Museums/Exhibits

Museums and exhibits have varying schedules;please call for exact days, hours and prices.

 

• 12 STEPS DOWN , 831 Christian St., 215-238-0379. CHECK OUT MY JUNK, Features tattoo-inspired paintings by Matt Brownlee, who invented a new application for woodblock printing materials. Runs through Nov. 13.

 

 

• ABBAYE , 637 N. 3rd St., 215-627-6711. KATHLEEN VACCARO, Features acrylic surrealist landscapes and portraits. Runs through Nov. 6.

 

 

• ABINGTON ART CENTER , 515 Meetinghouse Rd., Jenkintown, 215-887-4882. JACQUES WILMORE, Features oil paintings exploring various social and political concerns. Runs through April 5. HOVERING ABOVE, Features outdoor sculptures by various artists. Runs through Nov. 30. GLOBAL SUBURBIA, Features work inspired by the 'burbs, their cultural contributions, environmental impact and an an industrially standardized lifestyle. Artists include Chris Ballantyne, Amy Bennett, Mark Bennett, Center for Land Use Interpretation, Barbara Gallucci, Fritz Haeg, Michael Barton Miller, Sarah McCoubrey, Matthew Moore, Hiro Sakaguchi, David Schafer, Mark Shetabi, Lee Stoetzel, Eva Struble and Thomas Wrede. Runs through Nov. 30.

 

 

• ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES , 19th St. & the Parkway, 215-299-1000. BUTTERFLIES, Features dozens of types of butterflies from around the world. Ongoing.

 

 

• ADOLPH AND ROSE LEVIS SPORTS MUSEUM , 401 S. Broad St., 215-446-3032. PHILADELPHIA JEWISH SPORTS, Features memorabilia from inductees into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Ongoing.

 

 

• AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM , 701 Arch St., 215-574-0380. THE AFRICAN PRESENCE IN MEXICO: FROM YANGA TO THE PRESENT, Features paintings, photos, lithographs and historical texts that trace and examine the impact Africans had on Mexican culture. The visiting exhibit from Chicago's National Museum of Mexican Art aims to inspire positive dialogue between African-Americans and Mexicans in the United States. Runs through Oct. 25.

 

 

• AMERICAN SWEDISH HISTORICAL MUSEUM , 1900 Pattison Ave., 215-389-1776. THE ART OF BRICK, Features two dozen large-scale LEGO sculptures by NYC-based artist Nathan Sawaya, who used almost one million of the colorful pieces. Included is a giant pencil above the word "fun" and humanlike figures. Runs through Nov. 30. MATERIAL MATTERS: SAMPLES FROM THE TEXTILE COLLECTION, Features a small selection of Swedish textiles ranging from a delicately embroidered man's wedding shirt to the bold colors of Saami costume, traditionally worn by the indigenous people of northern Sweden. Traditional Swedish provincial costumes and watercolor paintings are also included. Runs through March 1.

 

 

• ART IN CITY HALL , City Hall, Broad & Market sts., 2nd & 4th floors, 215-686-9912. THE GREEN EXHIBIT, Features work by local artists made of recycled, found and eco-friendly materials in response to climate change and concerns about the environment. Include is Slott Dickson's mixed-media piece, "We Don't Need Horsepower, We Need Horse Power." Runs through Jan. 23.

 

 

• ATWATER KENT MUSEUM , 15 S. 7th St., 215-685-4830. EXPERIENCE PHILADELPHIA, Features a 40-by-40-foot Rand McNally map of the region and objects from the collection that help explain the city, its people, its businesses and its recreation. Ongoing. HOW PHILLY WORKS: STREETS AS BAROMETERS FOR URBAN LIFE, Features paintings, photographs, prints, objects and documents that explore Philadelphia street activity over 300 years. Included are objects from the City Records department, individual City departments and the Atwater Kent Museum collection. Runs through Dec. 31.

