The final sprint to Election Day has begun. Voting is our opportunity to speak up and say, “This is what I believe in. This is how America should be.”
Artists are also weighing in, contemplating who we are as a nation: How does our history guide us? What drives us apart? What pulls us together? What legacy do we want to leave to future generations?
If such questions are also on your mind, we have some art exhibitions worth seeing. Some are broad explorations of democracy. Others home in on particular issues and express particular opinions. Social justice themes have long been fodder for contemporary artists, so you’ll find strong stances here, but you’ll also find celebrations of America, and ways that artists have championed democracy throughout history.
BETHANY COLLINS, AMERICA: A HYMNAL The song “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” itself a variation of “God Save the King,” debuted at Boston’s Park Street Church on July 4, 1831, and since then has been refashioned again and again to champion different causes. Collins compiled 100 versions of the song’s sheet music into an artist’s book, burning out musical notes with a laser and leaving lyrics to express ranges of opinions through the centuries. A sound piece made up of many voices accompanies the installation, which the artist has called “a familiar chaos of dissenting versions of what it means to be … American bound together.” Ongoing. At Peabody Essex Museum, 161 Essex St., Salem. 978-745-9500. www.pem.org/exhibitions/bethany-collins-america-a-hymnal
CATS FOR KAMALA! When Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance’s 2021 comments about “childless cat ladies” resurfaced and went viral in July, gallery owner Berta Walker saw an exhibition opportunity. She curated cat-related paintings, sculptures, and prints by artists including Danielle Mailer, Paul Resika, and Nancy Whorf. Mailer donated her “Cats for Kamala” print to use on T-shirts and tote bags. The show runs through Election Day. Through Nov. 5. Berta Walker Gallery, 208 Bradford St., Provincetown. 508-487-6411,www.bertawalkergallery.com
MATERIAL PROGRESS Artists Diana Weymar, Dina Nazmi Khorchid, and Marla L. McLeod delve into the current polarization in the United States and make the point that in order to function well, democracy requires participation. The exhibition features fiber and text-based artworks, paintings, and installations. Sept. 6 to Dec.1. ShowUp, 524B Harrison Ave. www.showupinc.org/master-calendar/material-progress
OFF THE PEDESTAL Public monuments of American history shape how we see our nation and ourselves — whom we make into heroes, and whom we ignore. In recent years many have been torn down. The City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture’s initiative “Un-monument | Re-monument | De-monument: Transforming Boston” opens the floor for debate, and as part of that programming, Emerson Contemporary will be taking a close look in a series “Regarding Monuments: Visualizing Hidden Histories.” This first show in the series — featuring multimedia, performance, and video installation art by Laura Anderson Barbata, New Red Order, and Paula J. Wilson — asks if public memory can be conveyed in a moment instead of in marble. Through Oct. 5. Emerson Contemporary, 25 Avery St. 617-824-8667 https://emersoncontemporary.org/event/off-the-pedestal-art-in-protest
POWER OF THE PEOPLE: ART AND DEMOCRACY This exhibition, drawn from the Museum of Fine Arts’s collection and stretching from ancient Greece to today, examines how art has always articulated ideas about democracy. Featuring mediums from marble reliefs to fashion, it includes a 1768 Sons of Liberty Bowl by Paul Revere Jr. and Shepard Fairey’s 2017 poster series, “We the People — Are Greater Than Fear.” Oct. 26-Feb. 16. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave. 617-267-9300, www.mfa.org/exhibition/power-of-the-people-art-and-democracy
TINY PRICKS PROJECT: DESPERATE TIMES, CREATIVE MEASURES Diana Weymar, who is also featured in “Material Progress” at ShowUp, started a public art project in 2018, unhappy with then-President Donald Trump. She stitched his words about being “a very stable genius” onto her grandmother’s embroidery. She then posted the image on social media, inspiring thousands of other needlework artists to record his words and those of others (including broadcaster Dan Rather, writer Alice Walker, and former Trump staffer Hope Hicks) with their handiwork, often on inherited or repurposed textiles. This show is a curated selection of those pieces. Sept. 7-Nov. 24. Fuller Craft Museum, 455 Oak St., Brockton. 508-588-6000 www.fullercraft.org/exhibitions/tiny-pricks-project-desperate-times-creative-measures/
TOMASHI JACKSON: ACROSS THE UNIVERSE Jackson’s multimedia works, based on deep archival research into issues such as desegregation, public transportation, and voting referenda, use color theory and layered materials to pose questions about democracy and systems of power in the US. A companion exhibit, “Envisioning Democracy,” features documentary photography by Larry Fink, Lee Friedlander, and Joel Meyerowitz capturing activities at the center of the democratic process, such as voting and protests. Those images hang alongside paintings and drawings by Jimmy Lee Sudduth and Mary Tillman Smith that address American ideals more personally. Through Dec. 8. Tufts University Art Galleries, 40 Talbot Ave., Medford. artgalleries.tufts.edu
SEE HOW THEY RUN: MARK OSTOW’S POLITICAL PORTRAITS Cambridge-based photographer Mark Ostow has a decades-long practice of following politics and politicians with his camera. This show captures some candid moments of leaders such as Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden. Sept. 14-Oct. 19, BRIDGE Gallery, 5 Pemberton St., Cambridge. 617-930-3418, www.bridge.photos
WRONGS & RIGHTS Coming to you from the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University and the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, this exhibition presses one of the hot-button issues in the 2024 election, reproductive rights, and looks back over its history in the last five decades. Artists include Judy Chicago and the Guerrilla Girls. Sept. 12 through Jan. 30. Kniznick Gallery, Women’s Studies Research Center, Brandeis University, 515 South St., Waltham. 781-736-8100 www.brandeis.edu/wsrc/arts/upcoming.html
Cate McQuaid can be reached at catemcquaid@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram @cate.mcquaid.