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Mead Art Museum

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Mead Art Museum

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Always FREE and open to all! Closed on Mondays. Visit the Mead's website: http://www.amherst.edu/mead
Visit the Mead's blog: http://meadmusings.wordpress.com
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The Mead Art Museum houses the art collection of Amherst College, spanning 5,000 years and encompassing the creative achievements of many world cultures. Eight galleries feature regularly changing installations and special exhibitions spanning a wide range of historical periods, national schools, and artistic media.

10/27/2026

Join us on Monday, Nov. 2, from 2:30-3:30 p.m. for a restorative circle in the Mead galleries centered on themes from our exhibition, Remittance, including diaspora, migration, work, and family.

A restorative circle is a structured discussion rooted in Indigenous practices. Circles aim to bring people together across differences, creating connections, and letting everyone be heard.

Spots are limited, so be sure to register at the link in our bio!

10/26/2026

Conservation and restoration work can help uncover key aspects of the story behind a work of art.

Thanks to our collaborators at WACC | AACC Art Conservation we were able to do exactly that with one of the works in our exhibition “My beautiful, pitiful age: The 20th Century Through the Thomas P. Whitney Collection.”

Swipe through this carousel to find out all about this portrait’s restoration process.

This is Sergei Sudeikin’s “Portrait of Sergei Prokofiev,” (ca. 1930, oil on canvas onto masonite). Sudeikin was an artist who worked as a set designer for the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Prokofiev (pictured to the right), a famed composer, was likely visiting the Big Apple when this portrait was made.

The painting was flagged for conservation after curators noticed layers of heavy resin varnish, paired with significant overpainting around the figure. The original treatment proposal was to simply clean the surface of the painting. No one knew there was so much hidden underneath...

Through infra-red imaging, the Williamstown + Atlanta Art Conservation Center was able to confirm the background, apparently a mix of black and dark green, wasn’t what the artist originally intended.

Close-up image of the edge of the Prokofiev Portrait before treatment

The portrait after conservation

A most striking detail from the recovered image is the clock in the background, which could be a reference to Prokofiev’s punctuality. The director Sergei Eisenstein remarked: “Prokofiev works like a clock. This clock neither runs fast nor falls behind. Like a sniper, it strikes at the very heart of exact time.”

The clock may also allude to a recurring motif in Prokofiev’s music, in which it often appears as a mysterious and ominous presence associated with the passage of time and the inescapability of fate.
*Turn on your audio to listen to a snippet of Prokofiev’s “Cinderella.”

Come check out “My beautiful, pitiful age: The 20th Century Through the Thomas P. Whitney Collection” until January 3!

10/20/2026

We have an exceptional cohort of artists shaping Remittance – one of the two exhibitions currently on view at the Mead.

Learn more about one of those artists, from their upbringing to what motivates their art, and if this post leaves you wanting more, make sure to check out Jenifer K Wofford’s installation (and all the other artworks featured in the exhibition) in person until January 3!

Pictures courtesy of Jenifer K Wofford and and Mel Taing.

Jenifer K Wofford was born in San Francisco, but she was raised in Hong Kong, Dubai, Malaysia, and the Bay Area.

Wofford’s style features strong color, line and pattern, a crisp visual approach, and a touch of absurdism.
In addition, her art is shaped by a deeply felt sense of curiosity, irony, and tragicomedy.

For Remittance, Wofford produced a mixed media installation entitled “Utang/Na Loob”, a slight twist on the Filipino phrase for one’s “debt of gratitude.” It names an obligation that is at once intimate and infinite—the debt owed to those who sacrificed for you, who carried you, who went away so that you could stay.

Part confessional, part photo booth, part Western Union kiosk, the booth is a space for transactions: Inside, visitors can sit and reflect at a window staffed by a large, glowing rock. While thinking, they’re invited to pass prompts designed by the artist through to the other side.

Want to learn more? Come visit Remittance until Jan. 3, 2027!

10/13/2026

Did you know about the love story that gave life to the Thomas P. Whitney collection? Or that the presentation of Whitney’s collection in the Mead galleries today is not the first time this work has been displayed at the museum?

