Springfield Museums, Exhibits

Splash and Bubbles: Dive In, Lend a Fin!
November 6, 2021–January 16, 2022
Wood Museum of Springfield History » First Floor

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Dive into the incredible world of ocean exploration in this early childhood STEM-based exhibit, Splash and Bubbles: Dive In, Lend a Fin!, based on the Jim Henson Company and Herschend Entertainment Studios PBS Kids TV series Splash and Bubbles. 

Join Splash, Bubbles and the Reeftown Rangers to explore marine biology, ocean science, and different ocean ecosystems. Learn how even small actions can create a big ripple to help protect our One Big Ocean. 

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Explore a sunken ship and learn the similarities and differences between artificial reefs and real reefs. Go on a treasure hunt and take a pledge to become a Reeftown Ranger. 
Navigate the Kelp Forest and help keep it clean by collecting green algae from the ocean floor. Learn about bioluminescence in the Deep as you create your own glow-in-the-dark jellyfish and gaze upon a life-size 12-foot-wide Japanese Spider Crab. 
Interact with Splash and Bubbles puppet characters created by the Jim Henson Creature Shop in Reeftown. Dress up as a stingray or sea turtle to swim throughout the reef. 
Learn fun “Fin Facts” at Flo’s School of Fish! Balance and stack colorful rocks; discover a variety of sharks and create your own shark hat; identify a mysterious ocean animal using classification; draw your own fish and add it to a collaborative collage; camouflage Myshell the Crab with different coral. 

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Ai Weiwei: Tradition and Dissent

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July 17, 2021–January 2, 2022 D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts

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Ai Weiwei: Tradition and Dissent features selections from three decades of work created by internationally renowned artist and social activist Ai Weiwei (Chinese, born 1957). One of today’s most versatile creative minds and a vocal critic of the Chinese government, Ai creates work that addresses social justice while fostering a dialogue between traditional Chinese art praxis and modern modes of expression. Known for redefining objects and materials—by applying auto paint to Han Dynasty vessels, for example—the artist uses radical techniques that urge the viewer to grapple with the tension between construction and destruction as well as the past and present.
This exhibition will focus on artwork which speaks specifically to Ai’s engagement with Chinese materials, methods, motifs, and artifacts. By exploring tradition in nontraditional ways, Ai Weiwei makes the old new again, creating a thoughtful link between cultural heritage and his creative endeavors. Many of Ai Weiwei’s recent works simultaneously revive and remake craftsmanship practices of the past including those of wood joinery, porcelain painting, and marble sculpting. Other works, such as the artist’s Zodiac (2018) made from LEGO bricks, use contemporary materials to reimagine culturally significant symbols.
Curated specifically for display at the Springfield Museums, this exhibition presents a rare opportunity to explore well-known Ai Weiwei works such as Sunflower Seeds, Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola Logo, and Double Stools. Fascinating in their own right, the works also offer a new lens through which to view the historic collections of Chinese decorative arts on view at the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum.

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Capturing Our Worlds: Works by the Springfield Photographic Society
June 26, 2021–June 26, 2022
Featuring over thirty works by members of the Springfield Photographic Society, an organization of local photographers, this exhibition highlights diverse approaches to capturing the world in which we live. From landscapes that depict locales from Western Massachusetts to Vietnam, to botanical photographs and scenes of people living their lives, the works on view explore nature, humanity, beauty, and form.  While each image is shaped by the photographer’s unique vision, the grouping emphasizes photography’s power to transcend borders and languages, and to highlight our universal commonality.Based in Springfield, Massachusetts, the Springfield Photographic Society is an organization comprised of photographers working at all experience levels. Through exhibitions, field trips, and educational experiences, members hone their craft in the company of fellow enthusiasts
Horn Man: The Life and Musical Legacy of Charles Neville
June 19, 2021–November 28, 2021

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Known onstage as “Charlie the horn man,” R&B and jazz musician Charles Neville was born in 1938 in New Orleans. Immersed in New Orleans’s musical influences early on, Charles and his siblings formed the Neville Brothers, later best-known for songs which combined social consciousness with an upbeat spirit. Rhythm and blues, gospel, doo-wop, soul, rock, jazz, funk, and Mardi Gras rhythms were all genres embraced by—and sometimes co-mingled in—the Nevilles’ creative work. “Healing Chant” from their best-selling album Yellow Moon, earned The Neville Brothers a Grammy in 1989 for best top instrumental performance.

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Cut ‘N’ Rough Collection
Through June 2022
Cut ‘N’ Rough, a collection of cut stone displayed side-by-side with the same stone in its original rough state, ready for all to see in Earth Hall, on the second floor of the Springfield Science Museum. The Cut ‘N’ Rough exhibit is on loan from Fred Wilda and Helen Rodak of Hadley, MA.
Information about the state gem rhodonite comes from the handbook that accompanies Significant Rocks and Minerals from Massachusetts: “Named after the Greek word for rose (rhodon), Rhodonite is a silicate mineral that is formed in metamorphic rocks.” There is only one known location in Massachusetts where you can find this gemstone: but if you want an easy look at a beautiful specimen, visit the Springfield Museums!

Explore the George Walter Vincent Smith Museum Archives
Constructed in 1895 to house the extraordinary art collections of Springfield residents George Walter Vincent Smith and Belle Townsely Smith, the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum is a late 19th-century Gilded Age treasure with a rich history. In addition to housing art collections, the museum stewards hundreds of photographs and documents that tell the story of Springfield’s first art museum and offer insights into the lives of its benefactors. Digitization of these Archives began in late 2020 and we invite you explore selections from the holdings.

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Explore Now

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PODs: Programming on Demand
PODs are field trips for families, friends, and small groups. Customize a visit to the Museums for your group of five to 30 people. Children and adults will participate in up to three of our hour-long curriculum-based school programs. Mix and match science, art, history and Seuss!

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Learn More

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Private Tours
Reserve an entire museum for your party of up to 10 people for two hours. Enjoy time to explore on your own plus private, discounted shopping at the Museum Store. Curated and custom experiences available!

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Learn More

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BELOW, PLEASE FIND A LIST OF THE SPRINGFIELD MUSEUMS NEW PROTOCOLS

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Visitors are encouraged to wear a mask on Museums grounds.
Masks will be required for visitors age 5 and up in the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, the Seymour Planetarium, special exhibits, and all facilitated spaces, including Spark!Lab, Art Discovery Center, Science Workshop, and Science Discovery Lab.
Students enrolled in youth classes at the Museum School are also required to wear a mask.
Advance tickets are strongly encouraged. Please visit the Tickets page.

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Springfield Residents & Walkups

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A limited number of walk up tickets (including Springfield Access) are available on a first-come, first-served basis each day at the Welcome Center.

Combined ticket for The Springfield Museums and the Basketball Hall of Fame
This discounted ticket is a slam dunk! You can visit the museum that celebrates the history of Springfield’s most popular game—the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame—plus five museums showcasing art, history, science and Seuss—the Springfield Museums, home of  the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss all with one discounted ticket. Added bonus! You have a full year to visit each museum.
Combined tickets are available for purchase at the admissions desk at the Museums and the Hall of Fame or right here.