Cantor Art Gallery Exhibitions
Find upcoming events and take a look at events from the past on the exhibitions page.
Cantor Art Gallery
A world-class gallery intersecting with a liberal arts education.
The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery is more than just a space for exhibitions; it’s a place where art and academic life converge to inspire curiosity, reflection and discovery.
Our Mission
The mission of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery is to promote and support the intellectual and cultural life of College of the Holy Cross. Through its exhibitions and acquisitions, both historical and contemporary, the gallery serves as a catalyst for the search for meaning and value in life and history, and as a venue to stimulate dialogue about questions related to the mission of the College. Exhibitions are selected to not only integrate with our broader liberal arts curriculum, but to educate our audiences on the fundamental intellectual, cultural, spiritual and aesthetic issues encountered through art.
Permanent Collection
The Iris and B. Cantor Art Gallery has more than 1,000 objects in its permanent collection. Through the generosity of alumni, artists and friends of the College, the gallery has become a resource to the campus community for permanent and rotating placements of art objects that enhance the landscaped grounds of the campus and interiors of many academic buildings. A rotating selection of the permanent collection is often on view in the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation Resource Gallery adjacent to the main gallery space.
The permanent collection represents a broad spectrum of art and historical periods and is enriched by the gift of a teaching collection comprised of historical Southeast Asian textiles from West Sumatra, and other islands of Indonesia, India and Laos.
A recent major gift of drawings from the archive of American abstract expressionist Robert Beauchamp (1923-1995) was given to the College by his widow Nadine Valenti Beauchamp, with an exhibition curated by Professor Maurice Géracht (English), Professor Leslie Schomp (Visual arts) and the director of the Cantor, Roger Hankins, which was on view from January 25 through March 28, 2018.
Additional notable works in the permanent collection include sculpture by Auguste Rodin, Enzo Plazzotta, Chaim Gross, Peter Grippe, Georg Kolbe, Robert Beauchamp and Robert Wlerick; photographs by Marilyn Bridges, Paul Caponigro, William Garnett, Eliot Porter and Dorothy Norman; and paintings, prints and drawings by Michael Beatty, Robert Beauchamp, François Bonvin, Robert Goodnough, Terri Priest, Dorothea Rockburne, James Stroud and John Wilson.
Digital Archives
Our History
The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery was established in 1983 to present exhibits of art that enhance the cultural, academic and spiritual life of Holy Cross students, faculty and staff. The Cantor Art Gallery has the distinction of being the first space endowed by the Cantors, who subsequently established the Cantor Center for the Arts at Stanford University, as well as named galleries and the rooftop garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, among others. The warm friendship with the Cantors and the Cantor Foundation that helped establish the Cantor Art Gallery continues to flourish today. A $1 million dollar challenge grant to strengthen the gallery’s endowment was reached and awarded in 2008; annual funding support for special projects continues; and loan exhibitions of Rodin sculptures from the Cantor Collections have taken place in 2003 and 2019.
Iris Cantor
(1931 – 2026)
Through six decades of philanthropic work, Iris Cantor made an undeniable mark in the fields of visual and performing arts, healthcare and on the academic experience at Holy Cross.
In total, Iris and Bernie Cantor gifted 56 objects to Holy Cross, including the College’s collection of 13 works by Auguste Rodin. This includes the most recent addition, “The Spirit of Eternal Repose,” gifted by the Iris Cantor Trust.
In addition to Cantor's work in the arts, Iris established the Iris Cantor Center for Breast Imaging at UCLA under the direction of world-renowned radiologist Dr. Lawrence Bassett. She also played a critical role in the development of the Iris Cantor-UCLA Women’s Health Center, the Iris Cantor Women’s Health Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and the Iris Cantor Men’s Health Center, also in New York.
Location and Hours
We are located on the third floor of The Prior Performing Arts Center. Admission is free and open to the public.
Standard Hours
Monday: by appointment only
Tuesday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Wednesday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Thursday: 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Friday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday: 12 p.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday: closed
Spring Break Hours: Due to staffing shortages between Feb. 28 and March 7, we will observe the following schedule:
Saturday, Feb. 28: closed
Sunday, March 1: closed
Monday, March 2: closed
Tuesday, March 3: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Wednesday, March 4: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Thursday, March 5: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Friday, March 6: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday, March 7: closed
Contact Us
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery
Location
College of the Holy Cross
Prior Performing Arts Center
1 College Street
Worcester, MA 01610
Prior Performing Arts Center
1 College Street
Worcester, MA 01610
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