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Discover the Taft’s Current Exhibitions—Now on View
In addition to the Taft Museum of Art’s collection galleries, located in our historic house, guests can also enjoy special exhibitions in our Sinton Gallery and our Fifth Third Gallery. Discover our current seasonal exhibitions and schedule a day to enjoy the museum.
Omar Victor Diop (born 1980), Jean-Baptiste Belley, detail, 2014, inkjet pigment print on Hahnemuhle paper, edition of 8 + 2 AP. ©Omar Victor Diop, Courtesy of Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris
Posing Beauty in African American Culture
October 5, 2024–January 12, 2025 | Fifth Third Gallery and Taft Historic House
Posing Beauty in African American Culture traces the relationship between African American beauty and visual culture from the 1890s to the present through documentary, commercial, and fine art photography. Documentary photographs and portraits of portraits of Black Americans—some famous, some just ordinary citizens—present the public face of African American beauty, while commercial photographs demonstrate how fashion and advertising have constructed beauty standards. Finally, contemporary photographers—some of whom use themselves as a subject—encourage consideration of how images of beauty impact mass culture and individuals.
Posing Beauty includes more than 100 works by photographers including Charles “Teenie” Harris, Leonard Freed, Anthony Barboza, Carrie Mae Weems, Hank Willis Thomas, Sheila Pree Bright, Renee Cox, Mickalene Thomas, and others. Organized by Curatorial Assistance Traveling Exhibitions and curated by Deborah Willis, PhD, one of the nation’s leading historians of African American photography and culture, the exhibition will challenge existing notions of beauty while encouraging consideration of race, class, and gender within art and popular culture.
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Terri Kern (American, born 1964), Seamstress, wheel thrown, hand painted with underglaze, finished with clear glaze, 2 1/2 x 3 in. diam. Photo by Michael Svach.
Resilience: New Ceramic Works by Terri Kern
October 12, 2024–February 16, 2025 | Sinton Gallery and Taft Historic House
What does nature teach us about the ability to embrace, resist, or recover from life’s challenges? Local ceramic artist Terri Kern explores the theme of resilience in her latest creations. Inspired by the natural world, her symbolic works of art tell stories of love, loss, triumph, and hardship: tiny portraits dangle from the mouths of dragons; birds cautiously perch upon spools of thread; cages enclose empty swings. For the pieces in this exhibition, Kern also sought inspiration from a variety of objects in the Taft Museum of Art’s collection, including Chinese porcelains, Italian maiolica, and European portrait miniatures.
Using wheel throwing and hand building techniques, Kern decorates her intimate narrative works, made from white earthenware, with layers of colors, creating vibrant glazed surfaces. Her award-winning ceramics have been featured in numerous publications and are held in public and private collections throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Kern’s works have also been exhibited internationally, including shows in China, Japan, and Germany.
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Display | Holiday Traditions Old & New
November 13, 2024–January 6, 2025 | Taft Historic House
Do you often find yourself taking a break in the afternoon, perhaps for a cup of tea? Museum founders Charles and Anna Taft hosted an afternoon tea reception annually on New Year’s Day. According to a local newspaper, they provided their guests with “hot temptations” and “a delicious brew of eggnog.” Taking inspiration from these historical gatherings, we have adorned the museum’s dining room with a few must-haves for such an occasion, including gleaming tea and coffee services and a variety of dishes waiting to be filled with sweet treats.
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Display | Festive Transformations
November 13, 2024–January 6, 2025 | Taft Historic House
To celebrate the holidays this year, the Taft Museum of Art has partnered with Indigo Hippo, a Creative Reuse Center located in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Defining themselves as “a thrift store for art supplies,” the organization strives to bolster environmental sustainability, arts accessibility, and community engagement, all core values of the Taft as well. In keeping with this mission, Indigo Hippo chose to decorate this holiday tree by upcycling outdated Taft Museum of Art booklets, creating over two hundred ornaments. Indigo Hippo Executive Director Emily Dake says: “This project was a beautiful manifestation of Indigo Hippo’s mission to give materials a second life, and even more special that these publications by the Taft Museum of Art get to live on in the space the images feature.”
Join representatives from Indigo Hippo for an ornament-making workshop at the Taft on Sunday, December 8, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m..
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Taft Museum of Art Collection
Collection Galleries
Discover our European and American master paintings and sculptures, 17th- through 19th-century European watches, Chinese porcelains, French Renaissance enamels, and 19th-century American furniture in the collection galleries.