Join the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens for a conversation with artists Mika Taga '22 and Destiny Palmer!

This summer the Botanic Gardens are exploring ephemeral art installations in the outdoor gardens. Mika Taga's Nesting installation, created over the course of a week-long residency, is a site-specific woven structure constructed from pruned branches from the Gardens. Taga was a Studio Art major in the class of 2022 and currently operates out of the Catskills. Massachusetts-based artist Destiny Palmer's Blooming installation, developed with campus community input, focuses on the color and flower Periwinkle, offering an invitation to pause and rest.

The two artists will be together in conversation at the end of Taga's week-long campus residency.

This event is free and open to the public.

Contact Melchor Hall, melchor.hall@wellesley.edu, with any questions. The Wellesley Art Dept is not running this event and cannot answer questions about it.

Studio Art professor Daniela Rivera's solo exhibition, Hacia Cuando (To When), opens at Mass MoCA on July 11!

Featuring new work in fresco, drawing, sculptural installation, and sound, the 3 gallery spaces occupied by prof. Rivera's work operate in tandem to activate sight, sound, and smell, creating a powerful sensory experience for museum visitors. Enormous, room-filling structures supporting vast frescos share space with exactingly drawn lines that reward both close and distant looking. Visitors are invited to walk on a tilted handmade fresco floor; the pressure from their feet will break and mark the surface while the sounds created by visitors walking across it and the resonance space beneath it will be amplified and echoed by contact mics.

Deeply invested in the ancient processes that she uses to create her work, prof. Rivera asks visitors to reflect on the histories carried by her materials, the people who pioneered their use and those who have kept their traditions alive, and what it means to engage with them here and now. The art will evolve over the course of the show, creating an ever-changing participatory work referencing the histories of art-making and architecture, politics and place. 

More information about the exhibition, and the accompanying opera performance planned for October 2026, can be found on the Mass MoCA website here.

This exhibition is open to members of the public with admission to Mass MoCA. See here for the museum's ticketing prices and policies.

Contact Mass MoCA with any questions. The Wellesley Art Dept is not running this exhibition and cannot answer questions about it.

What happened in the Art Department this past year? What didn't happen?

The Jewett Hallway Galleries will be taken over by this popular photo exhibition, which showcases the breadth of activities that take place in the Art Dept every year. Sttarting May 22 for Reunion, this show will remain on view all summer for members of the campus community to enjoy.

This exhibition is open to members of the campus community only. 

Contact Gallery Director Samara Pearlstein at spearls2@wellesley.edu or 781-283-2043 with any questions.

The Jewett Arts Center and Pendleton Hall West are closed to the public over the summer.

Students can swipe into the Jewett front doors, the Jewett handicapped-accessible entrance, and the exterior doors of PNW on the following schedule:

Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 8:00 pm

Saturday - Sunday, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm 

Note that the Studio Art side of PNW is closed to general student access. There is no general student access to restricted art spaces (including but not limited to the darkroom, lighting studio, printmaking, wood shop, etc).

If you are a student who believes you need additional swipe hours, or access to part of the Studio side of the building, contact building manager Samara Pearlstein, spearls2. Students requesting Studio access must have a Studio Art faculty member who is able to vouch for their project.

For any questions about Jewett or PNW building access contact Samara Pearlstein: spearls2@wellesley.edu or 781-283-2043.