Bowdoin College Museum of Art bulletin 5.2026
A detail of an illustration of a water lily in bloom

Spring is in bloom as we move towards the completion of another semester. Our amazing cohort of student interns will soon wrap up their work for this past academic year—stay tuned for a recap of their projects in the June e-bulletin. On May 20, we will open Celebrating Independence! Fifty Years of Spindleworks, 1976–2026, an exhibition honoring Spindleworks Art Center’s five decades of creative community. The renovations to the second floor of the museum are now fully complete and all galleries are reopened! 


The Museum is experiencing another important change of season—Anne Collins Goodyear and Frank Goodyear, co-directors of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA) since 2013, will step down on June 30, 2026. We are grateful to them for their years of service and wish them the very best in what’s ahead. We are excited to work with Steve Perkinson, professor of art history, who will provide support during this transition period and be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Museum. 

exhibitions
A colorful illustration of the number 50

Opening Soon

Celebrating Independence! Fifty Years of Spindleworks, 1976–2026

Established fifty years ago, Spindleworks Art Center, based in Brunswick, Maine, is a nationally recognized progressive art studio that has become a vibrant part of the local community. This exhibition celebrates the vision of the artists who work in a broad range of creative practices.

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A black and white abstract drawing

Closing Soon

Josefina Auslender: Drawing Myself Free

This exhibition is the first-ever museum retrospective of drawings by Josefina Auslender, whose work in graphite, colored pencil, and ink, spanning decades and continents, reflects her enduring interest in building new worlds through the visual languages of abstraction and Surrealism.

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spotlight
An abstract artwork with a palette of red black purple pink and yellow

In Their Words: Spindleworks Artists on Celebrating Independence!

This May, the BCMA will open Celebrating Independence! Fifty Years of Spindleworks, 1976–2026, an exhibition honoring Spindleworks Art Center’s five decades of creative community. We sat down with four Spindleworks artists, their mentors, and exhibition co-curators to hear about what it means to celebrate creative independence. more

news
Two people stand smiling in front of an art museum

Bowdoin College Museum of Art news

Anne Collins Goodyear and Frank Goodyear, co-directors of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art since 2013, will step down on June 30, 2026. Over their thirteen-year tenure, the Goodyears strengthened the Museum's role as both an academic resource and a public-facing institution in midcoast Maine.

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A catalogue cover shows the title "Josefina Auslender: Drawing Myself Free" juxtaposed with art

Publication Preview

To be published in accompaniment with the exhibition Josefina Auslender: Drawing Myself Free, this book offers the first comprehensive exploration of Argentinian contemporary artist Josefina Auslender. This survey of Auslender's artistic career spans decades and continents, conveying her lifelong passion for creating new worlds through art. more

calendar


Thursday, May 20, 2026

Exhibition Opening & Gelato Social | Celebrating Independence! Fifty Years of Spindleworks, 1976–2026

1:00-2:00 p.m.: Opening remarks by co-curators Mya Benally ’26 and Anne Collins Goodyear | Beam Classroom, Visual Arts Center

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2:00-3:00 p.m.: Gelato Social | Outside Visual Arts Center

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Museum Hours


Tuesday-Saturday: 10:00 a.m.-5:00 pm | Thursday: 10:00 a.m.-8:30 p.m. | Sunday: 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. | Closed on Mondays and national holidays. 



The Bowdoin College Museum of Art is open to the public free of charge. The Museum is wheelchair accessible through the Pavilion entrance.


Bowdoin College Museum of Art | 9400 College Station | Brunswick, ME 04011 | 207.725.3275 


artmuseum@bowdoin.edu   bowdoin.edu/art-museum 

Banner: William Sharp, Complete Bloom from "Victoria Regia, or the Great Water Lily of America", 1854, chromolithograph on paper. Gift of David P. Becker, Class of 1970, 1978.16

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