I recently attended the opening of the exhibition Rembrandt: Masterpieces in Black and White—Prints from the Rembrandt House Museum at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery in the United Kingdom, where it will be on view through June 1, 2025.

A fellow Dutchman, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669) is widely regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. Apart from his atmospheric paintings, he also produced more than 300 etchings. Ranging in scale and detail, these etchings exemplify Rembrandt’s mastery of print.

Rembrandt, known by his first name (like modern-day Madonna or Sting) was a master of innovation. As an artist, he constantly sought out new possibilities and new solutions for making art. This is evident not only from his paintings, but also from the more than three hundred etchings that he made in his career. Rembrandt: Masterpieces in Black and White—Prints from the Rembrandt House Museum presents the full range of Rembrandt’s etching output, alongside prints by select forerunners and contemporaries. It also demonstrates Rembrandt’s centuries-long impact on the field of printmaking through a select group of etchings by later nineteenth and twentieth-century artists.

A Dutch Baroque painter and printmaker, Rembrandt was one of the greatest storytellers in the history of art, possessing an exceptional ability to render people in their various moods and dramatic guises. Today he is widely regarded as one of the two most important printmakers in history, along with Albrecht Dürer. From his earliest etchings, Rembrandt created original compositions oriented towards the specific character of the medium. As a result, his prints range widely from large to small, and from summary sketches to laborious and elaborate works. He addressed an equally varied set of subjects, including Biblical stories, portraits, depictions of exaggerated or characteristic facial expressions called “tronies,” observations of everyday life, landscapes, nude model studies, and even sheets packed with small sketches.

Rembrandt’s printmaking style changed over his career, and he honed his style across a wide variety of subjects. Both his progress and the variety of his output will be traced in a number of thematic sections in this exhibition. These sections will cover everything from Rembrandt’s masterful skills as a visual narrator, his bold exploration of light and dark, and how he used self-portraits to fashion his own visual identity and explore the complexity of aging. The exhibition also includes select comparative works by Rembrandt’s forerunners and contemporaries, including his teacher Pieter Lastman and his pupils, Ferdinand Bol and Govert Flinck, which will contextualize his work and shed light on his specific innovations, such as his repeated experiments with etching, tonal effects, and the dramatic portrayal of his subjects.

The exhibition is accompanied by a free educational brochure developed by the AFA with an introduction by Epco Runia, Head of Collections at the Rembrandt House Museum, and with me as editor. Following Birmingham, UK, the exhibition will be on view at the Gibbes Museum in Charleston, SC (October 24, 2025 – January 11, 2026) and the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati, OH (February 7 – May 17, 2026).

Rembrandt: Masterpieces in Black and White—Prints from the Rembrandt House Museum is co-organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Rembrandt House Museum.

Anke Van Wagenberg, PhD, is Senior Curator & Head of International Collaborations at the American Federation of Arts in New York and lives in Talbot County.

I recently attended the opening of Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature’s Underworld exhibition at the Lowe Art Museum, at the University of Miami, FL, where it will be on view through July 20, 2025. This wonderful exhibition is the first two-person exhibition of these closely allied artists, offering a compelling tour through their celebrated careers and into the shadowy depths of the threatened natural world.

The first two-person exhibition of these celebrated artists, Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature’s Underworld explores their shared allegiances and sustaining friendship over a period of three decades. Maintaining singular stylistic voices, both Dion and Rockman have achieved international prominence for their own distinctive practices, while their creative and intellectual trajectories have evolved in tandem and often intersected. Together they have embarked on tropical expeditions; published dialogues; and co-edited the pioneering 1996 book Concrete Jungle, on anthropogenic ecosystems. Each has probed our strained relationship with the environment and the consequences of reigning ideologies about nature. Dion and Rockman were among the earliest artists to address, and even anticipate, the epic ecological problems we now face. Indeed, their vision has become increasingly urgent in this time of environmental collapse.

Uniting some twenty-five sculptures and paintings by both artists along with selected works on paper and a major new collaborative piece, this exhibition offers an absorbing journey into the depths of the threatened natural world.

