2026 Exhibitions
Making Waves
Splish, Splash, Story: Selections for the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
On view January 31 - July 26, 2026
Splish, Splash, Story brings together enchanting illustrations from beloved children’s books, on loan from The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA.
[Image: Eric Carle, Illustration for Mister Seahorse (detail). Collection of the Eric and Barbara Carle Foundation. © 2004 Penguin Random House LLC.]
Water | Craft
On view January 24 - December 27, 2026
Water | Craft explores the intersection of traditional craft practices and contemporary concerns about water and the environment.
[Image: Tali Weinberg, Heat Waves/Water Falls, 2023. Petrochemical-derived medical tubing, plant fibers, plant and insect dyes. Image courtesy of Colin Conces.]
Robert Gonzalez: Mystical Waters
On view January 10 - May 3, 2026
Robert Gonzalez is an artist and musician from San Antonio, TX whose recent work depicts the role of water in pre-Columbian Mexican mythology and religions.
[Image: Robert Gonzales (American, b.1955), Kociyo (detail), 2014. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.]
Fluid: What is Marine Art, and What Can it Be?
Ongoing
Fluid looks at the origins of marine art as a genre, while also seeking to make connections around multiple themes related to water, and expanding the definition of what marine art can be.
[Image: Anna Metcalfe, A Living Topography: Stories from Lake Superior, 2012. Mixed media sculpture, steel, ceramic, and plastic. Minnesota Marine Art Museum collection.]
The Coast and the Sea: Marine and Maritime Art in America
On view March 14, 2026 - February 28, 2027
An exhibition organized by The New York Historical featuring 49 paintings and 10 maritime objects from their immense collection relating the story of early American culture and history. The exhibition is organized into several chronological themes exploring America’s relationship with water.
[Image: Thomas Birch (1779-1851, American), New York Harbor, 1831. Oil on canvas. The New York Historical, Gift of Mrs. Ethel McCullough Scott, John G. McCullough, and Mrs. Edith McCullough Heaphy, 1971.118]
Gordon Coons: Gidibaajimomin / We Tell Stories
On view May 9 - August 30, 2026
Gordon Coons, an enrolled member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe of Wisconsin, is a self-taught artist whose colorful works are in the Woodland Style of art and are inspired by regional Ojibwa rock paintings, petroglyphs, historic birch bark drawings, and oral traditions, portraying a unique view of traditional Native stories.
[Image: Gordon Coons (American, b. 1949), Season of the Fish and Omakakii (detail), 2025. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.]
Myths & Legends of Minnesota: An Exhibition of the Minnesota Plein Air Collective
On view May 16 - September 13, 2026
Myths & Legends of Minnesota seeks to celebrate Minnesota’s rich tapestry of folklore, cultural heritage, and oral tradition as expressed through the landscape, focusing on the lakes, rivers and other waterways of Minnesota.
[Image: Joshua Cunningham, Not Very Skinny Dippers, 2025. Oil on mounted linen. Courtesy of the artist.]
Geo Rutherford: Spooky Waters of the World, Great Lakes and Beyond
On view August 1, 2026 - February 14, 2027
Geo Rutherford is an artist, author, educator and a social media sensation with a keen interest in science, natural history, and telling stories about water. On display are original illustrations from her New York Times bestselling book Spooky Lakes.
[Image: Geo Rutherford, SS Kamloops, 2024. Gouache on watercolor paper. Courtesy of the artist.]
Andy DuCett: Home(town)
On view September 12, 2026 - January 24, 2027
Using the idea of a river town as a starting point, Andy DuCett will create multiple new site-specific installations for the Minnesota Marine Art Museum that start in the galleries but extend beyond the walls of the museum and into Winona, his hometown community, in the exhibition Home(town).
[Image: Andy Ducett, conceptual digital sketch for Home(town).]
Barbara McIlrath: LandSkyWater
On view September 19, 2026 - January 3, 2027
Barbara McIlrath's frequent drives to and from her studio allow her to observe the seasonal changes of the land, sky, and water of the Driftless Region. LandSkyWater features recent drawings and paintings from the region using textured impasto paint and cold wax.
[Image: Barbara McIlrath (American, b.1952), Lake Pepin Florence Beach (detail), 2022. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist and Groveland Gallery.]