Exhibitions

Drawn from the renowned Christian Levett Collection and the FAMM (Female Artists of the Mougins Museum), France, Abstract Expressionists: The Women will spotlight nearly fifty paintings created by thirty-two important women artists between 1936 and 1977. It underscores the critical contributions these artists made to the growth of Abstract Expressionism worldwide by studying the stylistic crosscurrents between women working not only in New York but also in California and Paris during the movement’s inception, peak years, and beyond.

Abstract Expressionists: The Women is organized by the American Federation of Arts from the Christian Levett Collection and FAMM (Female Artists of the Mougins Museum), France. Curated by Dr. Ellen G. Landau, the exhibition is generously supported by Berry Campbell Gallery, Betsy Shack Barbanell, Monique Schoen Warshaw, and Clare McKeon and the Clare McKeon Charitable Trust with additional support provided by the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and the Every Page Foundation.

30-minute docent-led tours of Abstract Expressionists: The Women:
Tuesdays – Saturdays at 11am, 1pm & 3pm
Sundays at 1pm & 3pm

Artwork Featured: Emiko Nakano, Composition in Yellow, 1957. Oil on canvas, 34 x 46 in. Courtesy of the Levett Collection and FAMM. Photo: Fraser Marr.

What happens when an art exhibition becomes a neuroscience laboratory? We are once again pleased to partner with Professor of Art Elizabeth Mead and Associate Professor of Psychological Sciences Jennifer Stevens on the exhibition Thinking Sculpture | Sculpture Thinking featuring sculpture, drawings and prints by James Sullivan. Curated by Elizabeth Mead, the exhibition will serve as the laboratory portion for the class Neuroaesthetics: The Artist and the Mind. This interdisciplinary class uniting art and science will use the works in the exhibition to examine the roles of creativity and cognition.

The permanent collection at the Muscarelle Museum of Art is one of the oldest university-based art collections in the United States, dating from 1732 when William & Mary received its first gift of art. Since then, the collection has grown to nearly 8,000 objects, serving as an encyclopedic academic and artistic resource to the university and the wider community.

The artworks on display provide an opportunity to experience the breadth and diversity of the Muscarelle’s collection in new ways. A mixture of gifts and acquisitions, this cross section of the collection spans centuries and cultures, and encompasses a wide range of approaches and media. We invite you to engage with old favorites and recent additions to the collection, including a number of works that have never before been on view.

Losing Todd: A Mother’s Journey is an exhibition of twenty-one paintings capturing the journey of Jeanne Harris Weaver HON ’17 coping with the loss of her son, 1LT Todd Weaver ‘08. Todd was killed in action on September 9, 2010, while deployed in Afghanistan. Jeanne, a lifelong artist, found herself unable to paint until January 2011, when she decided to pick up her brushes in honor of Todd. View this memorial exhibition at the Muscarelle Museum of Art Annex at the William & Mary Sadler Center. Opening during W&M Homecoming 2025, the exhibition will remain on view through Veterans’ Day 2025 into 2026, the year of the nation’s 250th anniversary of the Second Continental Congress and the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

Where Late the Sweet Birds represents selected works from Morgan Bulkeley’s expansive creative output across five decades.  Bulkeley’s eclectic realm of symbolism is concerned with the ecological crisis of our time, which has remained at the center of his practice since the early 1970s.  Where Late the Sweet Birds arrives at William & Mary during the Year of the Environment, a year-long celebration of our shared commitment to protecting our planet and the communities that depend on its health and resilience. This exhibition is curated by Patrick Harkin, Director of the Andrews Gallery, and is presented jointly by the Department of Art & Art History and the Muscarelle Museum of Art at William & Mary.

A selection of these works is on view at the Muscarelle in Gallery 12, with the rest of the exhibition displayed in Andrews Gallery, next door to the museum. Andrews Gallery is open 10 AM – 5 PM, Monday through Saturday.

The opening of the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts coincided with the 332nd anniversary of the issuing of the Royal Charter to establish a “perpetual college of learning in Virginia,” making us the second oldest university in the United States. The history of this institution is deep and dynamic, and parallels the founding of our nation with both struggles and successes. William & Mary educated four U.S. presidents, judges, statesmen and women, signers of the Declaration of Independence, teachers, legislators, lawyers, doctors, astronauts, scientists, veterans and exemplary citizens of this nation and the world. For this we are aptly known as “the Alma Mater of the Nation.” In this exhibition we return to our unique origin story with a look at our Royal Charter and the individuals who were essential in the founding of the “College of William and Mary” with selections from the permanent collection and loans from the Special Collections Research Center at Swem Library.

Featuring 13 hand-embroidered panels, one for each of the original colonies, America’s Tapestry illustrates the diverse stories of individual contributions — many overlooked — that reveal each colony’s struggle for independence. Collaboratively stitched by artisans from New Hampshire to Georgia, the panels weave together stories from our nation’s founding through the medium of embroidery to commemorate our country’s 250th anniversary. The project was developed and curated by Stefan Romero. The Virginia panel is being stitched at the Muscarelle by members of the Williamsburg Rose and Thistle Chapter of the Embroidery Guild of America, along with community volunteers, under the direction of Catherine Theron.

Guided by William & Mary’s Office of Strategic Cultural Partnerships, this exhibition is supported by a grant from the Coby Foundation during The Year of Civic Leadership at William & Mary and the nationwide America250 celebration.