SEASON OPENING: The [Fall] ReFRAME Party

Join us at The ReFRAME, an immersive celebration with a fresh perspective, inspired by art and culture from around the world.

As the seasons change, so do our galleries. Come see what’s new at the BMA as we enliven our art-filled spaces with music, performances, and curator-led gallery talks. Inspired by our current exhibition, Light Play, this evening will celebrate the role of LIGHT in art and cultures across the globe.

The ReFRAME is presented by Medical Properties Trust.

5 – 9pm // Open Galleries

Explore our three new exhibitions along with the rest of our rotating permanent collection.

5 – 9PM // DJ Andrea Really // Lobby

DJ Andrea Really brings global beats that will elevate your gallery going experience.

5 – 9PM // Nail Art // Lobby

Enjoy a work of art right at your fingertips! Nail artist Nicola will be transforming guests’ nails with work inspired by our collection. Wedgwood blue nails, anyone?

5 – 9PM // Silhouette Portraits 

Explore the silhouettes in our Light Play exhibition and then have your own silhouette portrait made by artist Brandi Still! Your custom portrait will be yours to take home.

5:30 – 8:30 // Luminarts

Ready to light up the night are performers from Luminarts Entertainment, who will be circulating throughout the galleries with LED artistry.

5:30 – 8:30PM // Flutist

Enjoy the new exhibition Hand-Held: The Four Seasons of Chinese Painting to the tune of traditional Chinese music played live in the galleries by a classical flutist.

6PM // Director’s Talk // American gallery

BMA Director, Dr. Graham C. Boettcher, explores the wonder of light in a BMA favorite, Albert Bierstadt’s Looking Down Yosemite Valley, California.

7PM // Gallery Talk // Jemison Galleries

Curator of American Art, Katelyn D. Crawford sheds light on Larry Bell’s glass sculpture, currently on view in the exhibition Light Play.

7:30PM // Gallery Talk // Jemison Galleries

Curatorial Assistant, Hina Zaidi, illuminates a stunning work in the Light Play exhibition, “The Migration of Stars/while you were gone” by Afruz Amighi.

Light Play

In this exhibition, artists examine the many meanings of ‘light’ and ‘play’ through medium, expression, meaning, and form. Light Play brings together contemporary artists and works exploring the manipulation, effects, and emotions of light, including the double meaning of the word ‘light,’ by featuring works that are lively or humorous in subject matter. Together, these works reflect the expanse of contemporary artworks incorporating light. Whether using it literally, metaphorically, or conceptually, each artist radiates the profound influence of the power of light.

Hand-Held: The Four Seasons in Chinese Painting

Through the lens of the four seasons—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—this exhibition explores the intimate visual storytelling experience found within small-scale Chinese landscape paintings. Whether formatted in a popular fan shape, as an album leaf, a handscroll, or a glossy ceramic, the paintings featured in this exhibition were intended to be studied up-close and to be handled. Many of the paintings combine detailed images and the elevated art form of calligraphy with inscriptions that describe painting styles, provide dedication to friends and family, and offer the date when the work was made. Journey through the seasons, from the blossoming peach trees and greening mountains of spring to the pillowy surfaces of newly fallen snow in a winter landscape, in this charming exhibition of Chinese painting.

Wall to Wall: Rico Gatson presented by PNC

The second iteration of Wall to Wall presented by PNC features Brooklyn-based contemporary artist Rico Gatson, who transformed the walls of the Museum lobby with a colorful, life-size image of iconic Birmingham figure, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, and an abstract composition inspired by Sun Ra. Guests at the August Art on the Rocks, were invited to paint alongside Rico in the lobby to help complete the installation. Through community engagement, Gatson hopes to bring the energy from the Civil Rights movement into the present.