There is much to see and do around Newport County in the summertime, including taking in the summer art scene. We’ve rounded up a few not-to-miss exhibitions, which explore nature, landscapes, and the ocean, among other themes.
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“A Celebration of Trees”
Jamestown Arts Center, 18 Valley St., Jamestown; Through Aug. 29; jamestownartcenter.org
The tree has endured throughout written history as a fundamental framework through which we understand ourselves and our world. It is the organizing metaphor for our deepest structures of knowledge — from family trees that trace our genealogies to the branching dialectics of philosophy and the very roots of language. It is the silent protagonist in our foundational myths: the source of wisdom for Eve, the catalyst of discovery for Newton, the axis of Yggdrasil around which the cosmos turns. Beneath its canopy, we seek shelter; from its wood, we craft the instruments of art and civilization. The tree is the background of human culture, yet it continually erupts into the foreground, a living monument to time, resilience, and interconnectedness.
It is this intersection of the symbolic and the scientific, the mythical and the material, that “A Celebration of Trees” seeks to illuminate. The artists grapple with the full complexity of the tree, an entity whose gravitas far exceeds its physical form. They see in it a mirror of our own humanity. For some, the tree becomes an armature for exploring personal history and collective memory. For others, it is a sentinel sensing the tremors of ecological change, its fate deeply intertwined with — and a stark prediction of — our own. Their works do not simply depict trees; they enter into a dialogue with them, exploring how this ancient form has rooted itself in contemporary culture, arriving to us laden with centuries of sedimented meaning.
Curated by Laurie Dolphin, the exhibit features artwork by Bryonie Arnold, Michele Crockette, Adam de Boer, Bread & Puppet, Laurie Dolphin, Idoline Duke, Lama Gyurme, Joan Hall, Natasha Harrison, Andrew Hunter, Christine Matthäi, Anne-Katherine Meeùs, Beth Moon, Frank Relle, Susan Schrott, Stuart Shapiro, June Shatken, Kiki Smith, Robin Spears Jr., Hans van de Bovenkamp.
“Internalized Landscapes: I can feel this place in my bones”
Overlap Art Space, 112 Van Zandt Ave., Newport; Through Aug. 29, 2026; overlapartspace.org
“Internalized Landscapes: I can feel this place in my bones” is an exhibition of nine artists working across diverse mediums – painting, drawing, glass, paper, textiles, installation, video and collage – to expand our concept of the landscape. Through scholarly investigations, intimate and somatic interpretations, and intentional interactions with the natural world, the artworks in this exhibition reveal ways in which familiar landscapes are intertwined with our sense of belonging.
Rather than depictions of bucolic views observed from a distance, the artists in “Internalized Landscapes” consider their surroundings at close range. Personal, experiential, and cathartic connections to the natural world as sources of solace, refuge, and wonder, are interspersed with works that consider the lasting impacts of the extraction of natural resources, and the migration of people and plants.
The artists in this exhibition — May Babcock, Alex Callender, Merill Comeau, Karin Gielen, Michael Gunn, Maggie Nowinski, Kendall Reiss, Shey Rivera Ríos, and Amanda Russhell Wallace — come from a wide variety of lived experiences and origins, yet share a collective awareness of the landscape as more than a beautiful backdrop. Rather, they consider it as a series of interconnected systems that are deeply embedded in our culture, memory, and the subconscious. Through their varied approaches, they reflect on how our natural surroundings continue to shape our perceptions of ownership, belonging, and legitimacy. They invite us to reconsider what it means to belong in, or to, a place. Curated by Alicia Renadette.
An opening reception will be held Saturday, July 18 from 3:30-5 p.m. There will be two artists talks: Saturday, Aug.1 from 4:30- 6 p.m. featuring Alex Callender, Michael Gunn, Kendall Reiss, Shey Rivera Ríos, and Amanda Russhell Wallace; and Saturday, Aug. 15 from 4:30-6 p.m. featuring May Babcock, Merill Comeau, Karin Gielen, and Maggie Nowinski.
“The Ocean Forgot Your Garden”
Newport Art Museum, 76 Bellevue Ave., Newport; Through Jan. 10, 2027; newportartmuseum.org
“The Ocean Forgot Your Garden” takes its title from a recent work by Angel Otero and serves as a conceptual anchor for the exhibition. Born in Puerto Rico, and splitting his time between the Caribbean island and New York, Otero maintains a deep connection to the island, where the sea is a constant physical, cultural, and historical presence.
The Atlantic stretches between Puerto Rico and Newport, and has long shaped patterns of movement, labor, and exchange. Both places are defined by cycles of departure and return, where maritime life informs daily rhythms and collective identity. Here, the ocean is not simply a passage, but a living presence, carrying histories, erasures, and the quiet accumulation of memory over time.
Across Otero’s recent body of work, water emerges as a site of memory and transformation. The sea appears as a recurring force, dynamic and generative, registered through layered surfaces and imagery that feels fluid rather than fixed. Waves, tides, and currents are embedded through material density and compositional rhythm rather than direct depiction.
