Current Exhibitions
Upcoming Events
At the Central Library
Interested in proposing an exhibition for the Central Library's Gallery J space? View our Exhibition guidelines.
Central Library in Copley Square (Special Collections Department)
This Just In highlights a selection of recent acquisitions that have found their place within BPL’s collections and illuminate the dynamic nature of creativity and the narratives that shape our world. Between 2019 and 2023, Special Collections and the Leventhal Map & Education Center made over 200 acquisitions through donations and purchases. Richly diverse in their origins and focus, each acquisition enhances public understanding of our past and current cultural lives.
Patrons are welcome to experience and engage with this display in the Special Collections lobby from 9:30 am - 4:30 pm, Tuesday - Friday. Inside the library, we are located on the 4th floor of the Boylston Street Building. Take the Glass Elevator near the Boylston entrance to "3U."
Teen Central Permanent Rotating Exhibit
Central Library in Copley Square (Teen Central)
This exhibition is in partnership with the Department of Youth Services (DYS) and the DYS Art Showcase program.
Since 2008, the BPL and DYS Metro Region staff have partnered to facilitate monthly library visits to DYS Metro.
This presentation of artwork represents a selection of the work from the annual DYS Art Showcase, which highlights and promotes the talents of young people from across Massachusetts. Each year, BPL Youth Services will select and purchase art from the Art Showcase for display in a permanent, rotating collection at Teen Central. The BPL is proud to support these artists and all at DYS.
For more information, please contact BPL Teen Outreach Librarian Maty Cropley at mcropley@bpl.org.
At the Branch Libraries
Navid Mood: In-Visible
Jamaica Plain Branch Library
June 27, 2024 - August 28, 2024
The Jamaica Plain Branch Library, in collaboration with The Friends of the Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library and Uforge, is thrilled to announce the latest edition of its annual rotating art program for 2024. This year's exhibit proudly features Jamaica Plain resident Navid Mood and his latest collection, In-Visible.
In-Visible explores the interplay between nature and urban life, highlighting Boston landmarks such as the Arnold Arboretum, Franklin Park, the Blue Hills Reservation, and local ponds. Mood uses infrared black and white photography to reveal a spectrum invisible to the human eye, transforming familiar landscapes into dramatic, surreal settings.
Mood’s photographs reflect the evolution of urban parks, designed to offer city dwellers a reprieve from industrial life and exposure to an idealized rural environment. Over time, these parks have adapted to serve the changing needs of the population, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mood states, "The natural world of the parks was an artificial one. Instead, park designers constructed pastoral and picturesque landscapes that reproduce an idealized rural environment."
His work, characterized by dark skies and brilliantly illuminated vegetation, invites viewers to reimagine their environment and themselves. "Defamiliarized, Navid’s surreal nature is meant to be a setting for imagination," Mood reflects.
This collection marks a shift in Mood's focus from the urban to the subconscious, emphasizing the sublime and transforming the objective world into a deeply personal experience.
Navid Mood: In-Visible is on view from June 27-August 28, 2024, with a public reception to be held on Thursday, June 27, 2024, 5:30-7:30 pm.
The exhibition space is located on the lower level.
More information about Navid Mood and his work can be found on his website, opens a new window. Additional information is also available on the Friends of the Jamaica Plain Branch Library website, opens a new window.
