Emerson Contemporary is the college’s platform for showcasing contemporary visual art. It is focused on presenting living artists, their ideas, experiments, and creative practices in the areas of media art, performance art, and emergent technologies, while critically examining these works in their social context. The in-depth engagement with the temporary exhibitions and related public programming is based on the principle that artistic practice is an intellectual activity and works of art are a form of knowledge production.
Emerson Contemporary amplifies the voices of living artists, creative changemakers, and technologists who broaden how we understand our present moment and help us reimagine what is possible. We encourage experimentation, commission new works, and support artistic research. Our curatorial programming frequently showcases historically underrepresented artists in the digital and new media art field, including women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ artists. In support of this mission, we actively create opportunities for working artists to engage with new technologies, software tools, creative technologists, and the staff and faculty expertise on our campus that are otherwise less accessible.
Emerson Contemporary consists of the Media Art Gallery, Huret & Spector Gallery, Public Programs, Art on Campus and Public Art.
Our Galleries
Media Art Gallery
Huret & Spector Gallery
What We Do
Public Programs
Art on Campus
Public Art
Gallery Reservations
Connect with Us
- Follow us on Instagram and Facebook
- Sign up for our newsletter
Questions?
Reach out to us at contemporary [at] emerson.edu.
Emerson College opened the Media Art Gallery in the fall of 2016. The Gallery serves as the locus of the College’s initiative to develop contemporary visual art as a vital component of Emerson’s arts profile.
Funding for the creation of the Media Art Gallery has been provided by the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund, a program of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, administered through a collaboration between MassDevelopment and the Massachusetts Cultural council. Additional funding has been provided by the George I. Alden Trust and individual contributors to the Emerson Contemporary.