Although working in different media, Dion and Rockman engage a number of like approaches and strategies, including intensive research and fieldwork; borrowing scientific methodology and models; and the use of allegory, dark humor, and popular culture tropes. Both artists employ methods of display found in museums of art and natural history, institutions of alleged authority and objectivity, which they slyly subvert in their works. While Dion’s preferred museological modes are taxidermy dioramas and specimen cabinets, Rockman revels in large-scale landscape paintings, densely populated and replete with didactic keys. Like natural history displays and wildlife illustrations, their works are grounded in science and close observation, but presented in a rhetorical, or even theatrical, manner.

The concept of “underworld” in the exhibition’s title encompasses several germane associations, including the mythic abode of the dead, archaeology, the Earth’s subsurface, and elements of criminality or vice. Within the context of Dion’s and Rockman’s oeuvres, the notion also incorporates unconscious beliefs about nature, invisible micro and macro dimensions, and deep denial of our culture’s harmful course. In the past two decades, during which the environmental crisis has escalated, both artists have expressed increasing pessimism and melancholy about our ecological fate. This gloom has not proved stifling, however, and Dion and Rockman continue to hone creative tactics for staging both the wonder and woe of nature’s condition.

The exhibition feels like a voyage of discovery through various pressing subjects, with the artists’ works serving as enticing guides. Beginning with a section evoking the fieldwork of pioneering naturalists and explorers, visitors encounter field-station tableaux by Dion alongside Rockman’s paintings of fauna and dramatic terrains, often with cross-sectioned views. Ensuing works address such themes as invasive and endangered species, beleaguered aquatic environments, anthropogenic landscapes, and future scenarios evincing effects of climate change and waning biodiversity.

An exhibition highlight is the debut of a grand sculptural diorama, titled American Landscape, created especially for the tour and marking an unprecedented collaboration between Dion and Rockman. This zoological group portrait, set on a golf course, features a cast of scrappy species that, according to the artists, successfully “exploit niches and opportunities generated by a human-transformed landscape” representing “the future global ecosystem.” The exhibition also includes a selection of related drawings and prints by both Dion and Rockman. In addition, participating museums have the option of developing, along with the artists, an adjunct “Chamber of Wonders” display, conceived as a flexible cabinet of curiosities intended to inspire both awe and concern about the natural world. One of the ephemera that caught my attention was Mark Dion’s Decomposition Books, full of his field notes.

Anke Van Wagenberg, PhD, is Senior Curator & Head of International Collaborations at the American Federation of Arts in New York and lives in Talbot County, MD

The accompanying 120-page catalog, Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature’s Underworld, written by Suzanne Ramljak, with contributions by Lucy R. Lippard and Patrick Jaojoco, was published by the American Federation of Arts and Hirmer Publishers.

The exhibition was organized by the American Federation of Arts and has toured at the Bruce Museum (Greenwich, CT, 2023), the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (Virginia Beach, VA, 2024), and The Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore (Saratoga Springs, NY, 2025-2025). The tour will conclude at the Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State (University Park, PA, August 23 – December 7, 2025).

Working at the American Federation of Arts is just about as exciting as an art curator’s job can be, with lots of, yes curating exhibitions, publishing catalogs, and related travel (while living in beautiful Talbot County). Bringing art to a wide public has been the AFA’s mission as the leader in traveling exhibitions internationally. A nonprofit organization founded in 1909, the AFA is dedicated to enriching the public’s experience and understanding of the visual arts through organizing and touring art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishing exhibition catalogues featuring important scholarly research, and developing educational programs.  I look forward to regularly contributing to the Spy, either by contributing articles or podcast reviews and artist interviews.

I recently attended the Farm to Table: Art, Food, and Identity in the Age of Impressionism exhibition opening, first at the Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, and now on view at the Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN, until May 4th. The AFA-Chrysler organized exhibition will continue on to the Cincinnati Art Museum, OH and lastly to the Seattle Art Museum. Farm to Table: Art, Food, and Identity in the Age of Impressionism explores the intersections of art, gastronomy, and national identity in fin-de-siècle France. The exhibition showcases the work of artists such as Claude Monet, Eva Gonzalès, Victor Gilbert, Paul Gauguin, and Jules Dalou who examined the nation’s unique relationship with food. The bounty of France’s agriculture and the skill of its chefs had long helped to define its strength and position on the international stage.

