Varied landscapes and a still-consequential colonial legacy make the northeastern region of New England a hotbed of creativity, demonstrated by the large number of exhibitions that are held here throughout the year.
Jeffrey Gibson: POWER FULL BECAUSE WE’RE DIFFERENT, 2024 Courtesy of Jeffrey Gibson Studio (Photo: Thomas Roeschlein)
Comprising the states of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, the expansive region has as its main hub the bustling city of Boston, whose long history pre-dates the American Revolution. It is also New England’s cultural heartland, with the majority of the region’s museums to be found in and around the city. Below are 10 of the best exhibitions taking place in Boston and across the whole of New England during the approaching Winter months.
Jeffrey Gibson’s POWER FULL BECAUSE WE’RE DIFFERENT
American artist Jeffrey Gibson has gained wide acclaim for his installations, performances, paintings, and sculptures that are designed to provide visibility to communities that have been historically marginalized. This immersive installation features seven newly constructed oversized garments, each adorned with beads and other discovered materials and either suspended from the ceiling or worn during live performances that are taking place as part of the installation throughout its 18-month run at the museum.
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, Massachusetts / Through May 2026
Modern Women: Visionary Artists
During the late 1940s, a collection of artists introduced a fresh and original style of painting that would go on to reshape modern art as the world had known it The artists, working primarily in New York City, had resolved to reject realism and instead turn towards abstraction. Known as the Abstract Expressionists, their art was considered a major rebellion against the mainstream, featuring unusual materials and quirky techniques such as throwing art onto a canvass. This exhibition focuses specifically on the female artists who were at the vanguard of this influential artistic movement, celebrating their legacies and highlighting how they continue to inspire and influence art in the modern era.
New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain / Through 3 August 2025
Survival of the Slowest: Evolution down the path less traveled
(Photo: Museum of Science)
This live animal exhibition delves into the adaptations that have taken place in the animal kingdom over millions of years that have contributed to the relative speed at which they move. In doing so, it invites visitors to learn about some of the pros and cons of being fast and slow – and vice versa. Through a range of exhibits and artefacts, it looks into animals such as sloths, snakes, hedgehogs, and horned frogs, and how they have thrived thanks to their respective speed and size.
Museum of Science, Boston, Massachusetts / Through Winter 2024-25
Witches: Evolving Perceptions
(Photo: Salem Witch Museum)
The Salem Witch Museum has unveiled two new artifact cases in the exhibit Witches: Evolving Perceptions. This has been a goal since 2018, when the museum first acquired a 1600 edition of the infamous Malleus Maleficarum and began growing its collection. The first case includes four books published between the 16th to the 18th centuries, writing by those in favour of witch trials as well as sceptics. The second includes objects relating to the evolving perception of witchcraft, ranging from an 1868 edition of the famous grimoire (book of magic) Les Secrets Merveilleux De La Magie Naturelle Du Petit Albert to a signed first edition of Gregory Maguire’s novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.
Salem Witch Museum, Salem, Massachusetts / Permanent
Deep Waters: Four Artists and the Sea
Over the years, a wide number of artists have explored both the raw beauty and terror-inducing power of our oceans. Through the display of artworks by four such artists, this exhibition invites visitors to ponder the interconnectedness between these works and their makers. Each artist provides a distinct perspective gleaned from their personal experience, yet all are connected by many of the same inimitable characteristics of the sea – from its shimmering surface and inconceivable depths to its diverse inhabitants and mythical tales of what really lies beneath.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts / Through 9 November 2025
Draw Me Ishmael: The Book Arts of Moby Dick
Emma Tomblin Marca, Whale, 2020. Book. Ink, collage, acrylic on paper with pop-up illustrations. Phillips Library purchase, 2021, N7433.3 .M37 2020. © Emma Tomblin Marca. (Photo by Kathy Tarantola/PEM)
Widely considered one of the greatest novels of all time, Moby Dick also boasts one of the most famous opening lines in the entire literary canon. Named after that very line, this exhibition focuses on the artwork that has featured in the hundreds of editions of the novel that have been published since the original version in 1851. Through the display of some 50 of those books, it explored decades of approaches to interpreting the novel visually in book form, encouraging visitors to think about the novel in new and original ways.
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts / Through 29 March 2026
The Dance of Life: Figure and Imagination in American Art, 1876–1917
During a time of drastic flux in the aftermath of the Civil War, an ambitious group of American artists adopted the human figure as their focal point. It was a period that became known as the American Renaissance and it proved to be a pivotal time in American art. Through a vast display of pencil sketches, pastels, bronzes and oil studies, this exhibition shines a light on how the artists from that era formed their visions, educated each another, and produced a visual language that caught the imagination of a nation ravaged by division.
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut / Through 5 January 2025
Dan Dailey: Impressions of the Human Spirit
Installation view of Dan Dailey: Impressions of the Human Spirit, on view at the Currier through February 2 (Photo: Morgan Karanasios)
American artist Dan Dailey is one of the most revered names in the world of sculptors, his ideas and originality broadening the artistic lexicon. During the 1960s, Dailey was deeply embedded in the avant-garde San Francisco art scene and was one of several disillusioned artists who turned against the Abstract Expressionism movement. Instead, Dailey gravitated towards glass a medium with which to express his visions and concepts – a material that had been largely eschewed by the art world until that point. This retrospective exhibition showcases a wide collection of works by the forward-thinking sculptor, whose ground-breaking vision has always been tricky to position within traditional art categories.
Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire / Through 2 February 2025
As We Are
Maya Tihtiyas Attean Penobscot, born 1994 Becoming a ghost of myself, 2023 archival inkjet print, 32 x 40 inches (Photo: Maya Tihtiyas Attean)
Some of the most up-and-coming artists across Maine are given a platform at this wide-ranging exhibition. Featuring works spanning painting, drawing, photography, ceramics and sculpture, it serves to demonstrate the forward-thinking forms of aesthetic practice currently being applied in American contemporary art. Themes including identity, ecology, material history, and kinship are all explored across the 14 works on display, each demonstrating the multiple ideas and strategies whose roots lie in the American modernist traditions that remain closely connected with Maine artists.
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine / Through 27 April 2025