 

 

• BARTRAM'S GARDEN , 54th St. & Lindbergh Blvd., 215-729-5281. MARK DION: TRAVELS OF WILLIAM BARTRAM RECONSIDERED, Features an eclectic assemblage of artifacts, drawings and specimens, both natural and manmade, collected by Mark Dion as he retraced the journey of 18th-century naturalists John and William Bartram through the southern United States. Runs through Dec. 6.

 

 

• BETSY ROSS HOUSE , 239 Arch St., 215-686-1252. MARCHING TO THE WHITE HOUSE, Features election memorabilia from the collection of retired psychologist and flag historian Jeffrey Kenneth Kohn. Included are campaign buttons, handkerchiefs and flags; a parade uniform from Benjamin Harrison's torch light parade; and a roll of toilet paper decorated with Jimmy Carter's image. Runs through May 1.

 

 

• BRANDYWINE RIVER MUSEUM , US Routes 1 & 100, Chadds Ford, 610-388-2700. DOUBLE LIVES: AMERICAN PAINTERS AS ILLUSTRATORS, Features work by artists who practiced both easel painting and illustration in the years between 1850 and 1950 — a combination that was, quite frequently, uneasy. Artists include Winslow Homer, N.C. Wyeth, Frederic Remington, John Sloan, Grant Wood and Rockwell Kent. Runs through Nov. 23.

 

 

• BRYN MAWR COLLEGE , 101 N. Merion Ave., Bryn Mawr, 610-526-5210. DOCUMENTING ETHNIC WEDDING TRADITIONS IN AMERICA, Features photographs by Katrina Thomas. Runs through Dec. 19.

 

 

• CHELTENHAM ARTS CENTER , 439 Ashbourne Rd., Cheltenham, 215-379-4660. BREASTSTROKES EXHIBITION, Features work by artists from the greater Philadelphia area in celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Runs through Oct. 18.

 

 

• CHESTER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY , 225 N. High St., West Chester, 610-692-4800. DISCOVERING DOLLHOUSES, Features European and American dollhouses created between 1850 and 1950. Nostalgic and creepy, intimate and mass-produced, these miniature domestic spaces offer a peek into architectural history and the psychology of play. Runs through Jan. 10.

 

 

• CLIVEDEN , 6401 Germantown Ave., 215-848-1777. BUILDING BRIDGES: LINKING LIVES AND COMMUNITIES, Features work inspired by the Walnut Lane Bridge by Christopher Morley, Troy Sayers and Keith Ragone. Runs through Dec. 31.

 

 

• CRANE ARTS BUILDING , 1400 N. American St., 215-235-3405. UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE ART DEPARTMENT FACULTY EXHIBITION, Features drawing, painting, sculpture, fashion design, jewelry, artist books, installation and video by art department faculty at UD@Crane, University of Delaware's satellite exhibition space. Wed-Sun. Runs through Nov. 30.

 

 

• DELAWARE ART MUSEUM , 2301 Kentmere Pkwy., Wilmington, DE, 302-571-9590. GIFTED: RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE PERMANENT COLLECTION, Features 30 pieces recently donated to the museum, including 10 minimal and conceptual paintings from the Vogel collection's "Fifty Works for Fifty States" initiative. Runs through Nov. 9. BARE WITNESS, Features 73 images selected by Gordon Parks as examples of his most powerful work. After building a reputation in portrait and fashion photography, Parks became Life magazine's first African-American staff photographer in 1948, publishing photo essays on poverty and the Civil Rights movement. Works featured include his stark black-and-white "American Gothic" and portraits of Muhammad Ali and Ingrid Bergman. Runs through Jan. 4.

 

 

• DELAWARE CENTER FOR THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS , 200 S. Madison St., Wilmington, DE, 302-656-6466. I WILL FIND US A PATH TO EVERYTHING WE HOPED FOR, Features a mixed-media installation by Janell Olah, in which a network of inflatable frosted vinyl tubes echoes the patterns and structure of the ceiling. Olah is interested in how spaces psychologically codify one's mobility and thought patterns. Runs through Feb. 3. SNOOM, Features intimate, large-scale paintings of the moon by Ann Craven. Runs through Nov. 26. LEVITY, Features hypnotic and celestial oil paintings by Bruce Pollock, who wishes to "evoke color to become luminous so it looks like what you're looking at is light and not paint at all." Runs through Nov. 16. DUST SHAPED HEARTS, Features photographic portraits by Donald E. Camp, who wishes to break down stereotypes and bring to the forefront the oft ignored members of our society. Runs through Jan. 6.

