Exhibitions

Symbols of Hope: Eunshin Khang

March 14 - June 07, 2026

The paintings of Eunshin Khang invite dialogue. This may be dialogue with family and friends, dialogue across...

Tony Foster, Exploring Time: A Painter’s Perspective

February 21 - May 17, 2026

Between 2007 and 2025, Tony Foster embarked on his 19th Journey, building it around a profound and layered theme...

Engaged: Rings from Around the World

November 08, 2025 - April 19, 2026

Throughout human history, people have loved putting things on their fingers. Often made with precious materials...

Dayton Printmakers Cooperative: Dayton/Kyoto Invitational

December 06, 2025 - February 22, 2026

The Dayton/Kyoto Invitational is an international print exchange between the Dayton Printmaker’s Cooperative and Gen...

Themes in Yoshitoshi’s 100 Aspects of the Moon

April 12, 2025 - January 25, 2026

One of the outstanding series in the history of Japanese woodblock prints, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi’s 100 Aspects of the...

The Triumph of Nature: Art Nouveau from the Chrysler Museum of Art

October 18, 2025 - January 11, 2026

The Triumph of Nature presents the refined, ever-popular and elegant curvilinear designs and nature-based motifs of...

Strange Worlds: Photographs by Jay Hoops

October 04, 2025 - January 04, 2026

For commercial and fine art photographer Jay Hoops, exploration and experimentation drove her work. The Long Island...

The Max May Memorial Holocaust Art Exhibition

September 10 - November 02, 2025

The annual Max May and Lydia May Holocaust Art and Writing Contest is named after the grandparents of Renate Frydman...

Wonders in Color: Art by Alexander Calder & Others

June 18 - October 26, 2025

A sense of joy and wonder is apparent in the art of American artist Alexander Calder. With his recognizable use of...

Curtis Barnes, Sr., Dayton Icon

July 12 - September 14, 2025

A painter and educator, Curtis Barnes, Sr. was a longtime fixture of Dayton’s art scene. His bold, colorful...

Cats & Dogs in Art

June 18 - September 14, 2025

These complementary exhibitions look at images of our beloved pets within the Dayton Art Institute collection.

Jamie Wyeth: Unsettled

March 15 - June 08, 2025

A distinguished figure in contemporary art, Jamie Wyeth is recognized for his fiercely independent, realistic...

A Taste for Pop: Gifts from S. Bradley Gillaugh

January 25 - May 25, 2025

This exhibition highlights gifts of art from a single donor, Dayton native Stephen Bradley “Brad” Gillaugh.

The Need for Beauty

November 30, 2024 - May 18, 2025

Where do you go to find beauty? The founding of art museums like the DAI were often framed in terms of beauty, even...

Kind of Funny

May 04 - May 04, 2025

Every photograph is the product of choices someone made, like where to look, what to include, and when to “click.”

Making Faces: 18 Essential Kabuki Plays

October 12, 2024 - March 30, 2025

Visually stunning, the “rough style” (aragoto) of Japanese kabuki theater includes exaggerated movements and speech...

Merry Grinchmas: Art of Dr. Seuss’ Holiday Classic & (B)ART! America’s Funniest Animated Family

October 26, 2024 - January 19, 2025

Two of America’s most beloved animated works come together for this Special Exhibition.

Devil’s Promenade

October 05, 2024 - January 05, 2025

Devil’s Promenade is a road in rural Missouri, near the Arkansas and Oklahoma borders in the southwestern portion of...

Those Who Care

July 13 - October 27, 2024

What does it mean to care? Who or what do you care for? Caring opens us up to others as we give our attention to...

Hand-Colored Photographs

March 23 - September 22, 2024

When photography was officially invented in 1839, it consisted of black-and-white photographs, but photographers...

The Quiet World of Edward Hopper

June 15 - September 08, 2024

Few artists have been able to convey a distinct vision of the world as directly as Edward Hopper (American, 1882–1967).

Riveting: Women Artists from the Sara M. and Michelle Vance Waddell Collection

June 22 - September 08, 2024

Riveting presents extraordinary art by contemporary women artists drawn from the major, private collection of Sara...

Telling Stories: World Literature in Art

December 09, 2023 - June 16, 2024

What is your favorite story? When you think of it, do specific images come to mind?