This self-image as the world’s culinary capital became all the more important in the late nineteenth century as the country grappled with war, political instability, imperialism, and industrialization. In this climate, France’s culinary traditions signaled notions of its refinement, fortitude, and ingenuity while they also exposed fractures that destabilized national identity. From cultivation to consumption, food was central to notions of glory but also to those of collective pain.

The transformation of the culinary world was a natural theme for artists committed to depicting daily circumstances. Food was the most quotidian of subjects yet also one uniquely suited to considering the state of the nation. Featuring approximately seventy works of art, Farm to Table showcases representations of sumptuous ingredients and severe privation, bountiful meals and agrarian crises. The works highlight the possibilities and precariousness of France’s colonial and industrial projects; the evolving norms of gender and class; the tenuous relationship between Paris and the provinces; and shifting understandings of science and the environment. Depictions of markets and gardens, farmers, chefs, and restaurants expressed cultural anxieties and aspirations. Beginning with the 1870 Prussian siege of Paris (and the resultant food crisis) and continuing through the 1890s, the exhibition spans the age of Impressionism and provides a new way to consider the era’s depictions of modern life at the
intersection of art, food, and social politics.

An accompanying catalog Farm to Table: Art, Food, and Identity in the Age of Impressionism, (2024), was edited by curators Andrew Eschelbacher and Lloyd DeWitt, with contributions by Allison Deutsch, Simon Kelly, Marni Kessler, and Shalini Le Gall, Published by Yale University Press in association with the Chrysler Museum of Art and the American Federation of Arts.

Anke Van Wagenberg, PhD, is Senior Curator & Head of International Collaborations at the American Federation of Arts in New York and lives in Talbot County, Maryland.

Jordan Tice, who launched his national tour at the Avalon Theatre’s Stoltz Listening Room last week, bridges the gap between old-time tradition and modern storytelling. Whether he discovered bluegrass icons like Doc Watson and ragtime guitarist Blind Blake before finding his way to Bob Dylan, Randy Newman, and Paul Simon—or the other way around—his music reflects a rare ability to meld past and present seamlessly.

Tice opened with Down by the River, a song originally recorded by Uncle Dave Macon in 1924. In his hands, however, it felt completely fresh. Too often, musicians treat traditional songs as museum pieces, something to be handled with reverence but never altered. Tice, by contrast, breathes new life into them, stretching and reshaping them in ways that feel both innovative and natural.

His own compositions stood comfortably alongside the classics. Walkin’, a standout original, showcased his intricate fingerpicking and sharp lyricism: “Cranes going up to the sky and then down / Buildin’ on what’s been torn down / And people for a while they’d come around…”

At times, Tice’s rapid-fire vocal delivery added urgency, though it occasionally came at the expense of his carefully crafted lyrics.

His choice of covers reflected his deep musical influences. A stirring rendition of Bob Dylan’s Tryin’ to Get to Heaven (from 1997’s unappreicated Time Out of Mind) led to one of his most expressive guitar solos of the night. Randy Newman’s Dayton, Ohio 1903 fit his style perfectly, its wistful lyrics and lilting melody capturing the sepia-toned warmth that runs through much of Tice’s music. He ended the night with Paul Simon’s lovely and optimistic Born at the Right Time, a fitting closer that left the audience on an uplifting note.

The concert also offered a preview of Tice’s upcoming album, with two brand-new songs debuting live. Quiet Light, co-written with Grammy-winner Sarah Jarosz, stood out as one of the evening’s best moments, offering a quiet yet profound reflection: “Who knows what tomorrow brings / So take your time / And let it all run across your mind.”

While Jarosz will sing harmony on the recorded version, fiddle player Patrick M’Gonigle stepped in beautifully, his vocal  harmonies and expressive playing adding richness to the performance. His skills were also on display during Mean Old World, where he took on the challenge of filling in for Aoife O’Donovan’s harmonies from Tice’s previous recordings. Nickel Creek’s Jeff Picker provided understated but essential bass lines, anchoring the sound with warmth and subtlety.

Still, Tice’s Thompson guitar was the true star of the night. Whether delicately fingerpicking through a ballad or delivering fleet bluegrass runs, his playing was both technically masterful and emotionally resonant. Instrumentals like Badlettsville and Horse County Rag, which might serve as low-energy interludes in another artist’s set, became highlights in Tice’s hands.