 

 

• DELAWARE COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN , 600 N. Market St., Wilmington, DE, 302-622-8867. ARTISTS OURSELVES, Features work by faculty and staff. Runs through Oct. 27.

 

 

• DEMUTH MUSEUM , 120 E. King St., Lancaster, 717-299-9940. THE PHILADELPHIA TEN ON THE ROAD, Features work by a group of local female artists who traveled the East Coast between 1910 and 1940, showing their work in small local venues. These "rotary exhibits" aimed to promote art education and encourage women's involvement in the arts. Runs through Nov. 2.

 

 

• FABRIC WORKSHOP AND MUSEUM , 1214 Arch St., 215-568-1111. INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH, Features prints by iconic pop artist Ed Ruscha. The exhibit includes his word art tapestry "Industrial Strength Sleep." Runs through Oct. 25.

 

 

• FAIRMOUNT WATER WORKS INTERPRETIVE CENTER , 640 Water Works Drive, 215-685-0722. GREEN CITIES, CLEAN WATER, Features work by local environmental photographer Bill Kelly. To illustrate the Office of Watersheds' environmental initiatives, Kelly created and photographed aquatic environments in recycled jars that feature people and urban landscapes as backgrounds for aquatic plants. Runs through Nov. 22.

 

 

• FRANKLIN INSTITUTE , 20th St. & the Parkway, 215-448-1200. THE GIANT HEART, Features a gigantic walk-through model of a human heart. Ongoing. AMAZING MACHINE, Features "exploded" views of everyday machines and more than 25 rarely-displayed machines from the museum's collection, including Mailardet's automaton and a model of the Strasbourg cathedral clock. Also included are three kinetic mechanical art installations by sculptor and architect Ben Trautman. Ongoing. REAL PIRATES: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE WHYDAH FROM SLAVE SHIP TO PIRATE SHIP, Features treasure chests of coins and gold, jewelry, weaponry such as cannons, pistols and knives and a replica of the actual ship that visitors can board. The three-masted, 300-ton galley Whydah was built as a slave ship in London in 1715 and was captured off the Bahamas by Sam Bellamy in 1717. When it was found by underwater explorer Barry Clifford in 1984, it became the first pirate ship to be discovered in American waters. Runs through Nov. 2.

 

 

• GERM BOOKS AND GALLERY , 2005 Frankford Ave., 215-423-5002. OPEN THE GATES, Features work by international members of the Church of Satan. According to The Satanic Scriptures, Satanic artists create works as monuments to their worldview. Includes photographs of seedy motels and bizarre costumes by Priestess Stephanie Crabe, velvet painting by Reverend Jack Malebranche, and work in various media by the curator, Warlock Jason Leach, and several other warlocks and witches. Runs through Nov. 23.

 

 

• HAGLEY MUSEUM & LIBRARY , 298 Buck Rd., Wilmington, DE, 302-658-2400. LADIES' HAND FANS, Featuring fans from the 19th century that were designed for both utility and style. Runs through Jan. 1. GIVE IT YOUR BEST, Features more than 70 graphic posters from workplace situations, from the army to corporations, that promote a strong work ethic. Runs through Jan. 4.

 

 

• HICKS ART CENTER , Bucks County Community College, 275 Swamp Rd., Newtown, 215-504-8531. THAT ONLY YOU AND I CAN KNOW, Features new interactive works by Caitlin Perkins. Runs through Oct. 22.

 

 

• INDEPENDENCE SEAPORT MUSEUM , 211 S. Columbus Blvd., 215-413-8621. BLACK HANDS, BLUE SEAS, Features art, documents, tools, memorabilia, photographs, editorial cartoons, illustrations, music, videos and literature to trace the maritime heritage of African-Americans. The exhibit focuses on the 19th and 20th centuries but begins with African origins, including West African fishing, diving and boat-building practices. Runs through March 22.

