Fall is almost here, and as part of our Fall 2021 preview, we’re listing all the events, experiences, and fun you should add to your calendar for the coming months. Why suffer from FOMO when you can tap into our edition of what’s worth the time and money for this fall? For this, our correspondent Abbie martin greenbaum organized a list of 12 of the best new museum and art gallery exhibits in the United States that you should add to your must-see list to visit and see this fall 2021, including exhibitions in New York and Washington DC.
What are the 12 best new exhibitions in American museums and galleries to visit this fall?
It might be hard to believe, but we have more than a few weeks of summer 2021. And though it’s bittersweet to say goodbye to the sunniest season of the year, autumn always manages to feel like a beautiful new beginning.
12 of the best new museum and art gallery exhibits in the United States that you should add to your must-see and must-see list this fall 2021. The Whitney Museum in New York City.
It may be the lasting imprint of so many back to school, but something about the changing the leaves excites us for anything new. And you know what’s new this season? Art exhibitions!
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The best museums and art galleries in the country open their doors new exhibitions, and we look forward to visiting them in the coming months. Here are twelve you should know not to miss.

12 of the best new museum and art gallery exhibits in the United States that you should add to your must-see list to visit and see this fall 2021. The High Museum in Atlanta.
12 best new museum and art gallery exhibits to visit in fall 2021
1. Truly Free: The Radical Art of Nellie Mae Rowe
High Museum, Atlanta.
It’s the first major exhibition of Nellie Mae Rowe’s work in over twenty years. It will feature not only her drawings, but also reconstructions of Theater: the space in Georgia where she lived and created, which she filled with found art installations of her own design. In this way, visitors will be able to see these two different mediums in conversation with each other and starting to understand Rowe better as an artist.
Dates: September 3, 2021 – January 9, 2022
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2. Ulysses Jenkins: without your interpretation
Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia
In the first retrospective exhibition of the famous videographer, visitors will have the chance to see the work of a man who had a profound influence on contemporary art. In particular, Jenkins is known for his use of technology, and the way it uses all the elements of the video – sound, image and iconography – with enormous effect. One of the video pieces in the exhibition is the well known Mass of images (1978), who criticizes the role of the media in perpetuating anti-Blackness in America.
Dates: September 17, 2021 – December 30, 2021
3. In America, a fashion lexicon
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Met has many exciting new exhibitions on its fall calendar, one of which is a Costume Institute two-part one-year fashion exhibition. September marks the opening of Part I, with Part II scheduled for May of next year. Part I draws on the patchwork quilt design, with its 100 different sets arranged in rows and columns throughout the exhibition. Each line is meant to represent a different aspect of American fashion. The designs will showcase a wide and diverse range of artists in the industry, with the many pieces brought together to create a shared global vocabulary. And yes, the exhibition will be preceded by the Met Gala, we can’t wait.
Dates: September 18, 2021 to September 5, 2022.
4. Fabric of a Nation: Stories of American Quilts
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
October 10, 2021 – January 17, 2022
The Costume Institute exhibit isn’t the only one thinking about quilts this fall. This new show at The Boston Museum of Fine Arts will tell the story of quilt making in America. Unlike many quilt exhibits, this one will approach its history chronologically and from multiple angles. Divided into seven sections, the exhibition will be incorporate voices across many professions and communities, to help viewers appreciate the most nuanced understanding of craftsmanship.
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5. Onchi Kōshirō: Affection for shapeless things
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
October 16, 2021 – February 14, 2022
Onchi is an artist and advocate for from Japan sōsaku hanga engraving movement. Unlike previous ukiyo-e prints – which were designed, sculpted and printed by three separate artists – the creative prints of this era were designed and executed by a single artist, like Onchi. This made it possible to maximum creative control. In addition to wood, Onchi incorporated found objects in his prints, such as waxed paper and cardboard. Due to the laborious nature of this process, Onchi produced few prints, making this exhibition even more special.
6. Imagine motherhood now
Cleveland Art Museum, Cleveland
October 16, 2021 – March 13, 2022
In what looks like a singular exhibition, cleveland museum looks to a range of contemporary artists to create a new feminist representation of motherhood, without stereotype. Showcasing artwork from the past two decades – as well as a few earlier pieces, to help anchor the narrative in history – the The exhibition examines motherhood through the prism of gender, race and immigration.
7. Clouds, Ice and Prime: The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund Collection of 17th Century Dutch and Flemish Paintings
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
October 17, 2021 – February 27, 2022
12 artists, 27 paintings. This exhibition unveils an impressive collection assembled over the past two decades, showcasing some of the most prominent Dutch and Flemish artists of the 17e century. The exhibition includes not only landscapes and seascapes, but also portraits and still lifes. Side by side views, the paintings offer a greater openness to techniques used by these unique artists.
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8. Afro-Atlantic stories
Houston Museum of Fine Arts
October 24, 2021 – January 23, 2022
This new and unique exhibition explores the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade. He understands more than 130 documents and works of art – like paintings, drawings, sculptures and photographs – of 24 different countries, spread over five centuries, and divided into six thematic sections. You can see the work of Melvin Edwards, Ibrahim Mahama, and Kara Walker, among others. The the exhibition started in Brazil, and it’s the start of his tour of the United States.
9. Jennifer Packer: The eye is not satisfied with seeing
The Whitney Museum, New York
October 30, 2021 – Spring 2022
Packer is known for his paintings and drawings, which are both intimate and political. The Whitney’s new exhibit is the largest exhibition of Packer’s work to date, and features more than thirty of his pieces, giving viewers an idea of the full range of his artistic prowess.
10. The day before yesterday, we could fly: an Afrofuturist period room
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
November 5, 2021
This new current exhibition joins the Collection of period rooms at the Met. Like all period rooms, it seeks to create a physical manifestation of a particular moment in time – and in this case, this time integrates a simultaneous past, present and future, inspired by the Afrofuturist belief that the three are permanently connected. The narrative of the room is based on a imagined future of Seneca Village – a dynamic black community in the 19th century New York, destroyed by the city to make way for Central Park. Objects and sounds will be used to bring the story of the piece to life, as are pieces in the entire Met collection.
What are the 12 best new art exhibitions to visit this fall?
This is our take on the best new art museum and art gallery exhibits across the United States to visit and see this fall 2021, including New York City and Washington DC. What’s at the top of your list, dear reader?
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Abbie martin greenbaum grew up in New York and currently lives in Brooklyn, where she drinks a lot of coffee and associates roommates to earn a living. At Oberlin College, she studied English and Film, which are always two of his favorite things, with dessert and musical theater. She believes in magic.
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