Currently on tour across the Eastern U.S., Tice proves that traditional music doesn’t have to be frozen in time—it can be revived, reinvented, and made new again. If his performance at the Stoltz was any indication, this is a tour well worth catching.

Mark Pelavin, the founder of Hambleton Cove Consulting, is a writer, consultant, and music lover living very happily in St. Michaels.

There was a moment near the end of veteran singer-songwriter Ellis Paul’s performance at the Avalon Theatre’s Stoltz Listening Room on Sunday night that perfectly captured why a sold-out crowd had braved the rain to hear live music. As Paul prepared to close out his set, an audience member called out a request for “Home,” a song Paul wrote two decades ago. The fan explained that the song had helped save his marriage.

Paul, visibly moved, paused for a moment before settling in at the keyboard to play it. The audience, which had been singing along moments earlier, fell silent as he delivered the lyrics with quiet intensity: “Home… sits across the table / Home… is dreaming in my sheets / Home… home… / This house is just an address / You lift me from all sadness / This house is just an address, you’re my home.”

Throughout the night, Paul proved why he remains a beloved presence in folk and Americana music after more than four decades on the road. His set was filled with stories—some true, some embellished, all engaging. “Kick Out the Lights (Johnny Cash)” recounted the famous tale of Cash “dancing with his demons” at the Grand Ole Opry, smashing out 54 stage lights in a rebellious frenzy. “Holy” captured an Irish immigrant’s determination to chase the American dream despite the doubts of those he left behind:
“His friends say, ‘Christ, Declan, please / You’re wasting your prayers on a dream.’ / He says, ‘Watch me.’”

One of the most powerful moments of the evening came with “Troy’s Song,” based on the real-life story of a Desert Storm veteran suffering from PTSD. On the brink of taking his own life, Troy found salvation in a program that pairs veterans with retired racehorses. The song’s lyrics painted a poignant picture of healing and trust: “In that ring with Whiskey and me / Our hearts beat in some kind of synchronicity / And I trusted him / And he came to trust me / We were two old warriors / Starting all over again / Building trust / Like two old friends.”

Other highlights of the night included the “only slightly sacrilegious” “I’m No Jesus,” a wryly tender love song (“Now I can’t walk on water / Can’t part the sea / The only miracle that I’ve seen / Is you walking down the aisle to me”), and the stunning “Gold in California,” which painted a vivid picture of the California coastline bathed in golden light.

Paul was completely at home on stage, delivering songs and stories with passion, energy, and humor. Many of the acts that pass through the Stoltz Listening Room are young artists on their way up, bringing the thrill of new discovery to their performances. Paul, who recently celebrated his 60th birthday, has been touring relentlessly for over 40 years, playing hundreds of shows annually. And yet, his enthusiasm remains undiminished.

In the end, it wasn’t just Paul’s songs or stories that made the night special—it was the genuine joy he brought to the stage, a joy that filled the room and reminded everyone why live music, even on a rainy night, is worth showing up for.

Mark Pelavin, the founder of Hambleton Cove Consulting, is a writer, consultant, and music lover living very happily in St. Michaels.

It’s a Tuesday night in February. The dinner plates have been cleared, the glow of the TV remote feels uninspiring, and the winter chill outside makes staying in seem like the easy choice. You and your partner sit on the couch, scrolling through your phones, each lost in your own little world. Another quiet evening, another missed opportunity to connect.

Now, imagine this instead: The two of you wander into a softly lit gallery at the Academy Art Museum. A striking painting catches your eye—bold, unfamiliar, something about it stirs you. You turn to your partner and ask, “What do you see?” They hesitate, then offer an answer that surprises you. You hadn’t thought of it that way. The conversation unfolds, ideas are exchanged, and suddenly, you’re learning something new—not just about the art, but about each other.

The idea that museums can strengthen relationships isn’t just anecdotal—it’s backed by science. Engaging with art in a shared space has been shown to increase intimacy, communication, and even attraction between partners. A study published in Museum Management and Curatorship found that couples who participated in cultural activities together, such as visiting a museum, reported a greater sense of closeness and relationship satisfaction than those who did not. Another report in The Journal of Positive Psychology revealed that engaging in novel and intellectually stimulating experiences with a partner enhances overall relationship quality by promoting shared meaning and increasing emotional bonds.

