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This summer, learn something awesome at Greater Philadelphia’s museums and attractions, which have intriguing special exhibitions on view (and, an added bonus: air conditioning).
For the kiddos, animatronic creatures growl, snarl and roar at the Philadelphia Zoo (BIG TIME) and The Academy of Natural Sciences (Permian Monsters). There’s also a Crayola exhibit at The Franklin Institute, fun with measurement at the Mercer Museum in Doylestown and activities featuring the characters from Mo Willems’ The Pigeon book series at the Please Touch Museum.
Art lovers can find stunning works at the Barnes Foundation (Soutine / de Kooning), the Philadelphia Museum of Art (New Grit), the James A. Michener Museum (Through the Lens) and more.
Also up this summer: a newly built Iraqi guesthouse to explore at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education; spectacular fountain displays to take in at Longwood Gardens; new interactive works to discover at Fashion District Philadelphia; and more.
Snag a deal with your exhibition-viewing by booking the Visit Philly Overnight Hotel Package, which offers buy-one-get-one-free tickets purchased at the Independence Visitor Center to 19 museums and attractions, including a number of the spots on this list.
Of course, exploring Greater Philadelphia museums and attractions is a little different for summer 2021. Mask-wearing remains recommended or necessary at many spots. And advance tickets are highly recommended or required at many attractions, some of which are operating with limited days or hours. Your best bet: Plan ahead. Look online or call to get a better sense of what experience to expect. Read more here.
Read on for our guide to the must-see exhibitions to seek out in Greater Philadelphia in summer 2021.
Ongoing
Just in time for summer, Fashion District Philadelphia’s exhibition of immersive and interactive artworks welcomes three new pieces — including a giant inflatable sculpture that depicts microscopic lifeforms and a community-built playlist of songs corresponding with specific towns and cities — to join existing favorites across 24,000 square feet of exhibit space in Market East.
Where: Fashion District Philadelphia, 27 N. 11th Street
Dates vary by artwork
Modern social justice issues that surround incarceration often influence Eastern State Penitentiary’s on-site art installations. Three noteworthy pieces this summer include a digital art installation about empathy projected onto the outside of the penitentiary (through September 4, 2021); household objects made out of shoelaces and Mylar blankets as a commentary on the experience of detainees at the border of Mexico; and a reflective pane installed to distort the shape of one of the penitentiary’s cells.
Where: Eastern State Penitentiary, 2027 Fairmount Avenue
Through Saturday, July 24, 2021
Part of Philly’s inaugural Arts & Culture Recovery Week, this exhibition at Taller Puertorriqueño highlights student art created via Taller’s virtual programming during the pandemic.
Where: Taller Puertorriqueño, 2600 N. 5th Street
Through Sunday, August 1, 2021
Photographer Ted Liverman shines a light — literally — on folks who go to work at night (which is some 15 million people in the U.S.) in this exhibition on the Delaware River waterfront. The photos exclusively feature Philly workers, including site staff for the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation.
Where: Cherry Street Pier, 121 N. Christopher Columbus Boulevard
Through Sunday, August 8, 2021
In its world premiere and only U.S. showing, this groundbreaking exhibition explores the affinities between the work of Chaïm Soutine and Willem de Kooning. Organized by the Barnes Foundation and the Musées d’Orsay et de l’Orangerie, Soutine / de Kooning: Conversations in Paint presents nearly 45 works by these titans of 20th-century art and considers how Soutine’s paintings served the art of de Kooning, shaping his groundbreaking figurative/abstract works in the late 1940s and beyond.
Where: Barnes Foundation, 2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Opened in April 2021, The Neon Museum of Philadelphia buzzes with more than 120 vintage neon pieces from both Philly and national businesses. Accompanying the permanent collection this summer is Seeing Ghosts, a special exhibition featuring videos, photos and more of ghost signs, or faded wall art still extant on building facades across the country.
