Crystal Bridges and the Momentary have announced a slate of new exhibits for 2026.

On deck at Crystal Bridges: a look at 250 years of American history, along with two exhibits focused on individual artists — one who received acclaim relatively young, and another who got her big break at 80.

At the Momentary, two exhibits featuring everyday items will connect to larger themes like consumer culture and American identity.

The United States Semiquincentennial is next year, which is a fancy way of saying it’s the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

To mark the occasion, Crystal Bridges will present “America 250: Common Threads.”

The exhibit will feature an early engraving of the Declaration of Independence along with historical documents, textiles, toys, and other items from 1776 to the present. It will also include live quilting, with local quilters assembling squares made by K–12 students from across Arkansas.

The exhibit will explore how artists have driven civic engagement, the ways we document our history, and the symbols used to represent the United States. It will be on display at Crystal Bridges from March 14, 2026 to July 27, 2026.

Immersed in the grungy punk world of 1980s New York, Keith Haring received acclaim for his cartoonish chalk drawings on unused ad space in subway stations.

His rise has often been described as meteoric, and some have compared his impact to that of Banksy today. An obituary in The New York Times, published in 1990 after his death at age 31, said his images “could be found as often on T-shirts as in museums.”

While his drawings received significant attention during his lifetime, he worked across multiple disciplines, including sculpture, video, printmaking, and digital art.

Crystal Bridges’ exhibit will highlight his sculpture and three-dimensional artwork, which the museum says “has never been the focus of a major exhibition and has rarely been shown.” It will be on display from June 6, 2026 to January 25, 2027.

Anna Mary Robertson Moses was a housekeeper, farmer, and mother who made art in her spare time and had her first solo exhibition in 1940 at age 80, earning the nickname “Grandma Moses.”

She became a media sensation, “achieving a superstar celebrity that raised questions in her time and remains intriguing today,” according to the museum’s exhibit description.

The exhibit brings together about 80 pieces of art, “revealing the ways she defied social norms and confirming her as a central figure in the story of American art.” It will be on display at Crystal Bridges from September 12, 2026 to March 29, 2027.

Lucy Sparrow recreates retail scenes, using felt to reproduce familiar store items.

This exhibit will offer a throwback to a 1980s–1990s Walmart-style store. The installation will feature 20,000 handcrafted felt versions of everyday supermarket items from that era, including snacks, beauty supplies, and household products.

Sparrow considers the 1980s to be the “beginning of convenience,” pointing to shifts in household dynamics that drove a surge in quick, ready-made consumer goods, including microwave dinners and other ready-made foods.

The exhibit will also include a replica of Sparrow’s studio and a new self-made documentary about the creation of the exhibit. It will be on view at the Momentary beginning next summer and running through July 11, 2027.

The photography of a former art director for Texas-based grocery chain H-E-B is coming to the land of Walmart.

At his day job, he focused on making products stand out on store shelves. 

With his art, he encouraged people to see those same items differently. The exhibit description says his photography will “prompt viewers to consider that the goods people buy, consume, discard, or treasure are more than just things; they are evidence of life.”

The exhibit will be on display at the Momentary starting in summer 2026.