Orlando’s 2026-2027 Arts Season Preview: Morse Museum Connects the Past and Future
With New Exhibition and Expanded Learning Spaces!
The Peacock Necklace. Photo by Roberto Gonzalez.
THE CHARLES HOSMER MORSE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART CONTINUES TO PROVE THAT HISTORY IS ANYTHING BUT STATIC. During the 2026–2027 arts season, the Winter Park institution will invite visitors to explore the birth of modern design through a major new exhibition while simultaneously investing in the future of arts education with an expanded programming facility.
Opening Oct. 13, Revolt in the Parlor: Escaping Victorian Taste examines the artistic transformation that unfolded between 1895 and 1959, tracing how artists and designers rejected the ornate sensibilities of the Victorian era in favor of experimentation, innovation and modernism. Rather than focusing on a single movement, the exhibition follows decades of creative reinvention shaped by technological advances, social upheaval and changing cultural values.
Named after Hugh F. McKean’s influential book, the exhibition begins at a pivotal historical moment. The grandeur of the 1900 Paris Exposition represented the height of Victorian taste, even as many artists were already looking toward a new visual language. The death of Queen Victoria in 1901 symbolized the close of one era, while the decades that followed ushered in rapid industrialization, world conflict and unprecedented artistic exchange.
Morse Museum’s Tiffany Chapel. Photo by Roberto Gonzalez.
As publications, world’s fairs and international travel made ideas more accessible than ever before, creative movements spread quickly across borders. Artists embraced new materials, challenged traditional aesthetics and reimagined the role of art in everyday life. Revolt in the Parlor explores those sweeping changes, revealing how periods of disruption often become catalysts for artistic innovation.
The exhibition complements the Morse Museum’s permanent collection, which includes the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany alongside significant examples of late-19th- and early-20th-century American art and decorative arts. By placing Tiffany and his contemporaries within the broader evolution of modern design, the exhibition offers visitors fresh context for understanding one of the museum’s greatest strengths.
This exquisite Lamson Henry painting is part of Morse Museum’s permanent collection on view now. Courtesy Morse Museum.
The season also arrives during a significant period of growth for the museum itself. Construction is underway on the new Jeannette G. and Hugh F. McKean Pavilion, replacing the museum’s longtime programming space behind the main campus. The new facility will add approximately 3,000 square feet of flexible educational space while maintaining the Mediterranean-style architecture that defines the museum campus. Designed to accommodate expanding educational programs, lectures and community events, the pavilion reflects the museum’s ongoing commitment to making art accessible for future generations. Throughout construction, the museum will remain open, with programs continuing both on campus and at off-site locations.
Together, the new exhibition and expanded educational facilities underscore the Morse Museum’s enduring mission: preserving artistic heritage while continually creating new opportunities for discovery, learning and inspiration.
