14 must-see art exhibitions in Philly and beyond this fall
From Black cowboy culture and ancient trees to fiber arts and Philly’s gardening history, these exhibitions are worth a visit before year’s end.
From photographs documenting Black cowboy culture to artwork made with ancient tree rings, Philadelphia’s galleries offer plenty to explore this fall, for the art curious.
And some of the most interesting exhibitions are happening outside the city’s major museums, in smaller galleries and independent arts spaces.
Whether you’re interested in photography, textiles, painting, or Philadelphia’s history, here are 14 exhibitions worth checking out before the end of the year.
The work of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Ron Tarver comes to the Print Center in an exhibition based on his book, The Long Ride Home: Black Cowboys in America.His large-scale images document Black cowboy culture from the southern plains of East Texas to the urban pathways of North Philadelphia.
🕒 Through Nov. 14, 💵 Free, 📍1614 Latimer St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19103, 🌐 printcenter.org, 📞 215-735-6090
Curator Logan Cryer interviewed 13 Philadelphia artists about their experiences working in artist collectives for “Still Taking Minutes,” an exhibition at Vox Populi Gallery that explores how artists form, sustain, and leave creative communities. Among those featured are Vox members Aaron Terry, Ollie Goss, Gregory Donell Parker, and catia colagioia, who reflect on the challenges and rewards of working collaboratively. Part of the larger “An Endless Meeting” project, the exhibition examines the history of Philadelphia’s DIY arts community and what its future might look like.
🕒 Through Nov. 15, 💵 Free, 📍319 N. 11th St. 3rd Fl., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107, 🌐 voxpopuligallery.org, 📞 215-238-1236
The exhibition “Notes from the Forest Archive,” at Prism Arts Philadelphia, explores the histories of ancient trees and humanity’s relationship with the natural world. Artist Larry Wood’s work features imprints from cross-sections of coastal redwoods and Giant Sequoias felled in California. Their growth rings reveal centuries of environmental change.
🕒 Through Nov. 20, 💵 Free,📍1021 Hamilton St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19123, 🌐 prismartsphiladelphia.com, 📞 215-645-2796
The work of artists Bren Ahearn, Rebecca Kelly, Beau McCall, Caitlin McCormack, Barbara Schulman, Amy Orr, and Julie Woodard explores how fiber arts can tell stories and preserve memories. Using materials ranging from cotton and embroidery thread to bones and found objects, the artists explore personal histories and ancestral traditions.
🕒 Through Nov. 28, 💵 Free, 📍1400 N American St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19122, 🌐 inliquid.org, 📞 215-235-3405
Artist Rami George’s “from every river to every sea” is a visual archive that includes “raw” footage of flags and “flashes of police surveillance” from the pro-Palestinian protests in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., in 2023 and 2024. According to the Asian Arts Initiative website, the goal of the exhibition is to showcase the varied layers of resistance and chart a path toward a decolonial future.
🕒 Through Dec. 5, 💵 Free, 📍1219 Vine St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107, 🌐 asianartsinitiative.org, 📞 215-557-0455
Neil Anthony Edwards, a former NBA player and oil painter, returns to Morton Contemporary for a second solo exhibition. In his latest show, “Evanescence: We Are Still All Still Fading,” Edwards focuses on the evolution of fashion from the 1910s to the 1960s, and how those styles influence contemporary fashion. The exhibition also offers odes to Rocky Balboa and LeBron James, two figures who have become symbols of Philadelphia.
🕒 Nov. 14-Dec. 6, 💵 Free, 📍115 S 13th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107, 🌐 mortoncontemporary.com, 📞 215-735-2800
Each year, three artists are selected for the William Way LGBT Community Center’s juried art exhibition. This year’s artists are Philly-based LGBTQ artists Jordan Artim, D’Shon McCarthy, and Dave Tavacol, who will each showcase distinct works at Northern Liberties’ Huddle arts gallery for the 20th annual exhibition.
🕒 Nov 5.—Dec. 5, 💵 Free, 📍338 Brown St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19123, 🌐 waygay.org, 📞 215-732-2220
What do an Ikea furniture remnant, a toy velociraptor, a steer horn and a curtain rod have in common? They’re all materials used in artist Anna Tsouhlarakis’ sculptures at Temple Contemporary. A citizen of the Navajo Nation and Creek Tribe who is also of Greek descent, Tsouhlarakis combines everyday objects, animal remains and casts of body parts to explore Indigenous identity, cultural expectations and her own experiences. Her unconventional sculptures resist straightforward narratives, inviting visitors to make sense of seemingly disconnected objects. The exhibition also features black-and-white collages that use humor to challenge stereotypes about Indigenous identity.
