The Reading Public Museum, 500 Museum Road, has announced its newest exhibition, “Rockwell/Wyeth: Icons of Americana,” opening Sept.19 and on view through Jan. 3, 2027.
Featuring nearly 40 original works by Norman Rockwell and N.C. Wyeth, along with covers of The Saturday Evening Post illustrated by Rockwell, this engaging exhibition examines the work of two of the most celebrated figures in American art.
Their poignant illustrations captured the imaginations of Americans throughout the first half of the 20th century and are admired for their artistry, storytelling, and nostalgic power.
The exhibition was developed in partnership with the National Museum of American Illustration and the American Illustrators Gallery, New York. Exhibition coordination provided by PAN Art Connections.
“Daniel Boone, The Home Seeker Cumberland Valley,” oil on canvas painted by N.C. Wyeth in 1936. (Copyright 2026 National Museum of American Illustration and the American Illustrators Gallery)
“Threading the Needle,” oil on canvas by Norman Rockwell, was the cover of the Saturday Evening Post on April 8, 1922. (Copyright 2026 National Museum of American Illustration and the American Illustrators Gallery)
The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to examine Rockwell and Wyeth side-by-side as a central scholarly focus. Wyeth (1882–1945) and Rockwell (1894–1978) rose to prominence in different eras and with distinctive styles, yet both became household names through the familiarity, accessibility, and emotional resonance of their work.
“Rockwell and Wyeth helped define how generations of Americans pictured courage, home, humor, and collective memory,” said Scott Schweigert, curator of art at the Reading Public Museum. “By bringing their paintings together, this exhibition invites visitors to look beyond nostalgia and see the extraordinary artistic discipline, imagination, and emotional force behind these remarkable images that still feel deeply familiar.”
The exhibition explores the breadth of the artists’ commercial work, from advertisements to magazine covers. Wyeth is best known as a prolific book illustrator who energized the pages of Scribner Classics such as “Treasure Island” and “Robin Hood.”
Rockwell, likewise, is synonymous with The Saturday Evening Post and the cover illustrations he produced for it — art that both sold magazines and reflected shifting American interests, ideals, and values across several decades.
Despite their revered status and their popularity with the public during their lifetimes, Rockwell and Wyeth were not always held in the same critical regard as fine artists of their eras because of the commercial nature of their work.
Through an in-depth look at their careers, varied output, and extraordinary fame, “Rockwell/Wyeth: Icons of Americana” highlights both artists’ undeniable talent and their enduring place in American art history.
Taking over the museum’s second-floor temporary galleries, the exhibition sheds light on Rockwell and Wyeth’s illustration process, revealing that many of their images began as full-size paintings and drawings before being scaled and reproduced in print for readers across the country.
Admission to the museum per day is $14 for adults (18-64), $8 for children/seniors/college students (with ID) and free to members and children 3 years old and under. Currently enrolled Reading School District students and up to five accompanying guests receive free regular museum admission and free admission to public Neag Planetarium shows with proof of enrollment. The museum is open daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit online at www.readingpublicmuseum.org.
• The Yocum Institute for Arts Education, 3000 Penn Ave., West Lawn, presents “Sort of Wind,” a captivating solo exhibition by internationally exhibited Syrian-born artist Nasr Warour, on view in the Holleran Gallery through Oct. 9. Visitors are invited to experience this thought-provoking exhibition and meet the artist during a free public reception on Oct. 2, from 5-8 p.m.
“Sort of Wind” marks Warour’s North American debut, showcasing a multidisciplinary body of work that has evolved over several decades between Dubai and the United States. Blending abstraction, figuration, contour, and movement through paintings and sculptural works, the exhibition explores the subtle, often invisible forces that shape human experience. Rather than focusing on wind as a physical element, Warour uses it as a metaphor for the unseen currents that influence our relationships, memories, perceptions, and everyday lives.