Find out more by scrolling through this list of Whitney-related fun facts and by visiting “My beautiful, pitiful age:” The 20th Century Through the Thomas P. Whitney Collection, on view at the Mead until January 3.

Whitney’s Collection Is Really An Ode to His Wife:

A graduate of Amherst College, Thomas P.
Whitney (1917-2007, Class of 1937) was an expert in Soviet affairs and a translator of Russian literature. His collecting activity was to a large extent prompted by the death of his wife, Yulya Zapolskaya (Julie Whitney).

Whitney met Yulya, a composer and singer, while he served as a U.S. diplomat and journalist in Moscow during World War Il and the Cold War.

Whitney’s Collection Has Never Been More Visible to the Public:

Whitney’s is among the most comprehensive North American collections of art and books from the Russian Empire and Soviet Union. The current exhibition at the Mead offers the broadest presentation of these materials since their arrival at Amherst College.

Before Getting Into Eastern European Art, He Loved American Abstractionists:

Before he decided to focus on the former Russian Empire, Whitney acquired abstract works by various American artists, including Alexander Calder and Robert Motherwell.
He was especially fond of the art of his Connecticut neighbor Robert Jay Wolff, who played an important role in the development of abstraction in the United States.

Whitney’s Collection Was a Personal Deal:

Whitney was acquainted with a lot of artists whose work he bought, from Alexander Calder to Ernst Neizvestny, but he formed a particularly deep bond with Constructivist sculptor Naum Gabo, under whose guidance Whitney began to build a comprehensive art collection.

The Mead Showed Some of This Work Once Before:

By the 1980s, Whitney’s collection was so substantial that he decided to present it to the public and organized a traveling exhibition. The venues included the Mead, where the exhibition occupied the same ga

10/09/2026

We had a blast celebrating the launch of our two fall exhibitions, ‘“My beautiful, pitiful age”: The 20th century through the Thomas P. Whitney Collection,’ and ‘Remittance.’

As a thank you to everyone who showed up for the opening receptions, here’s a recap of some of our favorite moments from both nights.

10/06/2026

It was a star-studded Saturday at the Mead! Many thanks to all who made Community Day possible, including DJ Carolina, our partners from Jones Library and two presenting artists featured in the exhibition Remittance—Keith Tallet and Victoria Grace Canby.

The sun’s appearance, along with the warmth of other Remittance collaborators such as guest curator Trisha Lagaso Goldberg, ETC.’s Lara Mejač and Ajda Kocutar, and our partners from ICI, made the event extra special.

Missed this event? Fret not! We have so many more free programs open to everyone coming up this semester, not to mention free admission six days a week. Check out the details in our bio, or visit amherst.edu/mead/events.

09/30/2026

Before the opening reception on Friday night, hear directly from artist Xyza Cruz Bacani by tuning into ArtBeat with Donnabelle Casis on the Bill Newman Show (WHMP) at 9:45 AM, available online or through the airwaves. Cruz Bacani will also be one of five artists speaking with curator Trisha Lagaso Goldberg on Thursday evening at the artist roundtable on campus.

Don’t miss a minute of Remittance programming at the Mead during the upcoming opening weekend, October 1-3. More details via the link in our bio.

09/22/2026

We are proud to announce that the Mead was awarded the AAMI Award for Best Interpretation Content for Children for our “Buddy Station,” which was part of our Spring 2026 exhibition “Adventures of the Quantum Soup Surfer” by artist JooYoung Choi.

This award recognizes content that takes children seriously as thinkers—work that is age-appropriate without being reductive, and that creates real aesthetic or intellectual encounters with art.

Although, sadly, the “Buddy Station” is no longer active, you can swipe to the last slide to take a peek at some of our favorite Buddy Cards young visitors have produced.

07/10/2026

Our doors may be closed for the summer, but the online collections portal is always open! Swipe to check out a few Mead collection favorites from staff, from a 19th-century oil painting to an intriguing dinner plate inspired by Emily Dickinson, and follow the link in our bio to explore on your own.

What art would you add? 👀

⬇️ Let us know in the comments!

Address

41 Quadrangle Drive
Amherst, MA
01002

Opening Hours

Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	9am - 5pm
Sunday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+14135422335

Website

http://www.amherst.edu/mead

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