Cheekwood Estates & Gardens fills its winter season with orchids, workshops, and more
Cheekwood Estate & Gardens will open its 2026 season with two exhibitions debuting on January 31. The program will invite visitors indoors while also encouraging reflection on American art, landscape, and cultural history. Orchids at Cheekwood and Common Ground: The Hainsworth Collection in Conversation with Cheekwood’s Permanent Collection will transform Cheekwood’s Historic Mansion into a setting where horticulture and visual art intersect, offering guests an opportunity to escape the cold and enter a tropical paradise.
Set within the 1930s Georgian-style Historic Mansion, Orchids at Cheekwood will fill the Mansion’s formal rooms with vibrant orchid displays that contrast winter’s chill with lush botanical installations that highlight global plant diversity. The Mansion itself, surrounded by gardens and connected to spaces such as the Wisteria Arbour, Loggia, Reflecting Pool, and Swan Lawn, provides a setting that underscores humanity’s fascination with cultivating and controlling nature.
That theme continues in Common Ground, which brings together works from the private Hainsworth Collection and Cheekwood’s permanent collection for the first time. The exhibition of American paintings reveals how artists have responded to land, labor, and everyday life. Works displayed include Shadows in the Orchard, 1910, by F. Luisa Mora, The Raft, 1895, by Adam Emory Albright, and At the Piano, c. 1890, by Julian Alden Weir, all of which are a part of the Haimsworth family’s personal collection.
Some works from the exhibition reflect the influence of the Hudson River School, a 19th-century movement known for expansive landscapes that celebrate the American wilderness. While visually idealized, these paintings are closely tied to the period of westward expansion and American imperialism, often presenting the land as pristine and unoccupied while overlooking the displacement of Indigenous communities.
Other works align more closely with the Ashcan School. The early-20th-century movement rejected romanticized visions and embraced unvarnished depictions of urban life. Paintings in the Ashcan School also focus on working-class neighborhoods and city streets, offering a counterpoint to the grandeur and optimism of familiar landscape traditions.
In addition to these exhibitions, Cheekwood will offer related programming throughout January and February, providing multiple opportunities for visitors to engage with art, history, and horticulture during the winter months.
Orchids at Cheekwood and Common Ground: The Hainsworth Collection in Conversation with Cheekwood’s Permanent Collection opens January 31, 2026. A series of events will also be offered throughout their winter season in conjunction with the exhibitions.
More information on exhibition dates, tickets, and winter programming is available through Cheekwood’s website at www.cheekwood.org.
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Nastassja is a Hong Kong native who called Boston home for 7 years. She graduated with a BS in Journalism from Emerson College and is currently located in Fort Smith, Arkansas. When she isn’t writing or reading, you can find her crocheting and spending time with her husband, dog, and two cats.
