Opening in 2025

Haunted

Opens October 11

The exhibition explores cinema as spectral memory; illusory palinopsia, temporal disruption, and the protean meaning of being haunted. Engaging the interplay between cultural memory and lost futures, Haunted crosses sensory thresholds, dissolving the borders between past and present, real and imaginary. Organized by Tacoma Art Museum and curated by Ellen Ito.

The One-Two Punch: 100 Years of Robert Colescott

Opens December 2025

“But when I get my work up in a gallery, you see this room full of big, sensuous paintings. It’s the first impact that people get. They walk in and say, “Oh wow!” And then, “Oh shit!” when they see what they have to deal with in subject matter. It’s an integrated ‘one-two punch’; it gets them every time.”  

—Robert Colescott 

This year marks the centennial of the birth of esteemed artist Robert Colescott. In 2025, TAM also celebrates the opening of the permanent space for The Current, An Artist Award. With this convergence, The Current presents The One-Two Punch: 100 Years of Robert Colescott. This monographic exhibition celebrates the timeless work of Colescott, examining his deeply critical art practice and the stylistic transformations across his career. The One-Two Punch: 100 Years of Robert Colescott delves into Colescott’s approach to the figure, looking at the developments of his artistic evolution with a special focus on a provocative and satirical cartoon style he described as “cartoonist-exaggeration.” Significantly, the exhibition explores Colescott’s complicated relationship with race over the course of his lifetime and how it influenced his one-two punch strategy and the works shown. With this presentation, The Current, An Artist Award celebrates Colescott’s lasting impact on Black visual culture as he continues to influence new generations of Black artists to pave their own ways forward.  Organized by Tacoma Art Museum and curated by Victoria Miles.