Exhibitions

159 results
Page 1
Big blue handmade banner saying We Won’t Be Displaced hangs over a gallery crammed with protest art about saving Chinatown.

Asian Arts Initiative and partners present No Arena: Making A Movement

Celebrating the power of the people

A new exhibition at Asian Arts Initiative explores the recent fight over the basketball arena proposed on the edge of Philly’s Chinatown, celebrating the power of ordinary people who activated to save the neighborhood. Krista Mar visits.
Krista Mar

Krista Mar

Features 4 minute read
View of open 1799 book, brown with age, pages covered with a watercolor of a ship at left, and dense cursive writing at right

Independence Seaport Museum presents Seeking Profit and Power: Philadelphia, China Trade, and the Making of America

The economy of an upstart nation

A swashbuckling new exhibition at the Independence Seaport Museum marks America’s 250th with a fascinating look at how trade with China shaped the young United States in its first hundred years. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 6 minute read
Colorful still-life with intense floral background, black fish on a plate, nautilus-like swirls, lemons & green leaves.

The Brandywine Museum of Art presents Abundance/Excess: A Contemporary Eye on Still Life

Breathing fresh life into historic genres

The Brandywine Museum of Art assembles contemporary artists who are reimagining the genre of still life, offering an unexpected view of the traditional in Abundance/Excess: A Contemporary Eye on Still Life. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Reviews 4 minute read
Lifesize door in a brick wall with a welcome message, between two displays of many small 18th-century artifacts.

The National Constitution Center presents America’s Founding

From aspiration to nation

The National Constitution Center joins the 250th celebrations with America’s Founding, featuring immersive new galleries that take us inside life in Philly before and during the Revolution. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 6 minute read
Rectangular wall piece with dynamic crowd of slats, tiny bottles, structures & clothespins, with dark, earthy graphite finish

The Woodmere presents Planting in Place, Time, and Memory

A retrospective for Philly treasure Syd Carpenter

New galleries at the Woodmere in Chestnut Hill host a ceramics retrospective showcasing more than 50 years of sculptures by notable Philly artist Syd Carpenter. K.A. McFadden reviews.
K.A. McFadden

K.A. McFadden

Reviews 4 minute read
Large rectangular art piece made of dozens of repurposed Indonesian documents, with an abstract flow of red white & turquoise

The Print Center presents its 100th ANNUAL International Competition

Adi Sundoro, Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter, and Glen Baldridge on view in Philadelphia

The Print Center’s 100th ANNUAL International Competition drew 725 artists this year. Discover the three finalists, including Philadelphia’s Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter, in the galleries now. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 5 minute read
View from above of fanciful floral islands in a huge event hall, connected by sinuous arches of complex flower arrangements.

PHS presents the 2026 Philadelphia Flower Show, Rooted: Origins of American Gardening

Our gardening legacies, and a flowering future

This year’s Flower Show, open through Sunday, March 8, 2026, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, nods to our 250th with the theme Rooted: Origins of American Gardening. Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer reviews.
Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer

Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer

Reviews 5 minute read
Melancholy yet whimsical painting of a Black man sitting on a downcast unicorn on a dark night, in front of a flat horizon.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art presents Noah Davis

Observant whispers

An international retrospective on Noah Davis, an important American painter lost much too soon, ends its tour at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 5 minute read

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5 pieces of wooden Shaker furniture, including a wheelchair and two cradles, lined up in a white gallery below blue banners

The Institute for Contemporary Art presents A World in the Making: The Shakers

The eternal in the everyday

A major exhibition on the Shakers lands in Philly at UPenn’s ICA, juxtaposing historic pieces with new works exploring the enigmatic religious group’s legacy. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Reviews 6 minute read
Two vitrines full of documents from the era in front of a wall with more framed documents and a large image from 1976 protest

UPenn’s Van Pelt Library presents Celebrate or Demonstrate: Philadelphia and Bicentennial Discontent

Protests during America’s 200th birthday mirror our divisions in 2026

A small, free-to-visit exhibition in UPenn’s Van Pelt Library reminds us that protests during America’s 250th birthday resemble those that rocked Philly in 1976. Walt Maguire reviews.

Walt Maguire

Reviews 3 minute read