🕒 Through Dec. 5, 💵 Free, 📍2001 N. 13th St., 🌐 now.temple.edu
From sculptural furniture to intricate wire sculptures and jazz album covers, some of the most recognizable elements of American midcentury design have roots in a painful chapter of U.S. history. At the Barnes Foundation, “Noguchi to Asawa” explores the work of six Japanese American artists, including George Nakashima, Isamu Noguchi, and Ruth Asawa, whose lives and careers were shaped by the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. The exhibition brings together furniture, sculptures, and graphic design to show how these artists helped define modern American esthetics, even as their personal histories were often overlooked.
🕒 Through Jan. 10, 2027, 💵 $30 adults, $28 seniors, $5 college students and ages 13—18, free for children 12 and under (admission valid for two consecutive days), 📍2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, 🌐 barnesfoundation.org, 📞 215-278-7000
This Twelve Gates Arts exhibition brings together artists Carrie Mae Weems, Sama Alshaibi, and Lali Khalid for a multimedia project that examines displacement, belonging, and representation across racial, legal and geographic boundaries. “Extended Constellations,” curated by Zehra Zehra, brings together photography, video, installations and archival materials.
🕒 Through Jan. 16, 2027, 💵 Free, 📍106 North 2nd St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106, 🌐 twelvegatesarts.org, 📞 215-253-8578
For her third exhibition at Fleisher-Ollman Gallery, artist Molly Metz will present “Rock Garden,” a collection of paintings that evoke aquatic and extraterrestrial life forms. Her paintings feature biomorphic shapes, wormlike figures and structures resembling veins and capillaries.
🕒 Nov. 19 — Jan. 16, 2027, 💵 Free, 📍915 Spring Garden St., Ste 215, Philadelphia, Pa. 19123, 🌐 fleisher-ollmangallery.com, 📞 215-545-7562
“Bouquet of Stories,” a new exhibit that opens at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia on Nov. 6, traces three centuries of Philadelphia’s gardening history through photographs, rare objects, and stories about the people who helped shape the city’s gardening traditions. The exhibition will also examine how gardening has been a source of creativity and community building for generations of Philadelphians, and Philadelphia’s influence on American horticulture. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society presents the exhibition as part of its 200th anniversary celebration.
🕒 Nov. 6 — Jan. 30, 2027, 💵 Free, 📍219 S. 6th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106, 🌐 phsonline.org, 📞 215-925-2688
One of the most influential artists of the 20th century is getting a major retrospective in Philadelphia, home to the world’s largest collection of his work. At the Philadelphia Museum of Art, “Marcel Duchamp” brings together 300 works spanning painting, sculpture, photography, film, and the artist’s unconventional “ready-mades,” everyday objects transformed into art. The exhibition includes some of his most famous creations, including Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2), The Large Glass and Étant donnés. It’s the first major U.S. retrospective of the French American artist in more than 50 years, offering a rare look at how Duchamp challenged traditional ideas about what art could be.
🕒 Through Jan. 31, 2027, 💵 $35 timed ticket (includes museum admission), 📍2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, 🌐 philamuseum.org
Who knew Pennsylvania’s old stone quarries could inspire an art movement? At the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, “Abstractions of Nature” explores how the industrial landscapes of Bucks County shaped Pennsylvania Impressionism in the early 20th century. Inspired by European painters such as Claude Monet and Paul Cézanne, artists including Daniel Garber, Edward Redfield, and William Lathrop turned the region’s quarries into subjects for their paintings, capturing dramatic rock formations, shifting light and the effects of industry on the natural world. The exhibition also features works by Letitia Maxwell Ely, whose paintings offer a closer look at the labor that took place inside the quarries.
🕒 Through Feb. 28, 2027, 💵 $15 adults, $13 seniors, $8 college students, $5 ages 6—18, free for children under 6 and museum members; free admission for all on the second Sunday of each month in 2026, 📍138 S. Pine St., Doylestown, 🌐 michenerartmuseum.org
