11 art exhibits across Maine you shouldn't miss this fall

Jorge S. Arango, Portland Press Herald, September 10, 2025

The spellbinding “Gertrude Abercombie: The Whole World Is a Mystery” continues through Jan. 11, 2026. This first nationally touring exhibition of the Chicago painter, who was a seminal figure in the midcentury art and jazz movements, reveals a highly original, spiritually oriented artist who plumbed her internal world with highly original, slightly surreal results.

Oct. 21 is the opening of “Is anything the matter? Drawings by Laylah Ali” (through April 26, 2026), the first survey of the artist’s extensive works in this medium, which explores themes of power, identity and the human condition. And then on Nov. 19 (through April 13), Penobscot basketmaker and curator Sarah Sockbeson assembles “Mawte: Bound Together,” an exhibition of contemporary Wabanaki art.