 

 

• INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART , 118 S. 36th St., 215-898-7108. DOUGLAS BLAU, Features uniformly framed collages of printed matter (postcards, film stills, images of paintings and photographs, etc.) that are composed into sequences, strips and grids, based on formal and narrative associations that flow from frame-to-frame. Runs through Dec. 7. UNDERGROUND, Features a career-spanning survey of the work of cartoonist and native Philadelphian Robert Crumb, organized around specific themes and ideologies, including social satire, sex, blues and jazz music, mind-altering substances, autobiography and biography. The show highlights collaborations from his early San Francisco days in the 1960s and 1970s, to recent work with his wife, fellow cartoonist Aline Kominsky-Crumb. Runs through Dec. 7. KATE GILMORE, Features performance-based video works in which Gilmore sets up a difficult physical task, throws on lipstick and a party dress and documents herself making the attempt. Performances include jumping rope on a perforated wooden platform while wearing stilettos, going up a slippery ramp in rollerskates and shimmying through a tiny tunnel in satin. Runs through Dec. 7. THIRD SPACE, Features large-scale, abstract wall paintings by Odili Donald Odita that take over the ICA's ramp with a combination of Western modernism and African culture. The vast expanses of fractured, rhythmic planes are inspired by television test band patterns, African textiles, post-Colonial discourse, sensory overload and digital technology. Runs through May 29.

 

 

• LA SALLE UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM , Olney Hall, 1900 W. Olney Ave., 215-951-1221. THE COLLECTION, Features an installation by Tom Judd consisting of transformed copies of artworks from the collection. Included is a dramatically enlarged and cropped Cubist painting and a pair of Dutch 17th-century pendant portraits rendered on an otherwise unpainted plywood panel. The pieces are arranged to highlight what Judd sees as their poetic relationships, ignoring original works' historic context. Runs through Nov. 24.

 

 

• MAIN LINE ART CENTER , 746 Panmure Rd., Haverford, 610-525-0272. IN DEPTH, Features acrylic paintings by Ruslan Khais, documentary photography by Peter Prusinowski, abstract oil paintings by Madeline Adams, landscape photography by Adam Davies and toy cars in lucide by John Costanza. Runs through Oct. 26.

 

 

• MENNONITE HERITAGE CENTER , 565 Yoder Rd., Harleysville, 215-256-3020. THE WEAVER'S TRADE, Features an exploration of weaving in Pennsylvania's German rural communities. Runs through Oct. 19.

 

 

• MERCER MUSEUM , 84 S. Pine St., Doylestown, 215-345-0210. EVERYDAY RHYTHMS, Features drums, banjos, bells and other instruments in an exhibit designed to illustrate how musical sounds have historically been used for expression and to explore the range of sound of these instruments. Instruments on display include the Pennsylvania German zither, a string instrument, and the giant Calithumpian Rattle, a noisemaker made from the wheel of a mill. Runs through May 31.

 

 

• MICHENER ART MUSEUM , 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown, 215-340-9800. INTERTWINED, Features contemporary explorations and definitions of the art of basketmaking, as gathered from the holdings of Arizona-based collectors Sara and David Lieberman. The material used to make these baskets defy convention, including everything from zippers to fish skin. Runs through Nov. 2. OUTDOOR INSTALLATION, Features the large-scale outdoor sculpture of James Fuhrman, who uses natural materials and geometric forms to create contemplative spaces that enfold the viewer. Runs through Oct. 26. CUBA: CAMPO ADENTRO, Features black-and-white photographs by local artist Susan S. Bank of a group of tobacco farmers she met while working in Havana, Cuba. Never photographed before, they grew their own food and did not have electricity or telephone, instead leading self-sufficient, family-centric lives in their home valley. Runs through Jan. 4.

