Galleries and Installations to Explore this Summer in Boston

In American Waters takes marine painting to new levels with works that explore the beauty, violence, poetry, and transformative power of the sea in American society. See how painters Georgia O’Keeffe, Amy Sherald, Kay WalkingStick, Norman Rockwell, and many more were able to use art to transport the viewer to a new sense of place and time with their expansive canvases. Plus, lean some of the intricacies and symbols used specifically in coastal paintings and seascapes.

After last year’s closures and since pivoting to serve as a food distribution site during the pandemic, East Boston’s ICA Watershed exhibits include a new immersive installation from acclaimed artist Firelei Báez that brings the viewer inside the reimagined ruins of an ancient Hatian palace. In the location’s Harbor Room, artist Stephen Hamilton explores the color indigo.

As part of a program intended to introduce young people ages 6 to 12 to the MFA and the art-making process, Boston-based artist Chanel Thervil has created “Patterns of Greatness.” The collaborative project involved virtual meetings with young Boston-area artists, which led to the imagination of visual patterns that represent how relationships have positive impacts on our lives. Thervil also purposefully highlights the work of contemporary artists like Keith Haring, Simone Leigh, Sammy Chong, and more who use patterns in their art, opening up the possibilities for discovery even further.

At the MassArt x SoWa gallery in Boston’s SoWa district (and online), view a showcase of ten 2020 MassArt MFA alumni, across a range of media including photography, painting, sculpture, and video. See the reunion of these ten emerging artists against the backdrop of one of Boston’s most well-known places to check out art. 

On the first Friday of each month from 5-9 PM ET, join the SoWa Artists Guild to take a tour of artists’ open studios. You can peruse the guild’s artists page and contact the artists directly to learn when they’ll be in, or you can make discoveries of new creators you’ll get to know just by making the trip.

In the Fort Point Channel area of the Seaport, see how Peter Schumann, founder and artistic director of the renowned Vermont-based Bread & Puppet Theater, uses a pile of discarded hotel bedsheets to paint scenes that served as a daily exercise to grapple with the issues of today’s world. This series, called “Bedsheet Mitigations,” is co-presented by the ARTSPEECH artists’ collective.