The 518
Posts
The forgotten work of Mary Banning sees the light of day 🍄

The forgotten work of Mary Banning sees the light of day 🍄

March 27, 2025

In partnership with

Happy Thursday, Capital Region! Today, we’re introducing you to the trailblazing work of Mary Elizabeth Banning, a self-taught mycologist decades ahead of her time. An exhibition of her work is on view at the NYS Museum—which just got a big writeup in The New York Times 🍄 👏

Plus, soak up the early spring with our Top 5 Weekend Picks and more!

—Phat X. Chiem & Karley Sullivan

Today in The 518:

The lost work of Mary Banning sees the light of day 🍄
The 25 best places to live in the Capital District 📍
An update on Albany’s $600M soccer stadium project ⚽️
The Albany Film Fest leads our Top 5 Weekend Picks 🎥
Plus, all the music shows you need to know 🎸

Mary Banning finally gets her due at the NYS Museum 📸 Courtesy of the NYS Museum

Out of the shadows at the NYS Museum: Mary Banning

The New York State Museum has a wonderful new exhibition on fungi. Yes, shrooms. But that’s not the only interesting part. The exhibit has an incredible backstory:

Mary Elizabeth Banning was a self-taught mycologist who spent nearly 40 years documenting the fungi of Maryland—identifying thousands of specimens and naming 23 species new to science. Her love of mushrooms wasn’t just scientific. It was also artistic. She captured each species in vivid watercolor, producing 175 detailed plates and pages of descriptions in a manuscript she titled The Fungi of Maryland.

She hoped the manuscript would be published. Instead, it was shelved—literally—tucked away in a drawer at the State Museum for nearly a century.

Now, her long overlooked research on fungi is finally seeing the light of day. The State Museum’s new exhibition, Outcasts, shines a spotlight on Banning’s legacy and the museum’s nationally significant fungi collection (who knew?). It includes selections from her manuscript, letters, and even mushrooms she collected by hand.

Why Outcasts? Banning once called fungi “vegetable outcasts.” Until 1969, they were lumped in with plants—peculiar, unwanted guests at the botanical table. Banning herself knew the feeling. In the male-dominated science world of the 1800s, she was the one outside looking in.

She found one ally: Charles Horton Peck, New York’s first state botanist and one of America’s leading mycologists. They corresponded for 20 years. “You are my only friend in the debatable land of fungi,” she wrote in 1879.

“This is a love story, but not between the two people—they were both in love with fungi,” retired museum curator John Haines tells The New York Times in a long feature on Outcasts. He stumbled up the manuscript during a job interview way back in 1969, and exhibited it in 1981. But most of Banning’s art has been stored away for decades—until now.

Tonight at 6 pm, as part of the museum’s terrific History & Hops series at Common Roots Albany Outpost, senior historian Ashley Hopkins-Benton and curator of mycology Patricia Kaishian will talk about Banning’s trailblazing work. A celebration of feminism and fungi, the event is free to attend. Details here.

(Remember when we called out the museum’s recent event programming in 5 things we’re loving right now? This is why.)

Outcasts runs all year. On April 4, a dramatic reading of The Mushroom Letters will be performed at the museum during an opening reception for the exhibition.

Join over 4 million Americans who start their day with 1440 – your daily digest for unbiased, fact-centric news. From politics to sports, we cover it all by analyzing over 100 sources. Our concise, 5-minute read lands in your inbox each morning at no cost. Experience news without the noise; let 1440 help you make up your own mind. Sign up now and invite your friends and family to be part of the informed.

Join for free today!

🏡 With inventory at record lows, home prices are still rising statewide. In February, the median sales price in NYS jumped 15.4% year-over-year. The Capital Region is seeing similar trends, with prices up nearly 11% and inventory down 6.4%, despite a boost in new construction. Locally, the median home price now stands at $308,000. Good news for current homeowners, not so great for anyone looking to buy. [Times Union]

📍Niche, a website that ranks cities and neighborhoods, has released its annual list of the 25 Best Places to Live in the Albany Area. Although Niche crunches a lot of data to come up with these lists, numbers don’t tell the whole story. Whether a neighborhood is desirable has a lot to do with the vibes and personal experience. Anyway, check out where your area ranks. Our own Mansion District takes the 15th spot.