 

 

• MICHENER ART MUSEUM-NEW HOPE , 500 Union Square Dr., New Hope, 215-340-9800. CREATIVE BUCKS COUNTY, Features the work of visual artists, authors, playwrights, lyricists and composers who have lived and worked in Bucks County. Artists include Pearl S. Buck, Daniel Garber, Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Parker, Jean Toomer and Charles Scheeler. Ongoing.

 

 

• MUTTER MUSEUM OF THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS , 19 S. 22nd St., 215-563-3737. EXTRAORDINARY BODIES, Features photographs by 16 contemporary artists who find beauty in the Mutter Museum's unconventional, disembodied and deformed specimens. Runs through Dec. 31.

 

 

• NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER , Independence Mall, 525 Arch St., 215-409-6600. THE STORY OF WE THE PEOPLE, Features film, photographs, text, sculptures and rare historical artifacts, including a letter sent by George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt's "Rough Riders" jacket and items pertaining to Lincoln's assassination, to tell the story of the Constitution. Ongoing. BASEBALL AS AMERICA, Features a 6,000-square-foot exhibition examining the relationship between baseball and American culture. Included are pieces from The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Runs through May 11. HINDSIGHT IS ALWAYS 20/20, Features eye chart-style lists of keywords used in each president's State of the Union addresses. The work, by R. Luke DuBois, offers a new way of "viewing" presidencies and political speech. Runs through Nov. 4.

 

 

• NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY , Independence Mall, E. 55 N. 5th St., 215-923-3811. FORSHPEIS: A TASTE OF JEWISH AMERICANA, Features almost 10,000 items meant to capture the daily lives of American Jews from the 1880s to the present, with emphasis on food and food practices. Included are deli menus, matzo ball recipes and bar mitvah cake designs. Ongoing. SHAPING SPACE, MAKING MEANING, Features design sketches, computer-generated images, texts, and video that give viewers an inside perspective on the process of creating a major museum exhibition. Viewers can also make their own contribution to this ongoing project, which will culminate when the museum opens its new building in 2010. Runs through Jan. 1.

 

 

• NEW CASTLE COURT HOUSE MUSEUM , 211 Delaware St., New Castle, DE, 302-323-4453. EMELINE HAWKINS, Features an exhibit chronicling the story of Emeline Hawkins and her family as they escaped slavery in Maryland through the Underground Railroad. Runs through Dec. 31.

 

 

• NOYES MUSEUM OF ART , 733 Lily Lake Rd., Oceanville, NJ, 609-652-8848. SIGNATURE ARTIST MEMBERS EXHIBITION, Features work by the museum's new artist members. Runs through Dec. 31. FROM CAPE MAY TO CAIRO, Features landscape paintings by George Washington Nicholson created during the late 19th century. Runs through Nov. 9. ABSTRACT INTRIGUE, Features 26 oils paintings by Ilona Sochynsky in varying levels of abstraction. Sochynsky seeks to combine surrealism with bright colors in striking shapes to move the viewer across her canvas. Runs through Nov. 30.

 

 

• PENN MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY , 3260 South St., 215-898-4000. SURVIVING: THE BODY OF EVIDENCE, Features an interactive tribute to the durable genes that have survived millions of years of evolution to shape life as we know it today. A personal perspective on survival of the fittest encourages viewers to examine how evolution has shaped their own bodies and behaviors. Runs through May 3. FULFILLING A PROPHECY: THE PAST AND PRESENT OF THE LENAPE IN PENNSYLVANIA, Features little-seen family heirlooms and photographs — wooden masks, pipes and even an umbilical cord bag — from both the museum's holdings and private collections that tell the story of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania and their cultural perseverance. Driven westward in the 1700s by treaties and overcrowding by European settlers, many Lenape remained in secret, sometimes marrying Europeans and maintaining their cultural identity discreetly, tucking away their heritage and avoiding detection by the government for nearly 200 years. Curated by Lenape Nation members Chief Robert Red Hawk Ruth and Shelley DePaul, one of the few people who can speak Lenape fluently. Runs through Sept. 13. FULFILLING A PROPHESY: THE PAST AND PRESENT OF THE LENAPE IN PENNSYLVANIA, Features never-before-displayed objects from the private collections of Lenape people in Pennslyvania, as well as photographs and archeological objects from the Museum's collection. Many Lenape people remained in the state secretly after their nation was forced west. The exhibit features ancient asks, dolls, jewelry, and once-secret family heirlooms from the period when their heritage and traditions had to be hidden from their government and neighbors. Runs through Sept. 13.

