National Treasures

Collector’s focus: Museums & Exhibitions

Introduction by Sarah Gianelli

By national treasures, I am not only referring to the countless masterworks in our country’s holdings, but the institutions (of which there are upwards of 30,000) that house, preserve and protect them and, in doing so, our cultural heritage. Museums are the bridge—and the gatekeepers—between the most significant works of art and the public. Fortunately for us, their mission is to make their collections accessible to as many people as possible. And they are anything but passive in their efforts. Curators are conceptualizing exhibits designed to engage people of all ages and backgrounds, creatively weaving the past into the present to underscore its continued relevance and foster mind-opening conversations. They are borrowing works from personal collections to enhance touring exhibitions. They are loaning important pieces from their own permanent collections to regional museums across the nation. And, since most museums are nonprofits, they are ramping up their fundraising efforts like never before due to cuts to federal arts funding.

Some studies suggest that going to museums improve physical and mental conditions. Photo credit: Keitma, Adobe stock image. Perhaps most exciting for us here at American Art Collector, is the number of museums that are making contemporary realism the subject of exhibitions and a focal point of their collecting goals. No longer are museums hallowed halls solely for historic masterpieces, groundbreaking movements, nor even the biggest-name artists working today. Museums are putting regional and emerging artists front and center, showing their work alongside historic artists from the same region, creating a dialogue between the past and the present, and shedding light on the local experience like only natives can.

Installation view of Angela Fraleigh: Threaded with Moonlight. Courtesy Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA.

In the following pages, we highlight several museums that are champions of contemporary realism. Read on to learn about the museums’ missions and their current and upcoming exhibitions. For more museum exhibition coverage turn to our previews on Page 102.

Located in Charleston, South Carolina, the Gibbes Museum of Art, a beacon for the arts in the American South since its establishment in 1858, is heralded as one of the earliest and most long-standing arts institutions in the United States. The permanent collection spans 350 years, including contemporary, modern and historical works. The museum’s mission is to enhance lives through art by engaging people of every background and experience with art and artists of enduring quality, providing opportunities to learn and discover, to enjoy and be inspired by the creative process.

National Gallery of Art, West Building. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Museum of Art + Light, Gravity, 2014, oil on canvas, 35 x 45 in., by Dean Mitchell.

The Gibbes Museum is very excited to host Rembrandt: Masterpieces in Black & White Prints from the Rembrandt House Museum, which opens October 24 and remains on view through January 11, 2026. The exhibition features a full range of Rembrandt’s etching-output alongside prints by select forerunners, contemporaries, and his lasting impact on printmaking through works by later artists including James McNeill Whistler and Pablo Picasso.

In the realm of contemporary realism, the Gibbes will present Revelations! The Art of Leo Twiggs, the artist’s first-ever retrospective in his home state. Running January 30, 2026, through May 3, 2026, the exhibition will feature his iconic Batik technique spanning six decades of work.

Museum of Art + Light, Original artwork by Dean Mitchell, digital compilation by Museum of Art + Light creative director of immersive exhibitions, Sydney Bouhaniche.

Opening on May 22, 2026, Mary Whyte: Salt of the Earth will showcase a new series by the Charleston-based artist known for her expressive, large-scale watercolors of contemporary people. The exhibition will remain on view through the end of September 2026.

The Museum of Art + Light in Manhattan, Kansas, is proud to present Heritage & the Human Condition, now on view through March 9, 2026. The solo retrospective features more than 50 works from the 40-year career of contemporary artist Dean Mitchell. Also on view is The Erosion of Time, an immersive installation showcasing works by Mitchell alongside digital artist Des Lucréce. The Erosion of Timecloses on April 30, 2026.

Gibbes Museum of Art, Hurtsboro, 2021, oil on linen, 70 x 120 in., by Bo Bartlett. Museum purchase with funds from an anonymous donor. Image courtesy of the Gibbes Museum of Art.

Gibbes Museum of Art, Billet-doux (Love Letter), 2024, oil and gold leaf on linen, 91 x 59 in., by Jill Hooper. Museum purchase with funds provided by Mary E. Walters and Charles J. Hooper. Image courtesy of the Gibbes Museum of Art.

Museum of Art + Light, Carolyn, 2018, acrylic on panel, 5¼ x 7 in., by Dean Mitchell.

Across four decades, Mitchell has pursued a profoundly personal and emotional artistic journey—one that captures the passage of time, the complexity of the human spirit, and the depth of cultural heritage. Rooted in his experience as a young Black man growing up in the American South during the 1960s, Mitchell’s work is shaped by themes of resilience, memory and identity. His portraits and landscapes portray the quiet dignity of often-overlooked communities, offering viewers moments of stillness, empathy and reflection. By confronting systemic poverty while affirming the humanity within it, Mitchell’s art becomes both a testimony and a call for understanding—each image a meditation on art’s power to heal, connect and bear witness.” —

More on Museums

96 percent of the American public wants the federal government to maintain or increase funding for museums.
96 percent would think positively of their elected officials for taking legislative action to support museums.
Museums support over 726,000 American jobs and contribute $50 billion to the U.S. economy each year while the Institute of Museum and Library Services only makes up 0.0046% of the federal budget.
The economic activity of museums generates over $12 billion in tax revenue, one-third of it going to state and local governments. Each job created by the museum sector results in $16,495 in additional tax revenue.

— Data by American Alliance of Museums