Where: The Neon Museum of Philadelphia, 1800 N. American Street
Through Sunday, August 15, 2021
On view in Bucks County, this exhibition explores nearly 70 years of artistic experimentations with photographic processes and subject matter by artists in the Delaware Valley region, including Paula Chamlee, Susan Fenton, Emmet Gowin, Jack Rosen, Charles Sheeler and others. Work ranges from carefully hand-painted, bucolic landscapes to decisive snapshots taken on the street and features highlights of the Michener’s photo collection, including many never-before-on-view images.
Where: James A. Michener Art Museum, 138 S. Pine Street, Doylestown
Through Sunday, August 22, 2021
The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s exciting new redesign included the introduction of new galleries and exhibitions, including this collection of contemporary work by 25 artists across different media representing a variety of perspectives on social and timely issues. Exhibition highlights include a mural by Odili Donald Odita evoking the Black Lives Matter movement, a textile work by Jesse Krimes capturing issues of incarceration and a digital rendering by Tim Portlock that explores the surreal.
Where: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Through Sunday, August 29, 2021
The Woodmere Art Museum’s 79th Juried Exhibition features work chosen by author and artist David Wiesner and created by artists who live within 50 miles of the museum. Additionally, an illustrated digital catalog complements the exhibition.
Where: Woodmere Art Museum, 9201 Germantown Avenue
Through Sunday, September 5, 2021
An exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) that examines how women artists create space for themselves in their work and for their work, Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale features pieces from more than 50 creators and works from the museum’s permanent collection.
Where: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 118-128 N. Broad Street
In 1841, teenager Nakahama Manjiro left his small Japanese village for a fishing trip only to be shipwrecked by an abrupt storm, stranded on a deserted island and eventually rescued by an American ship — events which led to Manjiro becoming the first Japanese person to live in the U.S. This exhibition covers Manjiro’s travels and includes his illustrated manuscript along with letters between Manjiro and the captain who rescued him at sea.
Where: The Rosenbach, 2008-2010 Delancey Place
This interactive, family-friendly exhibit explores different measurements of length, time, volume and weight in a variety of ways, including giant tape measures, treadmill odometers, bead tables, balance scales and more. The Mercer Museum adds its own perspective to the traveling display by showcasing rare and early examples of historical measuring instruments drawn from the private collection of Bucks County residents Jim Hill and Kathy Hausman.
Where: Mercer Museum, 84 S. Pine Street, Doylestown
Through Monday, September 6, 2021
During this immersive, multi-sensory experience at America’s first zoo, 24 enormous animatronic dinosaurs take guests on a prehistoric journey, highlighting the volcanic eruptions, asteroid strikes and other powerful occurrences that changed the earth forever. Among the life-like giants on display: T. rex, triceratops, anzu and woolly mammoth, among others.
Where: Philadelphia Zoo, 3400 W. Girard Avenue
Anna Russell Jones lived a life of “firsts” that included being the first African American graduate of what’s now the Moore College of Art and Design in Philly and the first African American woman from Philadelphia to enlist in the U.S. Army. This in-person and online exhibition from The African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) tells the story of her fascinating life and showcases some of Russell Jones’ artwork from AAMP’s permanent collection.
Where: The African American Museum in Philadelphia, 701 Arch Street
Through Sunday, September 12, 2021
This summer, the whole family can visit with The Pigeon and the rest of the characters from Mo Willems’ beloved series of books at this exhibition inside everyone’s favorite Philly children’s museum. The interactive exhibit allows kiddos to create art inspired by the series, put on a wearable bus and “drive” it around, launch foam hot dogs at The Pigeon and more.
Where: Please Touch Museum, 4231 Avenue of the Republic
Through Sunday, September 19, 2021
After months of renovations, the Brandywine River Museum reopened in June with an exhibit that explores U.S. aviation and military history through the art and personal experiences of American Modernist Ralston Crawford. The show features nearly 80 works by the artist, including drawings, photographs, paintings and lithographs from the 1940s that narrate his involvement with World War II.