 

 

• PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS , 118 N. Broad St., 215-972-7600. PHILADELPHIA PROTOTYPE, Features a permanent, large-scale installation by Robert Ryman consisting of 10 buff-colored vinyl sheets attached to the wall with white acrylic paint. Ongoing. JACOB LAWRENCE'S HIROSHIMA, Features the eight-painting series conceived as illustrations for John Hershey's 1946 book, "Hiroshima," an account of survivors of the bombing. The paintings are not illustrations of the text but an imagining of the moment of the bomb's flash as it would have been experienced by the urban communities Lawrence knew in Atlantic City, New York and Seattle. Runs through Dec. 28.

 

 

• PHILADELPHIA FOLKLORE PROJECT , 735 S. 50th St., 215-726-1106. IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK: WILLIAM AND MIRIAM CRAWFORD'S DINING ROOM, Features an installation of Bill and Miriam Crawford's actual dining room walls, which are collaged with 40 years of social change memorabilia. The dining room records the Crawford's involvement in the Communist Party, civil rights, Black Power and anti-war movements, the "Stop Rizzo" campaign and more. Ongoing.

 

 

• PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION , 1234 Market St., Suite 1800, 215-563-6417. SNEAK PEAK, Features paintings, photographs and work on paper by artists participating in the Center for Emerging Visual Artists' community arts, open studio tours and career development programs. Runs through May 13.

 

 

• PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART , 26th St. & the Parkway, 215-763-8100. DESIGNING MODERN, Featuring an exhibition of modern and contemporary art over various movements from the 1920s to the present day. Runs through Sept. 1. GILBERT AND GEORGE, Features large-scale photographic art by Gilbert and George, English artists who have been working together since the late 1960s. Runs through Nov. 2. CALDER JEWELRY, Features the private jewelry works of American sculptor Alexander Calder (1898-1976). Included are some 100 pins, bracelets, necklaces, earrings and tiaras. Originally designed for Calder's family and friends, these abstract forms are both linear and three-dimensional. Runs through Nov. 2. THE FIX ON COLONIAL PHILADELHIA FURNITURE, Features the only remaining copy of the world's first published furniture price book, alongside 23 pieces of of the colonial furniture that it lists. Runs through April 1. AMERICAN FOLK PAINTINGS FROM THE COLLECTION, Features work by untrained 18th- and 19th-century folk artists. These self-taught painters left behind little historical record besides their depictions of middle-class farm and family life. Runs through Oct. 31. GEE'S BEND: THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE QUILT, Features a ensemble of quilts making its final stop in Philadelphia. The women of Gee's Bend, Alabama are not your typical quilters; over the past 100 years, they developed a quilting tradition that parallels the development of modernist painting in its use of geometry, color and space. While entirely functional, these pieces also embody the impulse to question traditional forms, and perhaps to produce beautiful things for their own sake. Runs through Dec. 14. MULTIPLE MODERNITIES: INDIA, Features more than 25 drawings, prints and watercolor paintings that explore contemporary art on the Indian subcontinent over the past century. Artists include Jamini Roy, A. R. Chughtai, F. N. Souza, Bhupen Khakhar, Nasreen Mohamedi, M. F. Husain, Tyeb Mehta, Gieve Patel and Sudhir Patwardhan. Highlights include a rare group of paintings and drawings by Rabindranath Tagore; two drawings by V. S. Gaitonde; and the recently acquired "Sabari with Her Birds," a collage-lithograph by Atul Dodiya. Runs through Dec. 7. QUILT STORIES, Features the Ella King Torrey Collection of African American Quilts and other recent quilt acquisitions. Highlights include an appliqued "word quilt" by Mississippi artist Sarah Mary Taylor as well as one of her "hand" quilts, a version commissioned for the film "The Color Purple." Also included are pieces by her mother, Pearlie Posey. Runs through Feb. 1. RENAISSANCE LOMBARDY, Features 10 rare paintings from late 15th- and early 16th-century Lombardy. Quickly evident is the influence of Leonardo da Vinci, who moved to the region to work as a painter, military engineer and sculptor. Runs through Feb. 16. PHILADELPHIA TREASURES, Features Thomas Eakinsí "Gross Clinic" and Augustus Saint-Gaudens' "Angel of Purity." Close contemporaries and friends, they both believed in the power of the human body as an expressive subject for painting and sculpture. Runs through Feb. 1. HELLO! FASHION, Features work by Kansai Yamamoto, one of the founding fathers of Japanese contemporary fashion and creator of Ziggy Stardust's flamboyant wardrobe. Runs through May 1. JAMES CASTLE: A RETROSPECTIVE, Features drawings, books and constructions by the outsider artist from Idaho. Presumed deaf and mute during his lifetime, Castle created more than 20,000 pieces notable for their haunting rural imagery and handmade quality: he mixed soot and saliva for ink, drew on junk mail and cardboard cartons, and bound his books with found string. This is the first time that his work, unappreciated or confused with folk art during his life, will be comprehensively exhibited in a museum. Runs through Jan. 4. LIVE CINEMA/ANITA SIEFF: FILMS, Features work by Italian filmmaker Anita Sieff, who investigates interpersonal relationships through narratives driven by fragmented and abstract dialogues. Urban environments, namely New York and Venice, feature largely in her films, which evoke music videos and soap operas at the same time as Bergman and Godard. Runs through Jan. 4. THOMAS CHAMBERS: AMERICAN MARINE AND LANDSCAPE PAINTER, Features approximately 60 paintings in the first major survey of Thomas Chambers' work in six decades. A folk artist who painted lively, colorful marine scenes and landscapes, Chambers (1808-1869) was relatively obscure in his own time but was rediscovered in the 1940s and is considered to have anticipated American modern art. Runs through Dec. 28.