There’s a well-documented psychological phenomenon known as the “novelty effect”—when couples engage in new and stimulating activities, their brains release dopamine, the same neurotransmitter responsible for feelings of love and attraction. Studies have found that couples who experience novelty together—whether through travel, trying new activities, or engaging in cultural events—report higher levels of relationship satisfaction than those who fall into predictable routines.

Research from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that shared aesthetic experiences, such as looking at art together, enhance emotional synchrony. This means that when couples observe and discuss artwork, their emotional responses align, deepening their sense of connection. Another study, published in Social and Personality Psychology Compass, found that mutual engagement with artistic and cultural activities fosters a sense of unity, reducing stress and promoting feelings of well-being.

Moreover, art has been shown to activate areas of the brain linked to pleasure and reward. A 2011 study in Brain and Cognition demonstrated that viewing art stimulates the same neural pathways as love and desire, making a museum visit a surprisingly potent tool for rekindling passion.

If you’re looking for a way to break free from the monotony of daily life and bring fresh energy into your relationship, here are a few ways to make the Academy Art Museum part of your next date night:

Walk Through an Exhibition Together

Museums provide a perfect environment for slow, thoughtful conversation—an antidote to the digital distractions that often interrupt our daily interactions. Unlike watching a film, where the experience is passive, engaging with an art exhibition encourages discussion. A study in Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts found that sharing interpretations of artwork fosters intellectual intimacy and helps couples appreciate each other’s perspectives. Next time you visit an exhibition, challenge yourselves to find a piece you both love—or one you completely disagree on—and talk about why.

Experience Live Music at the Museum

Live music is uniquely powerful in creating emotional bonds. A 2017 study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that shared musical experiences enhance empathy and social bonding. The recent Roaring Rhythms jazz concert at the museum was a perfect example—couples swayed to the music, exchanged knowing smiles, and found themselves caught up in the shared experience of melody and rhythm. Attending a live performance together creates lasting sensory memories that become part of a couple’s shared history.

Catch a Film at the Museum’s New Film Series

Film screenings at the museum offer more than just a night out—they provide a structured yet intimate way to engage with storytelling together. A study in The Journal of Social and Personal Relationships found that couples who watch and discuss films that explore relationship dynamics report better conflict resolution skills and deeper emotional understanding of their partners. Whether it’s an art-house film, a classic, or a contemporary drama, watching and discussing a movie together allows couples to reflect on themes that resonate with their own experiences.

Share a Love for Literature at a ShoreLit Book Talk

Books open up entire worlds, and discussing them with a partner can reveal surprising insights about each other. The Journal of Applied Social Psychology reports that engaging in literary discussions strengthens cognitive empathy—the ability to understand and share another’s emotions. The museum’s ShoreLit book talks introduce fresh voices in literature, giving you the chance to discover new ideas together. Whether you agree or disagree on an author’s perspective, the conversation will bring depth to your interactions

Get Creative Together in a Studio Class

Creative collaboration is one of the most effective ways to strengthen a relationship. A landmark study in The Creativity Research Journal found that couples who engage in artistic activities together report higher levels of relationship satisfaction, largely due to the cooperative problem-solving and emotional expression required in creative tasks. Taking an art class at the museum—whether it’s painting, pottery, or printmaking—provides a fun, low-pressure environment to experiment, make mistakes, and support each other. It’s about the process, not the product—and about creating something together, both literally and metaphorically.

Flowers wilt, chocolates disappear, but a shared experience at the Academy Art Museum? That’s something you’ll carry with you. This February, instead of the usual dinner-and-a-movie routine, consider a date night that deepens your connection in ways both scientifically proven and emotionally felt. Whether it’s standing side by side in front of a breathtaking painting, hearing live music together, or getting your hands messy in a ceramics class, museums provide an unparalleled setting for meaningful interaction.

After all, love is an art. And like any masterpiece, it needs time, attention, and the right environment to flourish.

Daedelus Hoffman is the director of education and interpretation at the Academy Art Museum. 

Looking for a creative way to spend time with your partner this month? Visit the Academy Art Museum and explore our exhibitions, events, and studio classes at academyartmuseum.org.