Current Exhibitions
Each year, the Thomas Cole National Historic Site presents special exhibitions of historic and contemporary art.
What other art will you see on a visit? Browse Thomas Cole paintings on view and Collection Highlights.
Emily Cole & Valerie Hegarty
LIFE CYCLES
MARCH 13–DECEMBER, 2026
In the Main House
Presenting a visual dialogue of two craft-based women artists across three centuries: 19th-century artist Emily Cole, daughter of Thomas Cole, and 21st-century artist Valerie Hegarty.
Exhibition access included with General Admission Tickets
Hudson Talbott
Shining Objects
APRIL 11–MAY 24, 2026
In the 1846 Studio
A career retrospective of the acclaimed artist. The exhibition will celebrate the work of the late, award-winning artist Hudson Talbott, whose talents have inspired audiences for decades through his children’s picture books.
FREE tickets available in the Cole Center
Upcoming Exhibitions
Thomas Cole
An American Visionary
APRIL 25–DECEMBER, 2026
In the Main House
Inaugural Exhibition in the Richard Sharp Gallery
A dynamic installation of landscape paintings, painting objects, and easels of Thomas Cole that explores his evolution into an artist of international renown whose paintings conveyed a visual identity for a young nation and continue to inspire artists to this day. The exhibition features an iconic Cole painting newly gifted to the collection by Richard T. Sharp.
Thomas Cole
Painting the Nature of America
In the Main House & 1846 Studio
The Thomas Cole National Historic Site will present the 2026 initiative “Thomas Cole: Painting the Nature of America,” in celebration of America 250 with three historic and contemporary exhibitions.
Current Traveling Exhibitions
The Pollinator Pavilion
at The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park at Newfields, Indianapolis, IN
Designed by internationally renowned artists Mark Dion and Dana Sherwood, the Pavilion provides a fantastical architectural setting to encounter birds year-round while exploring a nurturing relationship with nature. The installation at Newfields will include plantings indigenous to Indianapolis, complementing the work Newfields has done through the Wild Birds Unlimited Native Pollinator Meadow and other efforts to support pollinator populations and expand native species.
About Historic Exhibitions
Each year, The Thomas Cole National Historic Site invites a guest curator to bring a new perspective to Thomas Cole’s work by creating a new exhibition of nineteenth-century art in Thomas Cole’s reconstructed New Studio. The exhibitions bring together artwork from museums and private collections across the country.
About Contemporary Exhibitions
OPEN HOUSE: Contemporary Art in Conversation with Cole is an annual series of curated contemporary artist installations located within, and in response to, the historic home and studios of artist Thomas Cole. Operating from the concept that all art is contemporary, the program activates conversations between artists across centuries. Exhibitions and artworks have ranged from those that literally reference Thomas’s iconic works to those that expand on issues and themes relevant to him, including art, landscape, history, and balancing the built and natural worlds. OPEN HOUSE projects shed light on the connections between nineteenth century American art and our contemporary moment.