The new year begins with bold ideas, powerful storytelling, and fresh perspectives at The Delaware Contemporary. This winter and spring, Delaware’s premier contemporary art museum unveils seven thought-provoking exhibitions that explore environment, identity, memory, and the preservation of interior life, marking one of the museum’s most ambitious seasons to date. 

This museum-wide season includes site-specific installations, group exhibitions across multiple art forms, and immersive experiences that encourage visitors to think about our connections to place, history, and each other.

Visitors will discover a diverse mix of media, voices, and experiences throughout the galleries.

The Delaware Contemporary

  • 200 S. Madison St.

Explore contemporary art and stimulate your creativity with our always-changing, thought-provoking exhibitions, events, and programs! The Delaware Contemporary houses 7 galleries, 26 artist studios…

The Delaware Contemporary

Highlights from the Winter/Spring 2026 Exhibitions 


Holding Water 

Artist Mary Mattingly presents a striking site-specific installation featuring a suspended dugout canoe that slowly drips water from the Christina River into vessels below, creating a “water clock” that reflects our region’s ongoing relationship with its watershed. 

Alchemical Signal Flow 

In this immersive installation, Emily Francisco reassembles obsolete technologies and disrupted signal systems, using discarded materials to explore fragmented time and memory. 

This Place Meant The Place Meant

Artists Thea Abu El-Haj, Rayan Elnayal, and Shira Walinsky examine the sensory experience of “home” when shaped by displacement, migration, and personal history. 

Constellations of Belonging 

Featuring work by Debra Cartwright and Tiana McMillan, this exhibition explores how artists maintain a private inner life while navigating public visibility and presence. 

Black Collage: Aesthetic Legacies 

Through works by Isaiah Winters, Anthony Grant, SHAN Wallace, Devin N. Morris, and Wickerman & Lomax, this exhibition examines collage as a tool for reclaiming agency and shaping contemporary Black visual culture. 

Creative Influence(r) 

Artists Lindsey Cherek Waller and Perry Picasshoe challenge traditional museum pathways, using social media and digital platforms to reach global audiences and expand institutional access. 

A Red Sun Has Water in Its Eye 

Pittsburgh-based artist Lucia Riffel creates time-based installations that distill fleeting, immaterial moments through animation, horticulture, and sculptural environments. 

Together, these exhibitions reveal how artistic rituals help us process change, preserve memory, and find belonging in a rapidly evolving world. The Winter/Spring 2026 Season officially kicks off with a First Friday Art Loop opening reception on Friday, February 6, from 5–9 PM, offering the perfect opportunity to experience all seven exhibitions in one evening. 

Gallery Hours:  
Wednesday: 4–8 PM 
Thursday & Friday: 12–5 PM 
Saturday & Sunday: 10:30 AM–5 PM 
Admission: 
$7 Adults 
$5 Seniors, Veterans, and Students with ID 
FREE for ages 18 and under & Museum Members 

For full exhibition details, hours, and updates, visit delawarecontemporary.org and discover why 2026 is shaping up to be an inspiring year for contemporary art in Wilmington.