Exhibitions

EXHIBITIONS

EVENTS

EXPLORE OUR WIDE RANGE OF ONGOING, UPCOMING, AND ONLINE EXHIBITIONS

There’s something new to experience every time you come to the Martha’s Vineyard Museum. Exhibitions change frequently allowing you to explore new facets of Island history and culture with each visit.

Mar 22, 2025 - Mar 8, 2026
Saltzman Cabinet of Curiosities

Vanity: The Last Working Catboat

Built over the winter of 1928-29 by Edgartown boatbuilder Manuel Swartz Roberts for commercial fisherman Thomas Pease and his son Oscar, the catboat Vanity worked the waters of Martha’s Vineyard for over half a century. In this exhibit, explore the life of the last working catboat of Martha’s Vineyard through artifacts, photographs, archival materials, and film footage.

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May 24, 2025 - Sep 7, 2025
The Grain Family, Hollinshead, Cox, and Fleischner Galleries

Jaws at 50: A Deeper Dive

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of JAWS, the Martha’s Vineyard Museum is proud to present the first-ever comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the film's production on Martha’s Vineyard. Through photographs, oral histories, original art, and movie props, this exhibit will delve into how the Island became the fictional Amity Island, showcasing the Vineyarders who brought the movie to life and the enduring legacy of Spielberg's blockbuster.

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Jul 6, 2025 - Oct 12, 2025
Adele H. Waggaman Community Gallery

Mermaid Farm: Beauty & Struggle

Curated by seasonal visitor Lexi Van Valkenburgh, this exhibition explores the past and present of farming on Martha’s Vineyard. Once predominantly agricultural, the Island has seen much of its farmland lost to development. Through a series of photographs taken by Van Valkenburgh at Mermaid Farm—one of only two remaining dairy farms—the exhibit traces the Island’s agricultural history and tells the story of a family deeply rooted in the land.

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UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS


ONGOING EXHIBITIONS

The Aileen and Brian Roberts Gallery

One Island, Many Stories

This exhibit offers an introduction to Island history arranged in a thematic way. Visitors are able to learn about the diverse history of Martha’s Vineyard through the lenses of fishing, farming, changing, voyaging, creating, escaping, and belonging.

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The Linnemann Pavilion, Lower Level

Flashes of Brilliance

This exhibit chronicles the history of lighthouses on the Island diving into the details of the Gay Head Light in Aquinnah. Set in the midst of this space, and spanning two floors like a suspended jewel, is the magnificent first-order Fresnel Lens, which was first installed in the Gay Head Light from 1854 to 1952.

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The Linnemann Pavilion, Lower Level

The Challenge of the Sea

This exhibit explores the stories associated with shipping and navigation, lifesaving, and weather in Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds, the second-busiest waterways in the world in the 19th century.

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The Linnemann Pavilion, Lower Level

Hands-On History

This special place is “kid-scale.” A climb-in boat, a sea captain’s cabin, a fishing shack – these are some of the iconic experiences that will help kids to learn through discovery.

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The Johnston/Conrad Family Gallery

On This Site

This exhibit chronicles the historical significance of the site that the Museum sits on. Did you know a lighthouse once existed on the front terrace?

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The Lana and Willie Woods Orientation Theater

History Highlights

This gallery presents a brief animated program that introduces the Island’s timeline, from prehistory to present day. It is meant to provide context to visitors and an overview of Island history before they explore the other permanent and rotating galleries in the Museum.

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Doherty Hall is located behind the main building, adjacent to the Bodman Courtyard and Rose Styron Garden.

Doherty Hall

Doherty Hall is home to some of the larger objects in the Museum’s collection. Located inside are a number of boats, the original hearse from the town of Edgartown, the Mayhew peddler’s cart used for deliveries at Alley’s General Store, a Hawaiian canoe, surfboards, an Erford Burt kayak, the headlamp from the Island’s locomotive and much more. Located in the barn behind the main Museum building.

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ONLINE EXHIBITIONS

Treasured Beacon: The Edgartown Lighthouse

Explore the history, transformation, and importance of this beloved beacon.

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