Current and Past Art Shows | Arnold Arboretum

Our art shows are offered in-person at the Hunnewell Building. The Hunnewell Building at 125 Arborway is open 9am–4pm daily. The Visitor Center is open every day except Wednesdays from 10am–4pm.

Artists should note that we are re-examining how art exhibitions are managed at the Arboretum and are therefore putting a pause on accepting new art proposals for the time being.

Still Lives: Plants of the Arnold Arboretum, Close Up and Far Away

Photographs by Vaughn Sills

Winter 2023 - Summer 2023

Photographer Vaughn Sills brings her exquisite still lives of Arboretum plants—whether in flower or fruit, burnished fall foliage or shimmery bud—to our exhibition. Each stem is a wonder of composition and color—prominent, yet sublimely connected to a background of a distant and ethereal landscape. The images are Still Lives, from inside Sills' studio, and include the outside—her images of nature and wide expanses of earth. Combined, these seemingly disparate elements convey the importance of two ways of looking, close up and far away. Each stem represented in this exhibition was carefully collected with Arnold Arboretum Visitor Engagement staff.

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Photo of tree branches with flowers in vase — Loebner Magnolia, 2021, photograph copyright Vaughn Sills

artists redux/seen again: artists from the arnold arboretum’s website exhibitions, 2020-2022, intricate beauties: the lichen explorations of natalie andrew, the overstory by richard powers, handmade scroll by diane samuels, the art of the woodturner vi, tree ring histories: the quilts of anna von mertens, the nature of art/the art of nature, meaningful beauty: the vibrant vocabulary of honeysuckles, stoneroot epistle, seeds for tomorrow: woody plants of the arnold arboretum, hidden worlds: a new herbarium,

Artists Redux/Seen Again: Artists from the Arnold Arboretum’s Website Exhibitions, 2020-2022

Winter 2023

Eleven artists, who exhibited during the pandemic in virtual shows, will each bring two representative pieces of their art to this in person show. From monotypes to watercolor, from oils to ink washes, there is so much to appreciate in this winter exhibition.Eleven artists, representing seven exhibitions, bring their work back in person to the Arnold Arboretum. After 24 months of virtual shows during the pandemic, they share their vision of nature and the Arboretum for all our visitors.

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Intricate Beauties: The Lichen Explorations of Natalie Andrew

Fall 2022 - Winter 2023

Ceramics provide a vehicle for Natalie Andrew's exploration into the sublime aesthetics inherent in lichen. An artist and a biologist, Andrew has been observing spontaneous flora of lichens in the landscape. The resulting works highlight the texture, depth, and form of lichen against the surface of ceramic.Ceramicist and biologist Natalie Andrew's work in the Visitor Center displayed the artist's colorful sense of design and pattern and her adhering care and interest in the natural world with lichen embellishments.

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The Overstory by Richard Powers, Handmade Scroll by Diane Samuels

Fall 2022 - Winter 2023

Diane Samuels' incredible 20" x 160' scroll is a hand-transcription in micro-script of Richard Powers' The Overstory. The text side is made of strips of recycled drawings, prints, and papers from the artist's studio. The dimensions of the scroll correspond to a common vertical section of a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens). The non-transcribed side is collaged with 99 bookplates. Each bookplate is made by a rubbing from a piece carved with the image of the leaf/needles identified with each of the nine characters in the book.Diane Samuels' brought her vibrant, textured scroll, The Overstory by Richard Powers, to the Arboretum as part of our Sesquicentennial exhibitions. One side of the scroll is a hand-transcription in micro-script of the book made of strips of recycled drawings, prints, and papers from the artist's studio. The non-transcribed side is collaged with 99 bookplates.

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The Art of the Woodturner VI

Fall of 2022-Fall of 2022

For the sixth year, woodturners from throughout New England will exhibit their work at the Arboretum for a weekend of demonstrations and talks with the artisans. Using a lathe to form their pieces, woodturners create practical objects or “turn” to the purely aesthetic, resulting in a show that appeals to the eye and the touch. Visit the Hunnewell Visitor Center at 125 Arborway Friday, October 7, through Sunday, October 9, 10:00am - 4:00pm. (Image: "Cherry Root Bowl," Steve Wiseman)Woodturners from three New England clubs returned to the Arboretum for a weekend of craft and demonstrations in October. Using a lathe to form their pieces, woodturners created practical objects or “turned” to the purely aesthetic, resulting in a show that appealed to the eye and the touch.

