As we dive deeply into the rich creative life of Betsy James Wyeth in the By Design exhibition this summer, a complementary exhibition in the Strawbridge Family Gallery will also uncover her role as a curator and archivist of her family collection. Opening this spring, Treasures from the Family: The Gift of Betsy James Wyeth will consist of art and archival material from the major bequest Betsy left to the Brandywine Museum of Art upon her death in 2020.

This summer, Brandywine is delighted to share an exhibition years in the making that tells the story of Betsy James Wyeth, the long overlooked environmental designer, impresario, and creative advisor who is best known as the wife of Andrew Wyeth. By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth shows that her influence was essential to defining what we know as a Wyeth painting today, not only through her essential contribution to her husband’s distinctive visual style but even to the subjects he painted.

Now on view at the Brandywine, Abundance/Excess: A Contemporary Eye on Still Life features works by 10 contemporary artists and collectives who draw on the legacy of still life painting in their practice. The featured artists include Kate Abercrombie, Sungho Bae, Katie Butler, Ilana Harris-Babou, artist collaborators Nadia Hironaka and Matthew Suib, King Cobra, Tamara Kostianovsky, sTo Len, Cara Romero, and Misha Wyllie. These artists use objects to consider where wealth comes from, who holds it, and how we find and create it in our own lives, and their work often features the same subject matter and conceptual tropes as historic still lifes. In borrowing and reappropriating these motifs, they cast a charged new gaze on our material lives in the present.

Now on view at the Brandywine, Jerrell Gibbs: No Solace in the Shade provides an overview of the career of Baltimore artist Jerrell Gibbs (b. 1988). His dynamic, large-scale figurative paintings of family, friends, and community focus on everyday scenes of Black life, transforming them into monumental moments that highlight the universal themes of identity, reflection, and belonging. Organized by the Brandywine and guest curated by Angela N. Carroll, this project marks the artist’s first solo museum exhibition and first monographic publication. In the interview below, learn more about Gibbs’s process, inspiration, and what he hopes visitors will take away from seeing his work in person.

This year, the Brandywine’s beloved Critter Sale turns 40—a milestone for a holiday tradition that has delighted generations of visitors. Each winter, thousands of whimsical Critter ornaments—handcrafted entirely from natural materials including teasel, pinecones, acorns, and seed pods—find their way from the Brandywine's volunteer worktables to the homes of Critter collectors near and far.