Art Exhibitions Coming & Going in November 2024
Eleven Must-See Art Exhibitions Across the U.S. This November
With November’s chill settling in and daylight fading early, it's the perfect time to retreat indoors and immerse yourself in the art world. As the season shifts, galleries and museums are showcasing a rich variety of exhibitions that invite contemplation and creative exploration. From blockbuster shows at major institutions to hidden gems in smaller venues, this month offers a wealth of visual experiences. Whether you’re seeking thought-provoking installations or a cozy museum escape, here are 11 exhibitions opening or closing in November that you won’t want to miss.
1. Samantha Box: Confluence at National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C.
Opens Nov 20, 2024 through Mar 23, 2025
NMWA presents evocative documentary and studio-based photographs by Bronx-based artist Samantha Box (b. 1977, Kingston, Jamaica) in her inaugural solo exhibition in Washington, DC. Seen together for the first time, Box’s two major bodies of work “Invisible” and “Caribbean Dreams” reveal layered conversations around the intersectionality of nationality, race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. (Follow on Instagram)
Samantha Box, One Kind of Story, from the series “Caribbean Dreams,” 2020; Digital and physical collage with archival inkjet prints, 40 x 50 in.; Courtesy of the artist; © Samantha Box
2. Georgia O’Keeffe: “My New Yorks” at High Art Museum, Atlanta, GA.
Opens October 25, 2024 through February 16, 2025
This exhibition is the first to critically examine O’Keeffe’s paintings, drawings, and pastels of urban landscapes while situating them in the diverse context of her other compositions of the 1920s and early 1930s. The exhibition establishes these works not as outliers or as anomalous to her practice but rather as entirely integral to her modernist investigation in the 1920s—abstractions and still lifes made at Lake George in upstate New York and beyond and works made in the Southwest beginning in 1929. O’Keeffe’s “New Yorks” are essential to understanding how she became the artist we know today. (Follow on Instagram)
Georgia O’Keeffe (American, 1887–1986), New York Street with Moon, 1925, oil on canvas, mounted to Masonite, Colección Carmen Thyssen. © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
3. Strike Fast, Dance Lightly: Artists on Boxing at Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL.
Opens October 26, 2024 through March 9, 2025
Strike Fast, Dance Lightly: Artists on Boxing presents a critical look at the sport of boxing through a variety of artistic media. Featuring over 100 artworks spanning from the late 19th century to present day, this dynamic presentation is the largest comprehensive survey of artwork depicting the global sport and its cultural impact. Strike Fast, Dance Lightly illuminates the connections between boxing and artists, and underscores the rich history of a centuries-old sport and its influence on artistic movements. (Follow on Instagram)
George Wesley Bellows, Club Night, 1907
4. Emancipation: The Unfinished Project of Liberation at Telfair Museums, Savannah, GA.
Closes November 24, 2025
One hundred and sixty years have passed since President Abraham Lincoln issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862. With the nation in the grips of a bloody Civil War, he declared that enslaved people in the rebelling Southern states would be freed as of January 1, 1863. Three months later, sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward (1830-1910) began working on his statuette, The Freedman, a response to the promise and limitations of the Emancipation Proclamation.This exhibition will feature the work of seven living artists – Sadie Barnette, Alfred Conteh, Maya Freelon, Hugh Hayden, Letitia Huckaby, Jeffrey Meris, and Sable Elyse Smith. It will present their different perspectives about definitions of freedom today. Collectively, they will illuminate how a critical moment in history continues to have lasting legacies. (Follow on Instagram)
Hugh Hayden, American Dream, Plastic, 2023
5. Artist Spotlight: David Driskell and Edward Middleton Manigault at The Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC.
