Museum exhibits you can’t miss in Philly

Museum for Art in Wood

The Museum for Art in Wood’s latest exhibit will be on site until next year (Feb. 18, 2024 to be exact.) ‘FLOE: A Climate of Risk | The Fictional Archaeology of Stephen Talasni’ highlights the work of world-renowned sculpture and installation artist Stephen Talasnik.

As a release states, in this showcase, the Philadelphia-born artist has built a fictional narrative of an alternate Philadelphia civilization “buried by a natural disaster brought about by climate change.” The only evidence of this society is through the archaeological collection presented in the exhibition, discovered by an “imagined group of curious children” based on Talasnik’s own childhood experiences. 

The new showcase also holds works from the Museum’s permanent collection, curated by Talasnik. More information can be found online.  

141 N. 3rd St., museumforartinwood.org

Academy of Natural Sciences

Opening next week on Nov. 11 for the winter season, ‘Life Onto Land: The Devonian’, centers around the Devonian Period to showcase what the “crucial period of the Earth’s evolution” was like—more than 350 million years ago. The exhibit, which is made up of animation, giant murals and models, CT scans, rare fossils, specimens, and maps sharing key elements and discoveries of the Devonian will also feature a centerpiece: ‘Tiktaalik Roseae’. 

As a release states, known as one of the most “important paleontological discoveries of recent decades” (and it was made by the Academy’s own research team in collaboration with colleagues from The University of Chicago and Harvard University), ‘Tiktaalik’ will return to Philadelphia for the exhibition, and visitors will be able to see discovery for themselves up close. 

1900 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy., ansp.org

Carpenter’s Hall

This option is a little different in terms of what it offers. Every Tuesday and Thursday from now until Dec. 21, the cultural site will be offering a behind-the-scenes tour of its facilities hosted by Executive Director Michael Norris through an Airbnb experience. 

The tours ($45) begin in the main hall where Congress met and there, guests will see original artifacts from the period and detailed models showing the construction of Carpenters’ Hall, a release states. Then, it’s up to the second floor (typically off limits to regular visitors), for an exploration of the 19th-century library, rare books, and items from the Carpenters’ collection. Tours conclude with a Q&A, scotch tasting, and whiskey toast courtesy of ImpEx Beverages.

Additionally, every participant will also receive a copy of ‘Meeting Place of History’, a fully illustrated booklet about Carpenters’ Hall. More info can be found via Airbnb. 

320 Chestnut St., airbnb.com/experiences

Blah Blah Gallery

This winter season, Philadelphians can go and check out ‘Superterrestrial Garden’, which recently opened at Blah Blah Gallery in the Callowhill neighborhood of the city. This abstract new exhibit brings together the work of two artists: Alaina Kalbfell and carrie R. 

Kalbfell is known for paintings that “give birth to surreal, otherworldly figures, faces, and spaces.” As the release states, Alaina’s unique technique also involves staining raw canvas and employing a wet-on-wet process to create ethereal, emotive figures that “hover on the cusp between abstraction and figuration.” carrie R on the other hand creates free-standing and wall-based sculptures by using the application of pigment, marker, and oil color. The sculptures, often resemble pointed, plant-like, and biomorphic entities, and they delve into themes of fear, solitude, self-preservation, and beauty. 

Philadelphians can find both artists’ works weaved throughout the showcase, which aims to offer a journey through the profound and mysterious realms of the human experience, the release finishes.

319 N. 11th St., Unit 2A,  blahblahgallery.com

Museum of the American Revolution

This new exhibit is one that lives online, thanks to a partnership with the MoAR and the online database, Ancestry. A digitized archive is now available for free through Ancestry, and features 200 rare documents bearing the names of Black and Native American soldiers who served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

As a release states, The Patriots of Color Archive was acquired by the Museum in 2022 from a private collector, following the generous contributions of several donors. The collection of original muster rolls, pay vouchers, enlistment papers, discharge forms, and other documents was assembled from auctions, rare manuscript dealers, and other collectors over the past two decades.

Additionally, this weekend, the MoAR is offering free admission for veterans, military and Blue Star families from Nov. 10 to 12. There will also be specific highlights throughout the weekend (a full schedule is online), but a special one comes from the debut of its new Pension Project—a series of videos featuring living veterans reading the military pensions of Revolutionary War soldiers to connect the past with the present. 

101 S. 3rd St., amrevmuseum.org