Michener Art Museum

05/31/2026

One of the things photographer Bruce Katsiff is known for is capturing his personal connection to the Bucks County art community. At the exhibition opening for his retrospective "Pieces of a Life," Bucks County artists were talking and catching up right next to their portraits!

We love the "Face Maps" series, that records the features of close family and longtime friends in rearranged assemblages of details. This series marked a shift in Katsiff's practice into digital photography, where he used the new technology to render the topography of the human head in this distorted fashion, appearing like a cartographic projection of the Earth.

Amongst the longtime friends that Katsiff photographed were fellow artists Alan Goldstein, Mira Nakashima, and Mark Sfirri, who are posed alongside their portraits here. Katsiff's "Face Maps" join a long tradition of portrait exchange between artists.
Bruce Katsiff (b. 1945), "Alan Goldstein," 2010, printed 2012. Archival pigment print, 39 x 39 inches. Courtesy of the Katsiff Art Trust.

Bruce Katsiff (b. 1945), "Mira Nakashima," 2023, printed 2025. Archival pigment print, 23 x 23 inches. Courtesy of the Katsiff Art Trust.

Bruce Katsiff (b. 1945), "Mark Sfirri," 2024, printed 2024. Archival pigment print, 23 x 23 inches. Courtesy of the Katsiff Art Trust.

Photos by Ananda Connolly Photography for Michener Art Museum.

05/30/2026

Jess and Shelby's wedding at the Michener Art Museum was a vibrant celebration bursting with bold florals, joyful decor, and lifelong memories. Every corner of the museum was brought to life with their colorful vision and undeniable love. Before the festivities kicked off, the couple took a trip to downtown Doylestown, capturing a few intimate moments in the charming streets before they returned to the Michener for an unforgettable night.

We're now booking for weddings and private events at Michener Art Museum! Here's the link for more details: https://bit.ly/49vc8CJ


Caterer: Catering By Design
Photographer: Love Me Do Photography
Florist: Allium Floral Design
Decor Rental: Lilac + Lace
Event Backdrop: Assembly House
Transportation: Blue Bell Trolley

05/29/2026

We're past the risk of spring freeze, and that means these sunflower seedlings will be making an appearance at "The Short Line" garden next week! Our thanks to the Doylestown herbal shop Bluestem Botanicals for the love and care they took with starting the sunflowers.

"The Short Line" is a living garden installation planted last spring by the multidisciplinary artist jackie sumell. It traces the approximate footprint of three original cells from the Bucks County Jail’s “short line,” a corridor that once extended from either side of the jail’s central guardhouse. Sunflowers were specifically chosen for "The Short Line" because of their role in phytoremediation—naturally cleansing the soil of toxins and restoring balance.
The Short Line is part of "Behind These Walls: Reckoning with Incarceration," a multi-year initiative at the Michener that confronts the site’s former life as a county jail. "Behind These Walls: Reckoning with Incarceration" has been supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

05/28/2026

Register now for this adults-only life drawing workshop featuring drag performers Hannibal Lickher and Yari. Capture dynamic poses and expressions in a fun, creative setting. Bring your materials or use ours—all skill levels welcome. Link for tickets: https://bit.ly/4dKbmmz
Celebrate Pride:
Drag & Draw
Thursday, June 11, 6-8 p.m.
Cost: Members: $35, Non-Members: $45

05/27/2026

We're unveiling a new commission by Philadelphia's Roberto Lugo at Michener Art Museum next week! "Permanence: We Were Here" is a site-specific work made possible through support from Pennsylvania state Sen. Steve Santarsiero. It's a monumental ceramic vessel that tells the story of our site history as the Bucks County Jail.

See this new artwork in person starting Friday, June 5! Read more from The Philadelphia Inquirer here: https://www.inquirer.com/arts/michener-art-museum-prison-history-roberto-lugo-20260207.html.
Photo by Christian Gianelli for Michener Art Museum.

05/21/2026

See the modern artist B.J.O. Nordfeldt's daily life in a new exhibition that now starts on Saturday, June 6! "And So to Work: B.J.O. Nordfeldt’s Lambertville" features a series of 1940's sketches that captures the artist's frustrations and successes after his move to Bucks County. These drawings were just acquired by Michener Art Museum in 2024, and we're excited to share them with the public!
New Exhibition:
And So to Work: B.J.O. Nordfeldt's Lambertville
On view Saturday, June 6–Sunday, October 4
Cost: Free for Members / Included with general admission

This exhibition program in the Bette and Nelson Pfundt Gallery is presented by Vivian Banta and Robert Field.

Credits: B. J. O. Nordfeldt (1878-1955), Me in despair. And how you like the behind?, ca. 1940s. Pencil and ink on paper, 11 x 8 ½ inches. B. J. O. Nordfeldt Collection, James A. Michener Art Museum Archives. Museum purchase funded by the Mandel Society for Art Acquisition.

Bror Julius Olsson Nordfeldt, ca. 1940. Bror Julius Olsson (B.J.O.) Nordfeldt papers, 1909-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

B. J. O. Nordfeldt (1878-1955), Cooling off., ca. 1940s. Pencil and ink on paper, 8 ½ x 11 inches. B. J. O. Nordfeldt Collection, James A. Michener Art Museum Archives. Museum purchase funded by the Mandel Society for Art Acquisition.

Homer Saint-Gaudens. Bror Julius Olsson Nordfeldt, 1945. Bror Julius Olsson (B.J.O.) Nordfeldt papers, 1909-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

B. J. O. Nordfeldt (1878-1955), And so to work, ca. 1940s. Pencil and ink on paper, 11 x 8 ½ inches. B. J. O. Nordfeldt Collection, James A. Michener Art Museum Archives. Museum purchase funded by the Mandel Society for Art Acquisition.

05/20/2026

“I can’t believe it’s tissue paper!” is one of the reactions we keep hearing from museum visitors after they see the Eric Carle exhibition. Eric Carle created the illustrations we know and love with painted tissue paper collages, from The Mixed-Up Chameleon to The Very Quiet Cricket. With Eric Carle’s books stocked on the shelves, it’s fun to compare the creatures on the page with his original artwork.

“Small Living Things: The Magical Art of Eric Carle” is only on view through this Sunday, May 24!
This exhibition is organized by in Amherst, Mass.

05/19/2026

Bruce Katsiff (b. 1945) began his “River Town Portraits” series to get to know his eccentric new neighbors in Lumberville, Pennsylvania, where he moved in 1968 to teach photography at Bucks County Community College.

Hear the artist talk about this series and more from “Bruce Katsiff: Pieces of a Life” in the Michener Art Museum audio guide on Bloomberg Connects.
Bruce Katsiff, Gerald Gordon, Owner of the General Store and “Mayor” of Lumberville, 1974, printed 2016. Archival pigment print, sheet: 17 ¾ x 22 inches; image: 15 ¾ x 20 inches. Courtesy of the Katsiff Art Trust.

05/17/2026

In sadness, we share the news that Peter Paone, Philadelphia artist and legend of his own lifetime, passed away this week. His Michener Art Museum exhibition "Not So Still Life" only just ended in March. Our hearts go out go his dear wife Alma, family, and friends.

“Making art was such a core part of his life that I don’t think he could conceive of not doing that,” Chief Curator Laura Igoe said. “He had a schedule, he was in the studio every day making work, and that was what drove him, I think. I don’t think he could think of living another way.”

The ‘fearless’ and ‘relentless,’ Philly-born artist was enjoying a late-life renaissance.