⚽️ In case you missed it, the Albany Business Review has an update on the soccer stadium complex proposed for Albany. The price tag has gone up to $600 million ($150M of which the developers want to come from the state). And instead of MLS Next Pro, the team will belong to USL, a competing soccer league featuring men and women’s teams. Take a look at the new renderings here.

⭐️ 🎥 The 5th annual Albany Film Festival celebrates storytelling in cinema—with a heavy focus this year on the immigrant experience in America. See our preview of the festival, and check out the schedule of events. All day Sat, free.

⭐️ 🖼️ Troy Night Out is always a fun affair, but it’s doubly worthwhile this month with Art March, featuring events at Paper Moon, Art Center of the Capital Region, murals at Troy Atrium, and Window Works at Collar Works. Friday, free.

⭐️ 🌷 The Flower and Garden Expo at Hudson Valley Community College is a dream for green thumbs. See the latest in gardening gear and enjoy wine tastings, engaging talks and hands-on demos to inspire your inner plant daddy (or mommy) 👩‍🌾 Fri-Sun, $14-$37.

⭐️ 🚣‍♀️ The 15th Annual Ice Breaker Challenge 5K pits runners and walkers against rowers from the Albany Rowing Center. It’s also a major fundraiser for the Albany Rowing Center, which aims to expand access to rowing for all ages. Sat, free to watch.

⭐️ 🤖 The robots won’t be programmed to destroy each other at the FIRST Robotics Competition at the MVP Arena. Nonetheless, it’s still fun to watch these robots, built by high school students, do some incredible engineering feats. Fri-Sat, free.

And one honorable mention this week…

⭐️ 🐝 Have you ever seen the Scripps National Spelling Bee in person? This Saturday is your chance to see the young spelling masters in action at the 2025 Regional Competition, at theREP in Albany. It’s free, but you need to get there early. Doors open at 8:30a.

🎟️ MORE NOTABLE EVENTS

TONIGHT

🎭️ Opera Saratoga’s Pasta and Puccini celebrates the Carnival in Venice with a night of fine food, arias and fun with masks.

FRIDAY

🎭️ All weekend, the Bunbury Players puts on A Festival of One Acts III, featuring four original short plays, at the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library.

🐶 Want a custom ink stamp of your pet? Get to Prints & Pints at Common Roots Albany Outpost.

🥨 The Ilium Brewing Co. is giving out free pretzels for its grand opening in Troy. Be among the first to try out this new hotspot.

🚤 In the market for a shiny new boat? The Great Upstate Boat Show sails into Queensbury this weekend.

SATURDAY

🥞 The 4th Annual Caffè Lena School of Music Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser is an all-you-can-eat pancake feast that supports folk music education for kids and adults!

🎪 Via Aquarium in Rotterdam puts on Spring Festival, featuring kid-friendly activities like carnival games, face painting, food vendors, and temporary tattoos.

🥃 The Bourbon Room in Saratoga invites you to its Cigar Pop-up, featuring premium cigars and pours of Penelope Bourbon—a perfect pairing of rich, nuanced notes.

👊 Wanna learn self defense, CPR and how to de-escalate a tense situation? You can do all of that in one day at Bard College’s Resilience Cafe—and for free!

✏️ The Shirt Factory in Glens Falls is hosting the 2nd annual Independent Comic Expo. It’s free!

🍎 This weekend, Cohoes Music Hall puts on Schoolhouse Rock LIVE! Relive those classic Saturday morning cartoons (“I’m Just a Bill”) in person.

SUNDAY

🎭️ Playing at theREP in Albany, “The Lehman Trilogy” traces the fascinating rise and fall of the Lehman Brothers, from their first Alabama store to their spectacular collapse on Wall Street. Show runs through April 2.

MONDAY

🍽️ Hudson Valley Restaurant Week launches on Monday and goes through April 13. Be sure to make reservations at participating restaurants if you plan on partaking. Choose from menus costing $24.95, $29.95, $39.95, or $44.95.