Developed over years of artistic exploration, the works in “Sort of Wind” invite viewers into an atmospheric world where forms emerge, dissolve, and reassemble, resisting fixed interpretation. Through charcoal, acrylic, and sculpture, Warour creates compositions that encourage reflection on transformation, movement, and the many “winds” that quietly pass through us each day.
“Presenting ‘Sort of Wind’ marks an exciting moment for the Yocum Institute,” said Nadia Pochan, visual art director at the Yocum Institute for Arts Education. “As Nasr Warour’s first North American exhibition, it introduces audiences to an artist whose work has resonated across the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. We are proud to provide a platform for this important body of work and the conversations it inspires.”
Warour studied sculpture at the Institute of Fine Arts in Suwayda, Syria, before continuing his education in painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Damascus University. His artistic practice spans painting, sculpture, photography, and image-making, with works held in private and institutional collections throughout the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and North America. His visual language moves fluidly between figuration and abstraction while remaining rooted in deeply personal narratives of memory, movement and transformation.
The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-8 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m.-noon.
Music
The Gabriel Chamber Ensemble will return to the Hawk Mountain Amphitheater at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Albany Townshiip next Sunday at 2 p.m. p.m. for “Stars, Stripes, and Strings!,” an afternoon of chamber music celebrating the American spirit through a lively mix of familiar favorites and distinctive works.
The Gabriel Chamber Ensemble will perform at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary next Sunday. (Courtesy of Gabriel Chamber Ensemble)Set against the natural beauty of Hawk Mountain, the program explores American landscape, heritage, and artistic innovation through music spanning a wide range of styles and generations. Selections will include works by Aaron Copland, George Walker, Philip Glass, Maria Thompson Corley, Scott Joplin, Antonín Dvorak, Johann Sebastian Bach, and John Philip Sousa, along with “America the Beautiful.”
Among the highlights are Copland’s energetic “Hoedown” from Rodeo, George Walker’s expressive “Lyric,” a selection from Philip Glass’s Mishima, and a work by composer Maria Thompson Corley, “Psalm 121.” The program also includes two Scott Joplin rags and movements from Dvorak’s beloved String Quartet No. 12 in F major, Op. 96, “American.” The afternoon concludes in suitably festive fashion with Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever.”
Performing for the concert are Dana Allaband and Simon Maurer, violins; Agnès Maurer, viola; and Ailin Hsieh, cello.
The Gabriel Chamber Ensemble has a tradition of presenting music at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, where the combination of chamber music and the surrounding landscape creates an experience unlike a traditional concert hall performance.
“Hawk Mountain’s mission of conservation and education inspires so many people,” said Sara Male, executive director of the Gabriel Chamber Ensemble. “There is something very special about sharing music in this setting, and the audience that gathers here makes each concert truly unique and rewarding.”
Admission is $25, or $20 for Hawk Mountain members. Advance registration is available through the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary website at hawkmountain.org.
• Know Your Symphony will be presented by Dr. Daniel Immel, professor of music at Kutztown University, on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Highlands of Wyomissing, 2000 Cambridge Ave. The lecture takes place ahead of the Reading Symphony Orchestra’s concert on Saturday at the Santander Performing Arts Center in Reading.
Theater
The Reading Theater Project (RTP) kicked off the start of its 2026-27 season with “In Nature’s Studio” on Aug. 23 at the Reading Public Museum Arboretum. The arts festival came a day after its official season announcement video with BCTV, announcing this season’s theme, “KALEIDOSCOPE.”
The RTP season will feature script-in-hand readings, workshops, donor events and more. On the third Thursday of every month, they will host Playwright Table Reads at Holy Cross United Methodist Church in Reading from 7-9 p.m.
Returning for its 12th year will be the 5-Minute Fringe festival, themed for the season as “Malfunctions.”
Their season also includes a full-length production of “Faithless,” an original play written by Reading-based playwright Kimberly Patterson. Visit www.readingtheaterproject.org to learn more.