The Artistic Life of Aka Pereyma

February 17 - May 12, 2024

Aka Pereyma’s art, unconventional and visionary, demonstrates a highly personal means of expression.

James Pate, Techno-Cubism: The Art of Line Painting

February 03 - April 28, 2024

James Pate is one of Dayton’s most acclaimed living artists and is highlighted in this Focus Exhibition with more...

You Don’t Know Me: Works by Unknown Photographers

November 18, 2023 - February 18, 2024

The power of an image does not rely on knowing the name of its creator.

Around Tokyo: Hiroshige II’s Views of Famous Places in Edo

July 29, 2023 - January 14, 2024

In the flourishing woodblock print industry of 1800s Japan, one of the most popular genres was scenes of famous places.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: The Birth of Modern Paris

October 21, 2023 - January 14, 2024

Known internationally as a leading Post-Impressionist, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864–1901) made art that...

Living with Gods: Popular Prints from India

July 15 - November 12, 2023

Living with Gods introduces a form of mass art in twentieth-century India.

Here and Gone: Lewis Hine in Tennessee

July 22 - October 22, 2023

Lewis Wickes Hine (1874–1940), one of the most celebrated social documentary photographers of all time, is best known...

Washi Transformed: New Expressions in Japanese Paper

June 24 - September 17, 2023

Washi Transformed explores the astonishing potential of washi, traditional Japanese paper, in thirty-five highly...

Born of Fire: Contemporary Japanese Women Ceramic Artists

June 24 - September 17, 2023

Born of Fire features a diverse selection of fourteen works by both emerging and internationally established Japanese...

Reflections in Time: Dayton Unit NAACP Celebrates History

June 16 - September 10, 2023

The Dayton Art Institute Celebrates Juneteenth with this distinct, collaborative Focus Exhibition with the Dayton...

Woodblock Prints of Saitō Kiyoshi

January 28 - July 16, 2023

With a career spanning six decades, Saitō Kiyoshi (1907–1997) was one of the most prolific Japanese artists of the...

Pondering the Mystery of Late Life

March 18 - June 25, 2023

As humans, we are all aging. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

New Beginnings: An American Story of Romantics and Modernists in the West

February 18 - May 21, 2023

New Beginnings is a creative look at the art of Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico, primarily focusing on art from the...

Netsuke and the Art of Little Wonders

August 27, 2022 - February 19, 2023

Netsuke were personal accessories during the Edo period in Japan (1615–1868).

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906): A Tribute

June 18 - September 04, 2022

Dayton, Ohio, was home to the acclaimed American poet, novelist and lyricist Paul Laurence Dunbar...

Fired Imagination: Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the Nancy and Ed Rosenthal Family Collection

February 05 - July 24, 2022

The history of China is entwined with the history of ceramics.

Beyond the Woodblock

October 02, 2021 - March 06, 2022

The phrase “Japanese prints” is almost synonymous with woodblock prints, a centuries-long tradition in Japan.

Norman Rockwell: Stories of Emotion

October 23, 2021 - February 13, 2022

A DAI exclusive! This intimate Focus Exhibition features paintings and drawings, on loan from a private collection...

Within Reach of All: Early Dayton Photography

November 13, 2021 - February 06, 2022

Ohio has a long history of professional and amateur photography, dating back to the earliest days of the medium in...

Photography Through Time

October 31 - October 31, 2021

Derived from the Greek words photōs (light) and graphein (to write), a photograph is created through the controlled...

The Roaring (and the Quiet) 1920s

May 07 - August 15, 2021

The 1920s were a tumultuous decade of remarkable highs and crushing economic lows.

In the Company of Friends: The Kettering and Patterson Legacy

June 19, 2019 - October 25, 2020

In China, there was a long tradition of collectors known as scholar-officials.

Samurai, Ghosts, and Lovers: Yoshitoshi’s Complete 100 Aspects of the Moon

September 13 - September 13, 2020

This exhibition provides the rare chance to see all 100 works in Tsukioka Yoshitoshi’s epic series 100 Aspects of the...

Maker & Muse: Women and Early 20th-Century Art Jewelry

October 25, 2019 - January 19, 2020

Join us this fall for Maker & Muse: Women and Early Twentieth Century Art Jewelry, a stunning exhibition of more than...