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Tuesday 10am - 5pm Wednesday 10am - 5pm Thursday 10am - 8:30pm Friday 10am - 5pm Saturday 10am - 5pm Sunday 1pm - 5pm

Bowdoin College Museum of Art

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Bowdoin College Museum of Art

Come see what's new! The Bowdoin College Museum of Art’s collection is among the oldest and most significant of any college or university in the United States.

Always free and open to the public, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art is one of the oldest college art museums in the nation, with a permanent collection of more than 30,000 objects spanning ancient times to the present. No two visits are the same. Fourteen state-of-the-art galleries feature both rotating selections from the collections and dynamic, changing exhibitions of objects from museums and

collections around the world. A Media Gallery is designed expressly for multimedia presentations by contemporary artists. Visitors can further explore the world of art through the Museum's ongoing public programs, lectures, and symposia. The Museum's membership program allows individuals to help support the Museum and in turn receive benefits including all Museum announcements, invitations to Museum and members-only programs, special Museum events, and Museum Shop discounts. Learn more here: www.bowdoin.edu/art-museum/membership/

06/01/2026

There's a new exhibition at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA), and it comes with its own Gelato Fiasco flavor!

"Celebrating Independence! Fifty Years of Spindleworks, 1976–2026" is now on view at the BCMA through August 14, marking the 50th anniversary of Spindleworks Art Center—a nationally recognized progressive art studio based in Brunswick.

To celebrate, the BCMA and Spindleworks Art Center partnered with Gelato Fiasco to create “Spindelicious”—a coconut cinnamon sorbetto with blueberry and raspberry swirl, vegan and dairy-free, available at the Brunswick location through the run of the show.

See the exhibition, try the sorbetto, and come celebrate with us!

Photography by Tim Greenway.

05/29/2026

✨ A big thank you to our wonderful interns for their work and creativity this past year! ✨

Over the course of the 2025–26 academic year, our six interns contributed across curatorial, education, and engagement roles. Their work ranged from co-curating an anniversary exhibition and researching for future exhibitions, to hosting middle school visitors, interviewing Hispanic visitors' museum experiences for a future podcast, and organizing new collaborations with student musicians. We also thank Emily Jacobs ’23, Curatorial Assistant and Manager of Student Programs, for her work in overseeing the student intern program.

Read Emily's recap: bit.ly/25-26-bcma-interns

Pictured clockwise from top left: Robeson Amory ’26, Mya Benally ’26, Aiman Limbada ‘28, Juan Carlos Villa-Diaz ’27, Rebeca Manzo ’27, and Camilo Rodriguez ’28

05/27/2026

Closing Soon! “Josefina Auslender: Drawing Myself Free,” “Hung Liu: Happy and Gay,” and “Creating the Modern: Works on Paper from a Recent Gift by Howard M. Haimes ’76” are on view through this Sunday, May 31.

“Josefina Auslender” and “Hung Liu” explore the power of art to interrogate history, memory, and personal experience—all filtered through the lens of immigration. “Creating the Modern” brings together a selection of works on paper created between 1893 and 1947 in Europe and the United States generously donated by Howard M. Haimes ’76 on the occasion of his fiftieth reunion.

🔗 Learn more: bowdoin.edu/art-museum/exhibitions

All installation photography by Tim Greenway.

05/23/2026

Congratulations to the Class of 2026! 🎓✨

Today was the 221st Commencement Exercises of Bowdoin College, and the Class of 2026 walked across the Museum Terrace to receive their diplomas. We are so proud and look forward to seeing their next chapter unfold!

05/20/2026

The Museum will be closed the morning of Saturday, May 23, 2026 for the Commencement Exercises for the Class of 2026. We will reopen the galleries at noon that day.

