Exhibitions
EXHIBITIONS
EVENTS
EXPLORE OUR WIDE RANGE OF ONGOING, UPCOMING, AND ONLINE EXHIBITIONS
At Martha’s Vineyard Museum, exhibitions change often—so there is always something new to explore. Dive into Island history, art, and culture on each visit.
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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Beim Gallery
Jaws at 50: An Island Story
Our 2025 exhibition Jaws at 50 was one of the Museum’s most popular shows ever, celebrating the Vineyard’s starring role in Steven Spielberg’s classic. Because of that excitement, we’re keeping the story alive with Jaws at 50: An Island Story. This smaller follow-up highlights the Islanders who built sets, piloted boats, and stepped in front of the camera, showing how their creativity and spirit helped bring Amity Island to life.
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Hollinshead, Cox, and Fleischner Galleries
Let’s Go to Circuit Avenue!
One of the Island’s most beloved streets, Circuit Avenue is a vibrant feast for all senses, and a summer destination for children and adults alike. This kid and family-centered exhibit explores the sights, sounds, and smells of Circuit Avenue through the years, offering a tactile adventure for our youngest visitors and a nostalgic look back for those who grew up walking up and down this iconic street.
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UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
Waggaman Community Gallery
The Crunch
The Crunch looks back at Aquinnah's demolition derby, a brief but unforgettable Island tradition of the early 1980s. Staged each fall on a hillside field, the event turned end-of-season cars into roaring, crashing spectacles that drew large crowds with no advertising. From 1979 to 1982k Islanders prepared their vehicles by stripping out glass, relocating fuel tanks, and making quick fixes before smashing them into one another until only one was left running. The mayhem and community spirit made the Crunch a short-lived but legendary chapter in Vineyard history.
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Grain Gallery
Tom Maley: Dancing in the Field
Tom Maley lived and worked on Martha's Vineyard for most of his life. In 1971 he co-founded the Field Gallery behind his West Tisbury home with friends and fellow artists. His large white outdoor figures became some of the Island's most recognizable landmarks. Maley also painted and led life-drawing sessions that supported many local artists. This exhibition, based on a generous gift from Maley's daughter, will include sculptures, paintings, drawings, and photographs. It will show Maley's working methods, his role in creating a community gallery, and his lasting importance in the Island's artistic life.
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Waggaman Community Gallery
Menagerie of Marvels: Paintings by Eleanor Hubbard
Menagerie of Marvels features twelve rescued animals whose lives changed when they met Vineyard artist Eleanor Hubbard. Through oil paintings and watercolors, Hubbard celebrates luck, care, and connection—anchored by a joyful tribute to José, the legendary West Tisbury ox.
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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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Treasured Beacon: The Edgartown Lighthouse
Explore the history, transformation, and importance of this beloved beacon.
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But… Such is War: Vietnam Reflections on Vineyard Waters
Sculpture and stories from Steve Maxner.
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Votes for Women: An Island Perspective
Explore how the fight for women’s suffrage intersected with life on the Island in the 19th and 20th century.
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