NATIONAL TRENDS
2025 Spring-Summer Arts Preview: People & Places to Remember in the Arts
A nation's summer of arts, from Shakespeare in Central Park to Asian art
in San Francisco, offers rich inspiration for library programming.
Spring-Summer 2025 Edition
The Summer Arts Season around the United States can be a source of inspiration when creating programming around the arts at your library. From New York to Los Angeles, cities are buzzing with many possibilities that explore artistry in theater, visual arts and even history. Shakespeare is in the air picking up from Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal’s sold out Broadway production of Othello with a grand re-opening in Central Park. American and Asian art become a center of inspiration in San Francisco and Philadelphia.
People and Places to Remember this Summer
Shakespeare in the Park ‘25 will be a season to remember with Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night starring Peter Dinklage, Lupita Nyong'o, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Sandra Oh. Academy Award winning actress, Lupita Nyong’o will also be in the play with her real life brother, Junior Nyong’o.
Notable Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama is a testament of timelessness in one’s craft. Kusama’s art grew in popularity during her senior years. From fashion partnerships to appearances in museums worldwide, the 95 year old artist displays her memorable craft through her famous Infinity Rooms, polka dots and pattern filled gourds.
Philly, the “City of Brotherly Love” is having a memorable year so far with their NFL team, the Philadelphia Eagles winning Super Bowl LIX. Other than the Super Bowl, Philadelphia holds a plethora of historical landmarks and top notch arts venues including the famous Philadelphia Museum of Art
Program Ideas According to National Trends
PHILADELPHIA, PA
American Art takes a front seat in Philly
Exhibit:
Philadelphia Museum of Art:
Early American Galleries
ONGOING
"Trace the origins of our city’s extraordinary creativity in our new Early American Art galleries. The 10,000-square-foot space has been installed to tell the story of how Philadelphia became the young nation’s cultural capital, and how Black, Indigenous, and Latin American artists contributed to the development of American art."
philamuseum.org
PROGRAM IDEA: Present an art talk on American painters
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Yayoi Kusama transfixes with Dream Worlds
Exhibit
SF MOMA: Yayoi Kusama: Dreaming of Earth’s Sphericity, I Would Offer My Love
June 22, 2024–Fall 2025
Experience the kaleidoscopic world of Yayoi Kusama, one of the most iconic and globally celebrated artists working today. Kusama’s Dreaming of Earth’s Sphericity, I Would Offer My Love (2023), welcomes the viewer into a universe of multicolored light.
sfmoma.org
PROGRAM IDEA: Present an art talk on Yayoi Kusama
NEW YORK CITY, NY
A star-studded cast performs Shakespeare
Play
Shakespeare in the Park presented by the Public Theater
August 7–September 14
The Public Theater will celebrate the opening of the newly revitalized Delacorte Theater with a Free Shakespeare in the Park all-star cast of Public alumni in a production of TWELFTH NIGHT. Join us to revel in the midsummer madness as twins Sebastian and Viola survive shipwreck, revenge plots, and the trick doors of love.
publictheater.org
PROGRAM IDEA: Present programs connected to Shakespeare including a watch party and discussion, or a theatrical performance