Escape NYC's Fall Frenzy: 23 Must-See Art Exhibitions Outside the City

Art Escapes: Explore Exhibitions Beyond NYC's Fall Frenzy

Looking for a day trip to escape the NYC fall chaos? Look no further than these must-see art exhibitions just outside the city. From contemporary art in a former high school to monumental sculptures in a bucolic meadow, there's something for every art lover.

Get your fill of art and autumn foliage with these exciting exhibitions:

Upstate New York:

• The Campus: Contemporary art takes over an abandoned high school in Hudson, NY, with a sprawling inaugural exhibition featuring curated presentations pairing artists from different galleries, as well as a section dedicated to this year’s Studio Fellows at the Connecticut nonprofit NXTHVN. (Through Oct. 27)

• Thomas Cole National Historic Site: Explore the work of Alan Michelson (Mohawk member of the Six Nations of the Grand River) in a textual, fictional, historical, and visual tapestry of Indigenous relationships to land. (Through Dec. 1)

• Hessel Museum of Art: Carrie Mae Weems' century-spanning exhibition invites you into obscure bodies of work that still channel her unparalleled limpidity and conviction. (Through Dec. 1)

• Hessel Museum of Art: Experience the expansive practice of Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen in his first major show, Time & the Tiger, which captures the material, mythological, and narrative elements that inform Ho’s keen interest in who constructs history. (Through Dec. 1)

• Storm King Art Center: Discover Arlene Shechet's distinct sensibility applied to monuments rendered in steel, paper, bronze, and more. (Through Nov. 10)

• Wassaic Project: Dana Robinson translates portraits and ads from Ebony magazine issues of the 1970s into entrancing paintings, visualizing the ways that capitalism and ideals of upward mobility distort us. (Through Jan. 12, 2025)

• Art Omi: Jimenez Lai brings buried industrial structures to the surface in his installation Outcasts from the Underground. (Opening Sept. 6)

• Art Omi: Riley Hooker gives new meaning to the museum bench with an installation comprised of “slime mold”. (Opening Sept. 6)

Long Island:

• Heckscher Museum of Art: The eighth edition of the Long Island Biennial focuses on contemporary sociopolitical issues ahead of elections in the United States and dozens of other countries. (Sept. 14–Jan. 19, 2025)

• Parrish Art Museum: Staged across the museum's South Meadow are four of Carmen Herrera's Estructuras, monumental sculptures designed in the late ’60s but not realized until decades later. (Through Dec. 8)

• Parrish Art Museum: Explore a return to the “subjectivist passion” of painting in A New Subjectivity, 1979/2024. (Oct. 13–April 6, 2025)

New Jersey:

• Zimmerli Art Museum: Experience the first museum exhibition of eminent photojournalist Michelle V. Agins's work, from her coverage of the 1990 protests in the wake of the murder of Black teenager Yusuf Hawkins to her intimate portraits of Aretha Franklin, James Baldwin, and Serena Williams. (Through Dec. 8, 2024)

• Newark Museum of Art: Bony Ramirez presents paintings and site-specific installations that contend with Caribbean history and his upbringing in the Dominican Republic. (Through March 9, 2025)

• Art@Bainbridge at the Princeton University Art Museum: Discover the experimental and collaborative approach of Helène Aylon, an underrated eco-feminist artist. (Sept. 14–Feb. 2, 2025)

• ArtYard: This exhibition brings together artists from New York and New Jersey, as well as Philadelphia, to explore physical, psychic, and cultural barriers. (Oct. 19—Jan. 26, 2025)

• Hunterdon Art Museum: Discover the hand-painted dolls of Kimberly Camp rooted in both her African diasporic community and a mythological world of her own making. (Sept. 22–Jan. 12, 2025)

Connecticut:

• The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum: Explore the work of Martha Diamond, from her depictions of her studio in the 1960s to her meditations on the psycho-spaces of ancient monuments and contemporary buildings. (Nov. 17–May 18, 2025)

More art beyond NYC:

• Dia Beacon: Immerse yourself in the work of Steve McQueen, who continues to explore the ways light, sound, and color can alter our experience. (Through Spring 2025)

• Dia Beacon: Experience the installations of Felix Gonzalez-Torres in ‘Untitled’ (Loverboy), a tender installation that invites reflection on queer selfhood. (Through Spring 2025)

• Dia Beacon: This exhibition gathers the work of Lucas Samaras, who passed away earlier this year, in a play on mirrored surfaces, Minimalism, and geometric harmony. (Opening Sept. 21)

• Bard Graduate Center Gallery: This exhibition about the Sèvres Manufactory in France highlights the cooperative efforts between artists, architects, and designers, as well as the technological and chemical advances needed to create beautiful objects. (Sept. 21–Jan. 5, 2025)

Escape the city and explore these captivating exhibitions!