6th Annual Summer at the Norton Set

Juneteenth 2025 (Norton Museum)

(Press Release) West Palm Beach, Florida (May 19, 2026) — The Norton Museum of Art’s sixth annual Summer at the Norton festivities begin Memorial Day weekend and continue through Labor Day, bringing world-class art exhibitions, live performances, and activities for all ages.

The Norton will mark the nation’s 250th birthday with Art & Independence: America at 250, an exhibition that tells our collective story through works from the Collection. It’s open July 4 – December 6. And on select Sunday afternoons, the Museum will screen classic films that reflect the United States’ 250 years as a nation — Johnny Tremain (June 14), 1776 (June 28), The Alamo (July 12), Glory (July 26), The Grapes of Wrath (August 9), and Tora! Tora! Tora! (August 23).

---

​To ensure that our entire community can see Art & Independence, Palm Beach County residents will receive free admission to the Museum on Saturdays from May 23 to September 5.

“Accessibility to the arts inspires learning and creativity for our whole community,” said Ghislain d’Humières, the Museum’s Kenneth C. Griffin Director and CEO. “It’s timely that Community Days and free Saturday admission enable us to fill that need as we mark our nation’s birthday.”

The Norton’s free Community Days are a great opportunity for first-time visitors to see all the Museum offers, he noted.

The Juneteenth Community Day, 11 am – 4 pm, Saturday, June 20, is an intergenerational event that celebrates freedom and spotlights the African American experience with live musical performances, dance, gallery talks on art by African American artists, storytelling, and art-making activities. Complete details of the day’s events are available at www.norton.org.

The Art Around the World Community Day, noon – 4 pm, Saturday, August 15, brings a day of creativity and discovery. This family festival includes various programs in the Museum’s galleries celebrating the Norton’s Collection and cultural traditions from around the globe. All ages and ability levels are welcome. Visit www.norton.org for a complete schedule after July 15.

The Norton also offers a morning of fun for children with sensory needs and their families. Sensory-Friendly Sunday is 10 am – 1 pm, July 19. There will be art, music, art-making activities, and a quiet room. The Museum is open exclusively from 10 to 11 am for children with sensory needs and their families. Families are welcome to stay to participate in activities once the Museum opens to the public at 11 am. Space is limited; online registration is required and opens one month in advance. This is a free program, made possible by the generosity of the Elise M. Besthoff Charitable Foundation and David and Jennifer Feldman.

For adults with dementia, the Norton will host Creative Connections on May 22, June 26, July 24, and August 21. Creative Connections provides a museum experience for individuals living with dementia and their care partners. Explore the galleries together, enjoy guided tours, and more. The class includes a guided tour and an art-making project.

As always, Art After Dark will continue through the summer, with music, dance, tours, and classes from 5 – 10 pm each Friday, including a Juneteenth kickoff (June 19) and a Pride Night (June 26). To celebrate USA 250, Vocalitas, a USO-inspired girl group with very tight harmonies, will perform July 3.

Jazz Brunch continues as well, set for three Sundays -- June 14, July 12, and August 9 — in The Restaurant at the Norton, featuring live entertainment and drink and food specials.

Finally, the Norton’s galleries are filled with exhibitions curated to entertain, educate, and inspire:

• Danielle Mckinney: Shelter — Through October 4. A survey exhibition of paintings spanning the last six years of the artist’s practice. As the 10th artist to be exhibited as part of the Recognition of Art by Women (RAW) exhibition series, Danielle Mckinney (American, born 1981) creates artworks that depict her female subjects in private moments of solitude.

• Recognition of Art by Women: In Retrospect — Through September 27. This exhibition honors the past nine Recognition of Art by Women artists as the Norton ushers in its 10th recognized artist, Danielle Mckinney. Featuring artwork by Jenny Saville, Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Phyllida Barlow, Klara Kristalova, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Svenja Deininger, Nina Chanel Abney, María Berrío, and Rose B. Simpson, In Retrospect reflects on the series' impact, seizing the opportunity to present a group exhibition that illustrates the breadth of talent the series brought to light. 

• Artists at Work — Through June 21. Through paintings, sculptures, photographs, and more, this installation reveals a sliver of the who, where, and how behind the art. Artists’ portrayals of themselves and others in the act of artmaking accompany depictions of dynamic studios, while examples of artists’ preparatory works illustrate their creative processes.

• That’s Entertainment: Japanese Woodblock Prints and the Art of Leisure — Through July 5. This exhibition presents 31 Japanese woodblock prints by Utagawa Kunisada (Japanese, 1786 – 1864) and other leading artists of the Edo period (1615 – 1868). On view to the public for the first time since entering the Norton’s Collection, these rarely seen woodblock prints celebrate the creative energy and artistry of Japan’s iconic visual and performing artistic traditions.

• 60 Seconds: Polaroids from the Collection — Through August 16. This exhibition celebrates photography’s signature immediacy, tracing how artists have embraced Polaroids, or instant film, for their ability to produce a unique image in mere moments. 

• Galloping Steed: Celebrating the Year of the Horse in Chinese Paintings — Through August 23. Galloping Steed brings together works by Xu Beihong (1895 – 1953) alongside paintings by He Qingtai (born Louis Antoine de Poirot, France, 1735 – 1813), a French Jesuit artist who served at the court of the Qianlong Emperor (reigned 1735 – 1796).

• Cursed Images: Pictures Out of Context — Through November 1. This exhibition features a recent gift of 20th-century vernacular photographs (everyday, amateur snapshots) from the Peter J. Cohen Collection, one of the largest privately held archives of anonymous photographs in the United States. It highlights photographs whose subjects or object relationships evoke a subtle, inexplicable unease.

• Portrait Mode: Self-Reflections from Past, Present, and Future — Through August 16 (art by students).

• Art & Independence: America at 250 — July 4 – December 6. Works from the Norton’s Collection help tell the story of our nation as it marks its 250th anniversary.

• Ralph Coburn: Land, Sea, Sky — July 25 – January 3. Ralph Coburn (American, 1923 – 2018) spent winters in the Miami Beach area from the 1930s through the rest of his long life. The Art Deco aesthetics and architecture inspired his artistic career. This exhibition marks the first Florida Roots project, a series exploring artists whose careers are connected to the stimulating setting of the Sunshine State.

Free Saturday admission for Palm Beach County residents during Summer at the Norton was made possible by the generosity of the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation. Additionally, city of West Palm Beach residents receive free admission on Saturdays year-round.

For information and updates on Summer at the Norton, visit www.norton.org. or call (561) 832-5196.