Upcoming Exhibits in All Creative Arts Genres: Paintings, Sculpture, Crafts & Furniture
Be sure to confirm via registration link before committing to attend.
A Shared Legacy: Gifts from the Robyn and John Horn Collection
New England Quilt Museum - To Every Season
New England Quilt Museum - A Walk in the Woods
Lee Mingwei: Our Peaceable Kingdom
The resonance between Hicks’ Quaker vision of peace and the questions I was asking in my own work felt urgent. What does peace look like today? Can it be plural, tender, even contradictory? Hicks’ Peaceable Kingdom offered not a conclusion, but a quiet proposition: that peace is not agreement, but the radical act of coexisting with difference.
—Lee Mingwei
Lee Mingwei’s ongoing collaborative artwork, Our Peaceable Kingdom, began in part with a 2018 visit to the Worcester Art Museum, where he encountered a painting by American folk artist Edward Hicks (c. 1833). Captivated by Hicks’ Quaker vision of peace, Lee invited artists to respond to and reinterpret this iconic painting, considering the enduring question, “What is peace?”
Arms and Armor
Timed-entry reservations will be required for all visitors to the Arms and Armor Galleries. Learn more
This fall, the Worcester Art Museum welcomes you to its new Arms and Armor Galleries. Uncover the real stories behind myths and legends, brought to life through over 1,000 objects from around the world. Showcasing the Museum’s collection of arms and armor—the second largest of its kind in the United States—this new 5,000-square-foot space invites you to delve into timeless themes of bravery, power, identity, and honor, and reflect on how these concepts resonate in our lives today.
Rare artifacts, breathtaking artworks, and hands-on interactives make this experience perfect for all ages. With a focus on storytelling, the galleries will explore the societies and cultures in which these objects were used and reveal the skill and ingenuity required to create them. Discover the celebrity culture of Roman gladiators through a 2,000-year-old helmet. Marvel at ornate weapons-turned-fashion statements, like an Indian dagger worn to signify status and masculinity. Search the surfaces of brilliantly crafted suits of armor for clues about their makers. And come face-to-face with samurai Sakai Genzo through the ceremonial suit of armor he once wore.
American Art
This winter, the Worcester Art Museum will unveil newly reimagined galleries dedicated to its renowned collection of American art from the colonial period through the 19th century. The fully redesigned space will showcase more than 130 works of art representing a diverse range of artists, media, styles, and stories. Scheduled to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the United States, the galleries will address the achievements, complexities, and enduring relevance of American art and history. Artworks will be grouped thematically, inviting viewers to draw connections between different time periods, perspectives, and artistic voices. Each section will delve into a subject that resonates throughout the history of American art and into the present day. Explore wide-ranging visions of nature, the ways art has been used to construct identities, the stories of New England makers, the global influences on American art, and more as you rediscover this signature area of the Museum’s collection. The American Art Galleries are curated by Karen Sherry, Curator of American Art. The Museum also sought input from a diverse group of community advisors, including representatives of various cultural and educational organizations.
The Twenty-Second Annual College Show
The Twenty-Second Annual College Show
A Weather Eye: Art and Early Modern Meteorology
Does it look like rain? From mythology to meteorology, journey through the dramatic scientific and social shift in Europe and America’s collective understanding of weather from the 16th to early 19th century. Bringing together more than forty works on paper, early weather forecasting devices, and more, A Weather Eye charts more than three hundred years of humanity’s evolving relationship with the natural world. Explore the mythology of weather and the classical theory of the four elements (earth, air, water, and fire). Delve into stories of witchcraft and sorcery, and the ways weather was divined through folk knowledge, astrology, and “weather wising.” Learn about the idolized innovators of the scientific revolution, and make light of the storm with satirical prints of cats, dogs, and more raining from the sky. This exhibition is curated by Olivia Stone, Assistant Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photography.
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