 

 

• PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF JEWISH ART , Congregation Rodeph Shalom, 615 N. Broad St., 215-627-6747. FOUND OBJECT CONSTRUCTIONS, Features sculpture inspired by the Torah by Howard Lerner. Runs through Nov. 7.

 

 

• PHILIP AND MURIEL BERMAN MUSEUM OF ART , 601 E. Main St., Collegeville, 610-409-3500. EVERYTHING I SEE IS NEW AND STRANGE, Features 59 watercolors, drawings, oils, block prints, ceramics and carvings by Walter Inglis Anderson. Runs through Aug. 24. WOMEN'S WORK? TWO EXHIBITIONS, Features two complementary shows of "women's bodies of/as work": the first is made up of quilts from the Judy Roche Collection, the second consists of contemporary textile and body-based works by Tamar Stone and Christine LoFaso. Runs through Dec. 7.

 

 

• READING PUBLIC MUSEUM , 500 Museum Rd., Reading, 610-371-5850. BORN TO BE WILD, Features 46 motorcycles representing a century of innovations in their design. Among them are one of the first motorcycles (manufactured by Reading's own Reading Standard), classic foreign motorcycles, and the Captain America chopper and Billy Bike ridden by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper in "Easy Rider." Runs through Jan. 4. MASTERS OF AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHY, Features works from the museum's recently acquired collection of works representing the history of 20th-century photography. Artists include Alfred Stieglitz, Ansel Adams, Walker Evans, Edward Weston, Dorothea Lange and Margaret Bourke-White. Runs through May 3. THE GREATEST BIRD ARTISTS, Features prints by John James Audubon, whose book, "Birds of America" (published in sections 1927-1938), contains 1,035 life-size portraits of birds. Included in the exhibit are two newly restored prints from the original edition and works by Earl Poole, who published a book of his own bird portraits in 1947 and who, as director of the museum, purchased the Audubon prints in 1952. Runs through Jan. 4.