We are so excited to see the Class of 2026 walk across the Terrace of the Museum to receive their diplomas! 🎉

05/15/2026

Publication Preview: "Josefina Auslender: Drawing Myself Free"

Published by the Bowdoin College Museum of Art and Scala in conjunction with the retrospective exhibition "Josefina Auslender: Drawing Myself Free" on view through May 31, 2026, this eponymous book offers the first comprehensive survey of work by the Argentine-born artist Josefina Auslender. Despite Auslender’s prolific output of drawings in graphite, colored pencil, and ink, Auslender has received disproportionately little attention by critics, scholars, and art institutions.

This publication will be released in September 2026, and will be available for purchase through the Bowdoin College Museum of Art Shop, online or in person. To be notified when the publication is available, email [email protected] to be added to the waitlist.

Learn more: bowdo.in/auslender-book

Pictured: Edited by Cassandra Mesick Braun, "Josefina Auslender: Drawing Myself Free," Scala and Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 2026.

05/12/2026

Join us May 20 for the opening of "Celebrating Independence! 50 Years of Spindleworks, 1976-2026"! 🎉🎉

Wednesday, May 20, 2026
1:00–2:00 p.m. | Opening remarks with co-curators Anne Collins Goodyear and Mya Benally '26 (Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center or via livestream)
2:00–3:00 p.m. | Gelato Social (Outside the Visual Arts Center)

This event is free and open to the public; no registration is required. The gelato social will feature Gelato Fiasco and a special flavor created just for Spindleworks' 50th anniversary called "Spindelicious"!

"Celebrating Independence!" will be on view at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art beginning May 20, 2026 though August 16, 2026. Learn more at bowdo.in/spindleworks

Image 1: Melissa Capuano, "Milkshake," 2025, mixed media. © Melissa Capuano
Image 2: Nancy Scott, "50," 2026, marker on paper. © Nancy Scott
Photography by Tim Greenway.

05/08/2026

The Museum will be closed Sunday, May 10, 2026 due to unforeseen circumstances. Normal hours will resume Tuesday, May 12.

Thank you for your understanding and we look forward to welcoming you back soon!

04/30/2026

In speaking of her work, artist Adebunmi Gbadebo often underscores the good fortune she feels to be working with the very soil that once held her enslaved forebears, and which enslaved artisans were forced to cultivate: “This land that I now have in my hands and me being a descendent from this soil, the fact that I could shape it and form it and do whatever I want, it is like the ultimate privilege.”

Recently acquired by the BCMA, "Ellis Sanders" (2025) is a striking example of Gbadebo’s rich conceptual practice. Each of Gbadebo’s sculptures is named for an ancestor, which the artist learned from researching the will of True Blue Plantation’s enslaver. Works such as "Ellis Sanders" assert themselves not only as art objects, but also as bodies occupying space, announcing their claim on both past and present.

Learn more: bowdo.in/april-object

Image: Adebunmi Gbadebo, "Ellis Sanders," 2025, soil from True Blue Plantation, Carolina Gold Rice, human hair. Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine. Museum Purchase, Jane H. and Charles E. Parker, Jr. Art Acquisition Fund, 2026.4. © Adebunmi Gbadebo. Courtesy of the artist and Nicola Vassell Gallery. Photo by Lance Brewer.

04/24/2026

Opening Soon! "Celebrating Independence! Fifty Years of Spindleworks, 1976–2026," on view May 20–August 16, 2026

Established fifty years ago, Spindleworks Art Center, based in Brunswick, Maine, is a nationally recognized progressive art studio that has become a vibrant part of the local community. This exhibition celebrates the vision of the artists whose work in a broad range of creative practices, from painting and sculpture to poetry and dance to weaving and new media art, provides a source of enduring inspiration and revelation.

Learn more: bowdo.in/spindleworks

Image: Nancy Scott, "50," 2026, marker on paper, 5 3/4 x 6 1/2 in. © Nancy Scott.

Address

9400 College Sta
Brunswick, ME
04011

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 5pm
Wednesday	10am - 5pm
Thursday	10am - 8:30pm
Friday	10am - 5pm
Saturday	10am - 5pm
Sunday	1pm - 5pm

Telephone

(207) 725-3275

Website

http://www.bowdoin.edu/art-museum/

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