Rebecca Rutstein’s Universal Nature

Rebecca Rutstein, Universal Nature

Berman Museum of Art, Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA

June 16 – November 24, 2026

Opening Reception on Thursday, September 17th, from 5:30-7:30 pm

Universal Nature, a mid-career survey of Philadelphia artist Rebecca Rutstein, presents new and recent work across painting, sculpture, textile, and video.

Rutstein’s practice brings together art and science to reveal the dynamic systems that shape our world, drawing on collaborations with researchers and firsthand expedition work to translate phenomena such as ocean circulation, microbial life, and elemental cycles into immersive visual forms. Through these works, Universal Nature invites a deeper understanding of our interconnected planet and humanity’s place within it.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication highlighting the last 10-15 years of Rustein’s career, featuring a newly commissioned essay by art historian Laura Turner Igoe, the Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest Chief Curator at the Michener Art Museum; an interview with Philadelphia gallerist Bridgette Mayer; and an introduction by National Magazine Award-winning journalist Susan Casey. This will be the first monograph to feature Rutstein’s work, creating new scholarship and bringing broader visibility to the artist and her multidisciplinary practice.

Keep your eyes out for updates on programing that will engage students and families with the environmental issues Rutstein investigates through her work.

Support for this exhibition is generously provided by William O. Daggett, Jr., Ursinus College class of 1962.

Read the full press release here.