Exhibitions

Expanded Horizons: Native American Creativity at the Intersection of Culture and Art, curated by Muscarelle Curator of Native American Art Danielle Moretti-Langholtz, invites us to look beyond two dimensional “traditional” artwork by Indigenous artists and consider the impact of major movements in the wider art world leading to new directions in media, aesthetics, and creativity by Native American artists. See works by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Preston Singletary, Emmi Whitehorse, Michael Namingha, Starr Hardridge and George Morrison, among many others.

This exhibition will feature fifteen original silkscreens by one of America’s leading figurative twentieth-century artists, Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000). This series of prints on The Life of Toussaint L’Ouverture provides a visual narrative of one the most consequential events in modern history.

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.

A selection of works from the Museum’s permanent collection that present a range of eras and styles vital to the story of American Art are currently on view.  Benjamin West, John Singleton Copley, Rembrandt Peale, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Childe Hassam, Georgia O’Keeffe, and John Sloan are among the important artists on exhibition.

Co-sponsored by the Muscarelle Museum of Art and the Department of Art & Art History at William & Mary, Liquid Commonwealth seeks to explore the essential importance, richness, and beauty of water as a defining element of Virginia for all its residents. Works utilizing the theme of water in Virginia will be selected by a jury consisting of students enrolled in The Curatorial Project, a required practicum course for undergraduate students with a concentration in Art History, under the direction of Alan C. Braddock, Ralph H. Wark Professor of Art History, American Studies, and Environmental Humanities at William & Mary.

Submissions from Virginia artists, 18 years and older, are accepted for this exhibition through August 1, 2025. For more information visit: Liquid Commonwealth: The Art and Life of Water in Virginia – Muscarelle Museum of Art