You can’t miss the big red heart at the entrance of the Currier’s newest exhibition, Embellish Me: Works from the Collection of Norma Canelas Roth and William Roth. Titled Atrium of Flowers, it’s a work by artist Miriam Schapiro, one of the founders of the Pattern and Decoration movement in the 1970s.
Lusciously decorated, exuberantly colorful, and uncommonly giant, Atrium of Flowers exemplifies Schapiro’s beliefs, daring in their time, that art should be beautiful and make us feel something. Emotion wasn’t a vulnerability but a force to be harnessed, capable of connecting us to something larger than ourselves. Pictures don’t really do Atrium of Flowers justice. You must stand before the big red heart and admire it.
Heart also makes the Currier different. You feel it the moment you arrive at the museum. Some people call it warmth. Some call it friendliness, or approachability, or like being welcomed in on a cold day, just as you are. It’s a little bit of all those things, but, at its core, the difference is heart.
Everyone at the Currier cares a great deal about sharing art. Their heart lights up the story of art so that you might find your way here. Ask one of our guest services representatives what to see on your first visit, and they radiate energy, telling you about their favorites. Join one of our curators on a tour and listen to them talk about paint, or experimentation, or color. The emotion they communicate through their words and gestures can only be called love.
Or stand alongside one of our guides and take in a work as you never have before – slowly, with great curiosity, ample conversation, and a touch of reverence. Experience a preparator overseeing conservation with awe at the unlikely fact of a work’s survival across time and circumstance. Step into a gallery with students, the environment transformed by inquiry and laughter, and you’ll know for sure that there is no age requirement for the joy of art.
You’ll notice it this winter too, walking through downtown Manchester: heart. Artists have come together to create festive window displays for local businesses. Wonderfully elaborate, brilliantly observed, and full of seasonal cheer, they evoke a sense of wonder. You can see pictures of these whimsical scenes on social media, but their tremendous heart also calls for in person admiration.
Decades after Schapiro created Atrium of Flowers, it still takes a bold vision and unwavering passion to bring beauty and emotion to life. Whether you’re taking in a new exhibition at the Currier or pausing on Small Business Saturday to smile before a window display painted by hand, the heart of it all is powerful. There is no art without it.
The Currier Museum of Art is open to the public on Black Friday, 11/28 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with donation-based admission in support of Giving Tuesday. See what’s on view at Currier.org.
On view through March 15, 2026, Embellish Me: Works from the Collection of Norma Canelas Roth and William Roth is generously supported by PRG Rugs, Pamela A. Harvey, and M. Christine Dwyer and Michael Huxtable.
Ali Goldstein is a writer who first fell in love with art museums on a French class field trip to see a Degas exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Today, she is the Director of Marketing and Communications at the Currier Museum of Art, where she helps others take their first step into the arts. She can be reached at agoldstein@currier.org.