Where: Brandywine River Museum of Art, 1 Hoffmans Mill Road, Chadds Ford
Through Sunday, October 17, 2021
On display at Philadelphia’s natural history museum, this exhibit offers a unique photographic exploration of flooding and a stark portrayal of the human condition within the context of overwhelming climate events around the world. The show features 37 photographs, two found-object displays and a video by Mendel, a leading contemporary photographer and a native of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Where: The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Through Sunday, October 31, 2021
Unless you’ve traveled to Iraq at any point in the last 5,000 years, you’ve never seen a mudhif, a guesthouse built from reed grasses. This summer and fall, check that life goal off your list at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, where you can see a newly built mudhif and explore an accompanying exhibit at the visitor center featuring artwork, audio recordings and photos.
Where: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, 8480 Hagy's Mill Road
Through Sunday, November 28, 2021
Philadelphia’s beloved science museum hosts this world-premiere exhibit that helps guests hone problem-solving skills and fosters creativity. Visitors will put their creative skills to action by testing solutions to problems based on current scientific research, including designing a ball that works for astronauts in low gravity, building a sustainable neighborhood and restoring sea life to coral reefs. The exhibition is so popular that it was extended for an additional 21 weeks, and will now conclude in November 2021.
Where: The Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th Street
Through Monday, January 17, 2022
What did the creatures who roamed Earth before Velociraptors look like? Find out at The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University’s exhibit, Permian Monsters: Life Before the Dinosaurs. Fossils, artwork and 3D sculptures take visitors back 290 million years to a world of odd-looking sharks and giant saber-toothed gorgonopsids. Timed tickets are available for advance purchase online, and include admission to the rest of the classic Philly attraction.
This summer, Longwood Gardens’ fountains jet to life with exciting performances — while glorious gardens showcase summer’s beauty — during the attraction’s Festival of Fountains, offering daily performances in the Main Fountain Garden and Open Air Theatre. Bonus: Don’t miss dazzling nighttime displays during spectacular Illuminated Fountain Performances, taking place every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening through the end of October.
Where: Longwood Gardens, 1001 Longwood Road, Kennett Square
Through Sunday, November 7, 2021
On display summer through fall, Graphic Content gives space to graphic-centered artworks that act as social commentary, taking inspiration from counterculture traditions and giving voice to those outside the mainstream. The artwork on display embodies each artists’ unique, uncensored response to the current social and political climate. Also on view: Caretoons, featuring cartoons that focus on counterculture and confront difficult social issues.
Where: National Liberty Museum, 321 Chestnut Street
Through Sunday, May 8, 2022
Philadelphia’s fascinating museum of medical history mounts an exhibition that looks at the political, economic and social implications of how the world has medicalized reproduction. Produced in collaboration with the Maternity Care Coalition and others, the exhibit tells five stories: Means of Reproduction, Midwives, Parturition, Exam and Milk. Visitors can use their smartphones to scan QR codes to learn about the objects on display.
Where: The Mütter Museum, 19 S. 22nd Street
Dates vary by exhibition
Experience these exhibitions from Philly museums and attractions at home:
Where: Virtual
Opening Thursday, July 8, 2021
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) digs into its deep permanent collection to compile the materials for two exciting exhibitions opening on July 8. Women artists who exhibited, studied or taught at PAFA between its founding in 1805 and World War II get the spotlight in Women in Motion. And Artwork of Endurance compiles four decades of contemporary prints, including narratives around African American, Native American and Latinx histories and cultures.
July 23, 2021 – January 16, 2022
Explore the workshop and products of a 19th- and 20th-century immigrant craftsperson at this exhibition organized by South Philly’s American Swedish Historical Museum. Museumgoers learn the story of Olof Alfin (1859-1920), who worked in Boston restoring antiques and making cabinets, and explore the dichotomy between what it means to be an immigrant and an American.
Where: American Swedish Historical Museum, 1900 Pattison Avenue
The documentary-style paintings of Bucks County artist Robert Beck go on display beginning this summer at Doylestown’s Michener Art Museum. Beck’s works — often done in one sitting and en plein air — highlight everyday life in spots from Bucks County to Senegal.
Where: Michener Art Museum, 138 S. Pine Street, Doylestown
The Visit Philly Overnight Package — booked more than 190,000 times since 2001 — comes with free hotel parking (worth up to $100 in Center City Philadelphia), overnight hotel accommodations and choose-your-own-adventure perks.