Newport Mansions

Through January 12: Wild Imagination: Art and Animals in the Gilded Age. During the Gilded Age (1865–1914), Americans’ relationship with animals transformed in lasting ways. Wild Imagination explores how this exciting, tumultuous era shaped our modern attitudes towards animals, from pampered pups to wondrous sea creatures. A broad range of artworks, photographs, scientific specimens, and other objects reflect vital period developments including the dawn of the animal rights movement, the surge in pet keeping, the popularization of natural history pursuits like birdwatching, and the golden era of zoos and circuses. They also reveal the stories and experiences of individual creatures who continue to capture our imagination.

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Fuller Craft Museum

Opening January 25: Everybody’s Bolos. Opening February 1: Cicely Carew: BeLOVEd Ongoing: Waste Not, Want Not: Craft in the Anthropocene. Ongoing: Maria Molteni: Soft Score. Ongoing: Beau McCall: Buttons On! Ongoing: Hand in Hand: Works from the Fleur S. Bresler Collection. Ongoing: Small Wonders: Beauty, Alchemy, and the Art of Enameling. Fuller Craft Museum’s wide-ranging exhibitions and outdoor sculpture showcase the finest contemporary craft in a spectacular organic modernist building and woodland setting. All are welcome, completely free of charge.

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Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Opening February 6. The Davis and Wellesley College Library Special Collections join together to celebrate acquisitions of works on paper from the last decade that represent Wellesley’s commitment to inclusive excellence. The artworks in Better on Paper hail from around the world, span diverse makers and approaches, and date to many periods. Free and open to the public.

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Mad River Valley Arts

January 3–February 28: Lisa Dimondstein, Julie Parker and Sandra Shenk in Abstract^2. These photographers are dedicated to radicalizing the photo as image. They abstract from an existing abstract sculpture to capture the properties and relationships of the original abstract concept, and in doing so they remove themselves from any context or representation. The photographs are inventive abstractions of sculptures by David Stromeyer. They utilize an in-camera multiple exposure technique to explore the relationship between color, texture, movement, line and form. Reception: Saturday, January 18, 5–7 p.m.

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ECOCA

January 19–February 23: Keyhole Workspace Residency Exhibition: Scott Azevedo, Odette Chavez-Mayo and Miguel Mendoza. Solo Exhibition: Peter Brown. Solo Exhibition: Perla Mabel. Solo Exhibition: Krystyna Printup. Flat File Room: Kristi Arnold. Opening reception: Sunday, January 26, 1–3 p.m. Artist talk with the Keyhole Workspace artists guided by Marissa Del Toro of NXTHVN during reception. Free and open to all.

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The Umbrella Arts Center

Opening January 13 in the Allie Kussin Main Gallery: Kat O’Connor, Twice the Speed of Bliss. Opening February 28 in the Black Box Theater: Where We Belong, a New England premiere by Madeline Sayet, directed by Tara Moses. An indigenous theatre-maker journeys across geographic borders, personal history, and cultural legacies in search of a place to belong. In 2015, Mohegan theatre-maker Madeline Sayet traveled to England to pursue a PhD in Shakespeare, echoing the path her ancestors took in the 1700s, leading to a remarkable journey of self-discovery. This ground-breaking, one-woman event weaves together humor, searing insight, and the timeless power of story-telling, to explore the importance of honoring our roots and the universal quest for belonging/where we belong.

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Clark Art Institute

Winter is the ideal time to visit the Clark! A renowned collection of paintings, works on paper, sculpture, and decorative arts fills the galleries. Outside, the walking trails wind through a serene wintry landscape. Borrow a free pair of snowshoes to explore the campus. Opening November 23: Abelardo Morell: In the Company of Monet and Constable. Opening December 14: Wall Power! Modern French Tapestry from the Mobilier national, Paris.

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New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill 

November 23, 2024–January 5, 2025, evenings: Experience Night Lights: Color Cascade, a breathtaking light display celebrating the magic and beauty of the winter season. Wander through formal gardens and conservatories illuminated by more than a quarter million artfully arranged lights. With displays showcasing a creative new theme each year, this dazzling, one-of-a-kind spectacle is unmatched in the region. Festive activities such as outdoor skating, s’mores roasting, and holiday shopping promise an unforgettable experience for visitors of all ages.

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SONO Arts at The Norwood Space Center

The Norwood Space Center will celebrate the holidays with vendors, food trucks, and Salvage Angel’s Holiday Stroll. SONO Arts—the resident artists—will open their studios in Building 6 and guest artists from Norwood and surrounding communities will join them for an art exhibition. Free and open to the public. To learn more, visit Norwoodspacecenter.com/events.

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Currier Museum of Art

Ongoing: Jean-Michel Basquiat and Ouattara Watts: A Distant Conversation brings together six artworks by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988), one of the most celebrated and influential artists of his generation, and seven large canvases by New York-based Ivorian painter Ouattara Watts (b. 1958). Ongoing: Dan Dailey: Impressions of the Human Spirit. Ongoing: Olga de Amaral: Everything is Construction and Color.

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