 

 

• REFORM CONGREGATION KENESETH ISRAEL , 8339 Old York Rd., Elkins Park, 215-635-7300. ENTERING FROM THE INSIDE: THE ART OF MEMORY, Features two site-specific installations by Michele Brody. The interior installation is inspired by the architecture of the original Temple Judea sanctuary; the exterior is an interpretation of a Sukkah, a decorated, ritual structure constructed during the holiday of Sukkot. Runs through Nov. 14.

 

 

• ROSENBACH MUSEUM & LIBRARY , 2008-2010 Delancey Place, 215-732-1600. THERE'S A MYSTERY THERE: SENDAK ON SENDAK, Features original artwork, rare sketches, never-before-seen working materials and interview footage of Maurice Sendak. Runs through April 30. A MAD TEA PARTY, Features an installation honoring "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," including place settings for the Hatter, March Hare, Dormouse and Alice from the museum's collection of ceramic and silver tea service pieces. Runs through Sep. 1.

 

 

• ROTUNDA , 4014 Walnut St., 215-573-3234. COLLECTIVE IMPRINTS, Features an installation collectively created by Rotunda patrons and community members celebrating the life and history of the space, local history and folklore, and visions for the neighborhood's future. Ongoing.

 

 

• SCHUYLKILL CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION , 8480 Hagy's Mill Rd., 215-482-7300. GHOSTS AND SHADOWS, Features site-specific installations by Jennifer Chapman, Keiko Miyamori, Kara Rennert and Marisha Simons. Each artist has set up a dialogue with the center's natural and constructed human landscape and references sensations of past and present using audio and visual components. Runs through Jan. 2.

 

 

• TALLER PUERTORRIQUENO , 2721 N. 5th St., 215-423-6320. FACING FREEDOM, Features a selection of portraits by Yasmin Hernandez of individuals who decided to take freedom into their own hands. Several are painted directly on file folders in a reference to government surveillance files; some are of subjects easily considered "free" while others are political prisoners or marginalized by society. Included is a portrait of Puerto Rican political prisoner Dylcia Pagan, who served 19 years in U.S. federal prisons. Runs through Jan. 10.

 

 

• THOMAS EAKINS HOUSE , 1729 Mt. Vernon St., 215-685-0750. POSTERS FOR THE PEOPLE: PUBLIC ART THEN AND NOW, Features New Deal-era posters created by artists for federal governmental agencies in an exhibit that explores the history of the Works Progress Administration. Also included are posters designed by youth in the Mural Arts program. Runs through Oct. 26.

 

 

• UNIVERSITY CITY ARTS LEAGUE , 4226 Spruce St., 215-382-7811. ACTUAL SIZE: AN ASSEMBLY OF SMALLER WORKS, Features postcard-size drawings and paintings by Rodney Thoms, who uses a wide variety of media; his works range from art tools displayed alongside the works made with them to marker drawings on cushioned envelopes. Runs through Oct. 27.

 

 

• WHARTON ESHERICK MUSEUM , Horseshoe Trail, Valley Forge, 610-644-5822. WHARTON ESHERICK OUTHOUSE, Features a reconstruction of Wharton Esherick's three-sided outhouse, which was inspired by the 1919 film "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligary" and reflects his interest in expressionist and cubist forms. Ongoing. THE CHALLENGE OF THE CHAIR, Features 10 side chairs selected from entries to the museum's 15th annual thematic woodworking competition. Runs through Dec. 31.

 

 

• WHEATON ARTS AND CULTURAL CENTER , 1501 Glasstown Rd., Millville, NJ, 856-825-6800. TREASURES FROM THE COLLECTION: MUSEUM OF AMERICAN GLASS, Features various glass pieces that document the growth of American glass manufacturing. Runs through Jan. 5. LIVING TRADITIONS PORTRAYED: INDIAN FOLK ART AND CRAFTS, Features work that reflects the values and spirituality of Indian artists. Runs through Dec. 31.