UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

I Return With A Feeling Of Us: The Photography of Anthony Barboza 

SEPTEMBER 11 - NOVEMBER 23, 2025

Anthony Barboza, "James Baldwin", Vintage Gelatin Silver Print, 1975
Anthony Barboza, "James Baldwin", Vintage Gelatin Silver Print, 1975

Organized in partnership with the New Bedford Historical Society.

This is the first retrospective exhibition of renowned photographer Anthony Barboza (b. 1944).

A New Bedford native of Cape Verdean descent, Anthony Barboza has, throughout his influential career, demonstrated a deep compassion for and interest in telling the stories of Black American life and communities of color worldwide.

Barboza’s photographs resonate with beauty and grace. I Return With a Feeling of Us brings together a wide range of his personal and commercial work—including deeply felt observations of racial injustice and economic inequities, innovative fashion photography that helped redefine African-American aesthetics and representation, and masterful, revelatory portraits of celebrities and fellow creatives for which he is best known.

Shape of Who We Are: Exploring Identity 

SEPTEMBER 11 - DECEMBER 9, 2025

"Between Here and Elsewhere" Pieced and Quilted Fabric and Acrylic Paint on Canvas, 7' x 7' x 6"
"Between Here and Elsewhere" Pieced and Quilted Fabric and Acrylic Paint on Canvas, 7' x 7' x 6"

Identity can connect us to our origins or inspire transformation. In The Shape of Who We Are, artists from across the globe explore how identity is formed, expressed, and reimagined through race, gender, class, culture, and personal history. These works invite us to reflect on what we choose to carry forward, what we leave behind, and the infinite ways we might become.

JUROR: MARCELLE JOSEPH

Marcelle Joseph is an American independent curator and collector based in the United Kingdom. Since 2011, Joseph has produced and curated over 50 exhibitions in the UK and the rest of Europe, featuring the work of over 300 international artists. Joseph holds an MA in Art History with Distinction from Birkbeck, University of London with a specialization in feminist art practice. Her curatorial work focuses on gender and the performative construction of identity.
Juror's Statement:
"In this climate of geopolitical chaos, environmental crises, trade wars and populist post-woke political agendas that are stripping people of their rights, in particular, those folks marginalized by their gender choices, this open call exhibition could not have come at a better time. For this exhibition that explores identity, I selected works that tell a story about each artist and their unique origins, whether it be a Korean boy who was adopted at birth by an American family, a Black Irish woman grappling with her double diaspora or a person who was born in the wrong body. The viewer will be treated to a panoply of narratives that both celebrate the artists’ own gender, race and class as well as critique the societal norms that declare them ‘other’..."

Wainer Woods

OCTOBER 2 - NOVEMBER 23, 2025

Rob maquette

The Art Museum is honored to present an exhibition in partnership with Wainer Woods.

On view in the Fiber-Optic Gallery see historic and contemporary photographs of Wainer Woods and a maquette of a sculpture titled: Eastern Native Woodland Indian as Imagined by Chief Two Running Elk. The sculpture will be permanently installed at Wainer Woods in Westport, MA in 2025.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the Eastern Medicine Singers will perform at FriYAY: Friday, October 3rd from 6-8pm.

 

Bio:

Chief Nij-Pajikwat-Mo`z (Chief Two Running Elk), aka Robert Cox, is a steward committed to the conservation of the lands. He’s the Director for The Indigenous Healing Plant and Botanical Farm in Westport at Wainer Woods. Rob is a descendant of the historic Cuffe/Wainer family and is one of the 5th great nephews of Captain Paul Cuffe of Cuttyhunk and Westport. He is a veteran of The Boston Fire Department and full-time member of the Eastern Medicine Singers where he enjoys singing and drumming to keep indigenous culture alive.

 

Artist Statement:

The permanent installation of the statue will serve several purposes. First and foremost, it is a tribute to the Eastern Woodland Indians of the region. Also to honor my Grandfather Michael Wainer and Paul Cuffe, who for the most part were the forefathers of Westport.

Secondly, the placing of the statue in the Heritage Garden Park at Wainer Woods is symbolic of the recapturing territorial land after colonialism and encroachment devastated our way a life.

A’ho, Nij-Pajikwat-Mo`z Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe of the Pokanoket Nation / Watuppa Reservation