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Tree Ring Histories: The Quilts of Anna Von Mertens

Summer 2022 - Fall 2022

Working with international dendrochronologists, Anna Von Mertens culled source images of tree ring cross-sections from studies connecting climate variability and periods of human instability. The events represented in her quilts correlate to periods of drought recorded by the tree rings. Fading thread colors mirror and highlight historical events.Working with international dendrochronologists, Anna Von Mertens culled source images of tree ring cross-sections from studies connecting climate variability and periods of human instability. The resulting art quilts are hand-stitched fabric, white thread on black backing, representing and connecting periods of drought with historical events.

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The Nature of Art/The Art of Nature

Summer of 2022

This unique show is an invitational of fourteen artists from New England Book Artists. They all use the framework of a book to create a personal vision of nature. Works of art fold, accordion, pop up, and display cut outs and tunnels, treating the traditional world of two dimensions as something permeable, and the traditional book world as a place of personal discovery and reverence.Fourteen artists from New England Book Artists bring their unique art to this show. Each artist takes a personal look at nature, combining their own interpretation of what resonates with them with a singular book design.

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Meaningful Beauty: The Vibrant Vocabulary of Honeysuckles

"Spring 2022 - Summer 2022"

This multimedia exhibition highlights the genus Lonicera (honeysuckle). Wendy Clement combines her Arboretum research on honeysuckle with the design initiatives of Chris Ault’s Interactive Multimedia class at The College of New Jersey, bringing an exciting insight into how plants use visual signals to communicate with the world around them. The multimedia exhibition, Meaningful Beauty: The Vibrant Vocabulary of Honeysuckles, celebrated the diversity of honeysuckles, and explored how differences in form allow various species of the plant to effectively communicate with their environment. The show in our Hunnewell Lecture hall featured a blend of artistic and scientific imagery.

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Stoneroot Epistle

Spring 2022 - Summer 2022

In this mother-daughter book collaboration in our Hunnewell Visitor Center, Joyce and Daina Swagerty contemplate our capacity for wonder through the lens of an acorn through the seasons. Select pages of vivid imagery and inspirational poetry offer a layered landscape exploring the movement of universal journey. (Image detail copyright Daina Swagerty.)Stoneroot Epistle by poet Joyce Swagerty, and her daughter, artist Daina Swagerty, brings a singular look and creative interpretation of the articulated journey of a seed—an acorn—traveling though life. Subtitled Collage and Words in Conversation, Stoneroot Epistle is a glorious examination of regeneration through vivid images and attentive, articulate words.

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Seeds for Tomorrow: Woody Plants of the Arnold Arboretum

Winter 2022 - Spring 2022

Laura Fantini uses colored pencil to render seeds in exquisite, hyper-realistic drawings. This series is called “Hope,” and therein lies the power of seeds. They are emblematic of both birth and growth—small, complicated, and extraordinary, like the wonderful drawings in this exhibition.Laura Fantini uses colored pencil to render seeds in exquisite, hyper-realistic drawings. This series is called “Hope,” and therein lies the power of seeds. They are emblematic of both birth and growth—small, complicated, and extraordinary, like the wonderful drawings in this exhibition.

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Hidden Worlds: A New Herbarium

Fall 2021 - Winter 2022

Artist Madge Evers brings us into the world of nature, re-imagining the connection of fungi with plants through intimate, dreamlike landscapes. Her prints are animate worlds, revealing where mushroom spores and leaves intersect.Madge Evers brings her rich, layered spore prints to the aptly named exhibition, Hidden Worlds. Taking cues from nature's abundant examples of the interrelationship between fungi and plants, Evers creates A New Herbarium teeming with the synergy of organic life and her own creative discipline and vision.

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