Fall 2026 Exhibitions

Beneath the elm tree's shade: Landscapes from the Swarthmore College Art Collection

October 18 - December 13, 2026

Opening Reception: TBD
4:30–5:00 PM: Curators’ Gallery talk
5:00–6:30 PM: List Gallery Reception

Gallery hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 12–5PM

The List Gallery is pleased to present Beneath the elm tree's shade: Landscapes from the Swarthmore College Art Collection. The exhibition highlights the diverse ways that the landscape, environment, and spiritual visions of place have been depicted over time through more than twenty paintings, many of which have recently been assessed and received conservation treatment. These include works by notable 19th and 20th century American artists, such as Edward Hicks, James Peale, Thomas Birch, Martin Johnson Heade, Louis Michel Elishimius, Daniel Garber, Ernest Lawson, Mary Elizabeth Price, and Fern Coppedge.

Through additional works by a selection of artists from diverse cultures and eras, including Okada Beisanjin, Jack Britton, Toshi Yoshida, and Daniel O’Neil, the exhibition contrasts visual relationships to land and belonging, considering how the landscape genre has been differently deployed and modified by artists from Indigenous, East Asian, and other global contexts. 

The exhibition was co-curated by Andrea Packard, director of the Swarthmore College Art Collection emerita, Sara Hesdon Buehler, Art Collection Manager, and Christopher Green, Visiting Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies and Art History. Beneath the elm tree's shade is the first exhibition in the List Gallery solely dedicated to work from the permanent collection.