Long Island Historical
Special Exhibits
American Dream – The Elusive Promise of the Pursuit of Happiness
April 12, 2024 – September 15, 2024
This exhibition invites contemporary artists to explore the American Dream in all its many complexities. Displayed within the historic spaces of Raynham Hall, it offers a multifaceted, vibrant, even subversive examination of ideas that have long captured our national consciousness and shaped our identities. Simultaneously, American Dream invites you to experience and participate in new conversations about how the ideals represented in the founding documents and the painstakingly wrought framework of our government set the stage for us to imagine what happiness might look like, and how the balance between the American Dream and the experienced reality sometimes lives on a knife’s edge.
Participating artists: David Alexander, Natalie Baxter, Dasha Bazanova, Marco Bras, Miriam Carothers, Dan Christoffel, Lauren Cohen, Jeremy Dennis, Joan Digby, John Digby, Wendy Foster, Rafael Fuchs, Sarah Fuhrman, Joan Harrison, Franklin Hill Perrell, Haley Hughes, Katherine Jackson, Patrick Jackson, Jourdain Jongwon Lee, Lisa Levy, Liz-N-Val, Rosie Lopeman, Keisha Prioleau-Martin, Felix Morelo, Frank Olt, James Prez, Greg Reid, James Riordan, Kiichi Takeuchi, Stew Vreeland, Mandy Henson Wasserman.
This exhibition serves as a fundraiser, with artworks available for purchase. A portion of the proceeds will be generously donated to support the museum’s initiatives.
History in Miniature
July 4, 2023 – March 10, 2024
Miniatures have captivated people for thousands of years. History in Miniature takes a closer look at dioramas and miniatures, investigating our fascination with small-scale creations. It explores the technical skill involved in making them and the emotional responses that they inspire. The exhibition is drawn from the collection of Richard Schuster, treasurer of the Board of Raynham Hall Museum. Schuster has collected, researched, and painted historical miniatures for over 60 years, and has amassed a collection of over 30,000 figures and scenics.
Purchase tickets here to our Exhibit Reception on Thursday, November 16.
Toy Stories
November 22, 2022 – April 2, 2023
Toy Stories explores toys and games from the past and how they contribute to and reflect the personal and collective histories of those who played with them. The exhibition includes toys from the collection of Joanna Badami, a longtime Board member at Raynham Hall Museum, alongside toys and games from the museum’s own collection.
The Home Needle: 19th Century Textiles from the Raynham Hall Collection
December 7, 2019 – March 1, 2020
Beautifying the home through tasteful forms of needlework was a practice that shaped the domestic roles and leisure activities of nineteenth-century women. In featuring over 40 objects from the museum’s collection, such as samplers, household textiles, costumes, and archival materials, this exhibition explores various kinds of plain and fancy needlework and how the custom was considered an essential component of a woman’s upbringing.