,” she says.
Two hundred boaters docked with the Depot & Canal Museum this summer – the museum also functions as the Spencerport visitor center – meaning it offers information and amenities for those boating on the Erie Canal. “We had people from all over the world – Japan, New Zealand, Brazil … people don’t realize the tourism we get in Spencerport,” Nora says. “It’s a favorite stop for boaters.”
Grant writing is an important part of the job, Nora explains. This year a Genesee Valley Arts grant helped to fund Heritage Day programs and Nora hopes to receive similar funding in the future.
Next season the focus of museum displays will shift from local technology roots to more local history in general, she says, in honor of the village and town anniversary years. “2017 is also the bicentennial of when construction on the Erie Canal began,” she adds.
Nora says she hopes to set up an interactive corner for children and focus exhibits on canal history as well as town and village history. She says that the town and village have monthly events planned throughout the year to mark the bicentennial/sesquicentennial.
The favorite part of her job is meeting people, “from so many walks of life. I love to hear their stories,” Nora says. Her experience of traveling the entire length of the canal has also helped her to gain knowledge of where various points of interest are located outside of Spencerport.
She encourages anyone to travel the canal by boat, bike or by hiking along the trail. “It’s a great way to see New York State,” she says. “So often we just get on the Thruway.”
Working as director is, “very cool,” Nora observes. “I have learned so much about Spencerport, especially the canal. It is an amazing piece of history that continues to have an impact today.”