Closes December 1, 2024
Focusing intently on small groups of works, the artist spotlight series features engaging profiles of artists held in the Gibbes permanent collection. The rotating series launched in April continues in August with two new spotlight explorations. One focuses on renowned American artist and art historian David Driskell whose painting and printmaking practice was influenced by nature, abstraction, and African imagery. The other spotlight features early modernist Edward Middleton Manigault whose fanciful paintings were well respected during his short lifetime and included in major modernist exhibitions like the 1913 Armory Show. (Follow on Instagram)
David Driskell, Round Still Life, 1974. (Image courtesy of museum)
6. Tyler Mitchell: Idyllic Space at the High Art Museum, Atlanta, GA.
Closes December 1, 2024
Tyler Mitchell is an American photographer and filmmaker renowned for his tender and innovative portrayals that center Black self-determination and empowerment through scenes of love, leisure, and camaraderie. Mitchell rose to global prominence in 2018 when he photographed Beyoncé for the September issue of Vogue as the first Black artist to shoot the cover in the magazine’s then 126-year history. He explores style, beauty, and identity through playfully theatrical, expressive photographs that seamlessly blend his fashion and conceptual work.(Follow on Instagram)
Tyler Mitchell, Albany, Georgia, 2021, Pigmented inkjet print, Courtesy of the artist
7. American Landscapes at The McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX.
Closes November 24, 2024
American landscapes are vast and unique, encompassing deserts, grasslands, and forests full of ecological richness and natural wonders. From the rugged, sweeping vistas of the Rocky Mountains and the serene beauty of the Great Lakes to the arid expanses of the Southwest deserts and the lush, dense forests of the Pacific Northwest, American landscapes have provided inspiration to artists for generations. (Follow on Instagram)
Helen Torr, Fall, 1935. Oil on canvas. Collection of the McNay Art Museum, Gift of C. Thomas Wright, 2016.116. © Estate of Helen Torr, with the permission of John and Diane Rehm
8. The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture at The Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
Opens November 8, 2024 through September 14, 2025
The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture examines the role of sculpture in understanding and constructing the concept of race in the United States. The exhibition brings together 82 sculptures created between 1792 and 2023 and ranging in size from palm-sized coins to monumental statues created from diverse media such as bronze, marble, shoes, paper, and hair. Made by 70 different artists, these sculptures are displayed to allow for juxtapositions of historical and contemporary works that invite dialogue and reflection on notions of power and identity. American sculpture in its many forms also has served as an expression of resistance, liberation, and a vital means for reclaiming identity. (Follow on Instagram)
Roberto Lugo, DNA Study Revisited, 2022, urethane resin life cast, foam, wire, and acrylic paint, 66 × 27 × 17 in. (167.6 × 68.6 × 43.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum
9. Radical Reimagining, The Newark Arts Festival 2024 Exhibition at Newark Museum of Art, Newark, NJ
Closes December 1, 2024
Close your eyes and see a world where art, culture and connectedness are the foundations of our systems, lifestyles and beliefs. A world where creativity is at the center of everything we hold dear, informing and impacting all that we do and all that we are. It is time to reimagine the ways in which we can live our lives: as connected beings, co-creating the world together while breathing hope into generations and celebrating the joys, journeys and triumphs of our ancestors. Open your eyes and step into a world where Radical Reimagining is the only way forward into the future we wish to see. (Follow on Instagram)
Installation view
10. The Collaborative | The DMV Collects the DMV at The Kreeger Museum, Washington D.C.
Opens October 26, 2024 through February 1, 2025
The DMV Collects the DMV celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Washington Print Club by presenting an encapsulated history of regional artists and institutions selected from members' collections. Forty-nine artists who lived or built their careers in the District-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) region are represented by works on paper, ranging from drawing, painting, and photography to print-making. (Follow on Instagram)
Tom Green, Message, 2008. Screenprint. Collection of Brigitte Reyes and Lawrence Mills Davis.
11. Strictly Functional Pottery National at Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, PA.
Closes November 9, 2024
Since its founding in 1993, Strictly Functional Pottery National (SFPN) has been recognized as one of the top ceramic exhibitions in the country. The first of its kind, SFPN provides an opportunity for functional pots to receive a much-deserved spotlight. Every year, SFPN proudly features some of the most talented ceramic artists from across the United States. (Follow on Instagram)
Jon McMillan, Tea Scale
Don’t Miss The Opening or Closing of these Exhibitions!
As we embrace the quiet beauty of November, it’s also a time to reflect on the transformative power of art. Whether you’re captivated by a large-scale installation or find meaning in a more intimate piece, these exhibitions offer a chance to pause, engage, and explore new perspectives. This month’s lineup of must-see shows invites you to experience art in all its forms, reminding us that even as the days grow shorter, creativity knows no season. So, bundle up, step inside, and let these exhibitions spark your imagination as autumn unfolds.