Image: Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams
MASS MoCA in North Adams will give visitors one last chance to see Jeffrey Gibson: 'POWER FULL BECAUSE WE'RE DIFFERENT' and Alison Pebworth: 'Cultural Apothecary' before both exhibitions close on Monday, September 7. The museum’s announcement frames the pair as a final reminder of how two very different installations have occupied separate buildings on campus while sharing an emphasis on participation, reflection and community.
Gibson’s exhibition has been on view in Building 5 Gallery for more than a year and a half, according to MASS MoCA’s notice. The museum says the work has welcomed visitors with “a joyful and resonant reminder that our differences can provide a source of strength,” and has used collaborative gallery activations, vivid color and messages of resilience to prompt conversations about identity and belonging. The installation also highlights community-building as part of Gibson’s practice, with the museum noting that about three dozen people have contributed to the exhibition in one way or another.
A MASS MoCA profile published on Forbes last year described the exhibition as a large-scale continuation of Gibson’s practice after his presentation representing the United States at the Venice Biennale. That account said the show occupies the museum’s cavernous signature exhibition hall and includes seven newly constructed oversized garments, a mirrored wall built for the presentation, and seven fused-glass performance stages. The Forbes report also noted that the exhibition incorporates the 1992 documentary 'Two Spirit People' and a new video installation titled 'Your Spirit Whispers in My Ear' (2024), edited by Sancia Miala Shiba Nash with a soundtrack by Patrick Coll.
The source material identifies the exhibition as engaging ideas around two-spirit identity, drag, and Indigenous creativity, while stressing Gibson’s interest in working with other Indigenous artists. The museum’s own language describes the project as a chance to bring visitors into a “whole experience,” and to make connections among garments, video, performance and other elements throughout the space.
A short stroll away in Building 6, Alison Pebworth’s 'Cultural Apothecary' has taken a more introspective approach. In a WAMC interview from March 2025, the museum’s The Prow space was described as hosting its first interactive exhibition, with a neon sign reading 'Americanitis' drawing visitors into an installation that includes tea service and invitations to reflect on feelings through emotion-identification prompts and surveys. The segment said Pebworth’s work was intended to encourage reflective conversation about society and humanity.
That WAMC report also said the exhibition was commissioned as part of MASS MoCA Director Kristy Edmunds’ visiting artist Director Initiatives, with curatorial support from Evan Garza and Alexandra Foradas. Pebworth said in the interview that the installation was meant as “a place to congregate, where people can sit down and talk to strangers,” positioning the work as a social space as much as an art installation.
MASS MoCA’s closing notice urges visitors to plan a final visit before Monday, September 7, when both exhibitions come to an end. The museum says the two projects together have invited audiences to slow down, engage with new perspectives and consider the ways art can connect people to one another.
