The Huntington Announces Ambitious 2026 Exhibition and Installation Schedule

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

• A year of discovery: The Huntington’s 2026 exhibitions and installations spark curiosity, reveal new connections, and deepen understanding of history and culture.
• Exploring Land and American identity: Tied to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, “This Land Is …” draws on the Huntington Library’s collections, along with art and botanical collections and key loans, to explore land as a defining force in American life.
• Spotlight on major artists: Works by Edmund de Waal, Mercedes Dorame, Laura Aguilar, Sandy Rodriguez, and Doyle Lane showcase ceramics, photography, and large-scale installations.
• Stories from the Library continues: The exhibition series returns in 2026, featuring diverse materials—from Edo-period Japanese scrolls and works by Benjamin Franklin to Octavia E. Butler’s writings. 

In 2026, The Huntington will present a wide-ranging lineup of exhibitions and installations that highlight the institution’s role as a center of art, history, and ideas. Together, the programs demonstrate how The Huntington’s collections connect the past to the present—whether through contemporary commissions, explorations of American identity, or new perspectives on rare historical materials.  

The year will include major presentations of works by contemporary artists; a multilayered exhibition exploring the meaning of land in American life from before the nation’s founding to the present; and the next chapter of Stories from the Library, an exhibition series that features both notable and unexpected collection materials in conversation with other works, many of which have never been exhibited before. All these will be accompanied by robust public programs, with additional details announced throughout the year. 

2026 Exhibition and Installation Schedule 

“the eight directions of the wind: Edmund de Waal at The Huntington” 

Oct. 18, 2025–Oct. 26, 2026 

British artist and author Edmund de Waal’s site-specific installations will guide visitors through some of The Huntington’s iconic sites: the Huntington Art Gallery, the Chinese Garden, and the Japanese Garden. Incorporating text, natural materials, and new works, the installations explore the movement of ideas, people, and objects. They invite visitors to reflect on the transmission of stories and histories that shape contemporary culture. 

Stories From the Library: “From Brontë to Butler” and “Looking to Learn” 

Dec. 13, 2025–June 15, 2026 

This ongoing series presents remarkable literary and historical works from the Huntington Library’s collections alongside more unexpected items—some never before exhibited. These are the first two installments of 2026. The former offers a behind-the-scenes look at two centuries of the everyday lives of women writers through ephemera, letters, and journals. The latter examines diverse instructional and educational materials for children from the late-18th through the early 20th centuries. 
 
Additional exhibitions will be announced here: Stories from the Library | The Huntington. 

“Laura Aguilar: Body and Landscape” and “Laura Aguilar: Day of the Dead” 

 March 22–Sept. 7, 2026 | Sept. 20, 2026–March 1, 2027 

Drawn from a new acquisition by gift and purchase from her estate, these exhibitions present evocative photographs from the late 1980s through the early 2000s. Aguilar, a Chicana and queer artist, explored intersections of identity and place in the American West, often using her own body as subject.  

“Mercedes Dorame—Deliquescence: Sites of Transformation” 

March 22, 2026–March 2029 

Tongva artist Mercedes Dorame debuts a large-scale, site-specific installation that explores cycles of dormancy and emergence through archival photography—including historic images of local freshwater springs—as well as sculptural and painted elements. Her layered, poetic approach addresses preservation, ancestral presence, and transformation. Dorame was The Huntington’s 2023–24 artist-in-residence.  

“Sandy Rodriguez: Book 13” 

March 22, 2026–April 26, 2027 

Sandy Rodriguez—Caltech-Huntington Art + Research Fellow (2020–21) and Hannah and Russel Kully Distinguished Fellow in the History of American Art (2025–26)—returns with her most ambitious installation yet. Drawing on The Huntington’s 19th-century maps and boundary surveys, she presents a monumental five-part map of the United States, a series of plant portraits, a hand-painted book, and a new landscape painting, all rendered on hand-processed amate-fiber paper. Using natural pigments from native plants and minerals, Rodriguez blends Indigenous cartographic traditions with archival research to reclaim land-based knowledge and examine border politics, ecological healing, and cultural resilience. 

“This Land Is…” 

June 14, 2026–Jan. 11, 2027 

The Huntington’s sweeping multiyear initiative THIS LAND IS …  invites visitors to reflect on the American story through the lens of land and a namesake exhibition. “This Land Is …” stretches across space and time, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast and from well before 1776 to the 21st century. It brings together multiple perspectives that address such topics as mapping and ecology, opportunity and dispossession, preservation and repair. The Huntington Library is one of the nation’s leading repositories for presidential and Revolutionary War–era archives as well as materials related to California and the West. The exhibition brings together a range of materials, including maps, photographs, manuscripts, artworks, documents, audiovisual materials, and rare books that will combine with design and media to offer a beautiful and conflicted story of American lands and peoples.

“Doyle Lane: Master of Clay” 

Sept. 13, 2026–Feb. 22, 2027 

This exhibition celebrates Los Angeles artist Doyle Lane’s groundbreaking ceramics, including tile murals, abstract clay paintings, jewelry, beads, decorative objects and his widely collected “weed pots.” Anchored by The Huntington’s 18-foot Mutual Savings and Loan Mural (acquired in 2016), the exhibition features about 70 works from public and private collections, illuminating Lane’s innovative glazing techniques, evolving practice, and enduring impact.  

For media inquiries or to request high-resolution press images, email huntingtonnews@huntington.org.

About The Huntington 

The Huntington, a world-renowned cultural and educational institution, provides transformative experiences for a community of the curious. Founded in 1919 by Henry E. and Arabella Huntington, it supports research and promotes public engagement through its expansive library, art, and botanical collections. By cultivating dynamic scholarship, creating innovative programs for students and lifelong learners, and sharing its extraordinary resources, The Huntington invites all on a journey of discovery, insight, and connection. Only 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles, The Huntington is located at 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, California. Learn more at huntington.org.