ART! Westerly Museum of American Impressionism Exhibition of Women Artists from Ogunquit Art Colony

The Westerly Museum of American Impressionism (WMAI) announces several exhibitions of unique interest.

Presently, the museum is featuring the artist Frank Weston Benson’s significant painting Firelight, which the museum acquired earlier this year, and is now on view to the public. Benson is one of the American Impressionist movement’s most renowned artists and the painting is the final canvas in his series of fireplace-themed paintings. Firelight is a study of Benson’s sister Georgianna enjoying the warmth of a fire, with her dress and face bathed in color and light.  The work received numerous awards in 1893, establishing Benson as a master of luminous interiors.

Frank Weston Benson, Fireside

The new work is the centerpiece of the museum’s Boston School gallery, represented by well-known artists such as Edmund C. Tarbell and Philip Leslie Hale. The purchase of the painting was made possible by a generous donation from well-known art collectors and philanthropists Heidi and Tom McWilliams in loving memory of Betty and Jamie McWilliams.

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Ogunnquit Art Colony Exhibition

The Museum will be opening an exhibition of 17 paintings by American Impressionist artists from the Ogunquit Art Colony. The exhibition titled, When Her Eye Met the Sea: Women of the Ogunquit Art Colony, features paintings by six women artists from this period. The exhibition runs September 24, 2026 through March 7, 2027. The paintings are on loan from the Darin R. Leese Family Collection.

Mabel May Woodward (American, 1877-1945)
On the Rocks, c. 1910s–1920s
Oil on board – Darin R. Leese Family Collection

The Ogunquit Art Colony in Ogunquit, Maine became one of New England’s most important artistic colonies at the turn of the twentieth century, known for its dramatic coastline, abundant sunlight and growing number of artists drawn by the appeal of painting outdoors and connecting with nature.

The centerpiece of the colony was the Ogunquit Summer School of Drawing and Painting, founded by Charles Woodbury, one of the country’s most influential art teachers and an artist. He urged his students to react to the surrounding landscape, air and sunlight to inspire their work. His classes attracted artists which helped cement Ogunquit as a leading area for American Impressionism.

“Bringing these seventeen remarkable paintings together helps us tell the story of Ogunquit, one of the most influential centers of American Impressionism,” says Catherine Shotick, director of the Museum. “Through works that are rarely seen by the public, visitors can experience the beauty of this extraordinary artistic community while gaining a deeper understanding of how its artists helped shape the direction of American art in the early twentieth century.”

A booklet that describes the role of the Ogunquit Arts Colony in American Impressionism as well as information on the six featured women artists will be available in the gallery for visitors to take.

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Childe Hassam Work on Loan

The museum also announces that it is receiving its first loaned artwork this fall from Art Bridges, a foundation dedicated to expanding community access to American art. The loaned painting, Italian Day, May 1918, is one of Childe Hassam’s “flag series,” a group of approximately 30 paintings created between 1916 and 1918 depicting Fifth Avenue in New York decorated with patriotic flags during World War I. The series comprises some of Hassam’s most distinctive and celebrated late-career works. The painting will be on view starting September 3, 2026 through September 5, 2027.

About the Museum

Located on Watch Hill Road, the Westerly Museum of American Impressionism, co-founded by Dr. Thomas P. Sculco and his wife Cynthia D. Sculco, spans 25,000 square feet, on a site overlooking the Pawcatuck River. It is designed for the exhibition, study and preservation of American Impressionist art from the 1880s to the 1920s. The museum opened on October 9, 2025. Its eleven curated galleries feature works from lesser-known artists such as Walter Griffin, Louise Upton Brumback and Charles H. Woodbury, as well as renowned artists such as Childe Hassam, John Singer Sargent, Lilla Cabot Perry, Jane Peterson, John Henry Twachtman and Edmund C. Tarbell.

The Westerly Museum of American Impressionism is believed to be the only museum in the country exclusively dedicated to American Impressionist art. The 150 American Impressionist paintings currently on view at the museum comprise roughly one half of the museum’s collection that has been acquired by the Sculcos over the past 40 years. As long-time Westerly residents, the couple support numerous cultural institutions in the area.

Besides ongoing and visiting exhibits, the museum introduced a visiting lecture series this summer and has established partnerships with schools, an internship program for college students, and collaborations with regional cultural institutions.

The museum is open to visitors Thursday through Sunday, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. For more information on the Westerly Museum of American Impressionism, including tickets and memberships, please visit: https://wmairi.org

You can also view many of the collection and the museum on Facebook, here: https://www.facebook.com/wmairi