Cyrus Dallin Art Museum

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Cyrus Dallin Art Museum

Cyrus Dallin is best known for the iconic "Appeal to the Great Spirit" and "Paul Revere Monument" in Boston.

Discover the art of Cyrus Dallin (1861-1944), a celebrated Utah-born sculptor, educator, and Indigenous rights advocate who lived and worked in Arlington, Massachusetts for over 40 years. His many public sculptures bring beauty and a unique historical perspective to shared spaces across the nation. In the intimate setting of the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum, visitors experience over ninety artworks spa

nning the sculptor's sixty-year career. The Museum's comprehensive exhibits ground Dallin's unique body of work within the context of his commitment to artistic expression, education, and Indigenous rights.

08/26/2026

We were delighted to welcome Abigail Hykin, Eve Mayberger, and interns Megan and Olivia from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Objects Conservation Lab for a tour of the museum. The visit coincided with the MFA's recent conservation of Cyrus Dallin's Appeal to the Great Spirit. We discussed Dallin's casting and patina preferences, and Heather shared greater context around his personal history, artistic intentions, Indigenous rights advocacy, and reciprocal relationships with Indigenous peoples. We all gained valuable new insights and perspectives!

08/20/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined the Dallin Museum, Old Schwamb Mill, and Arlington Historical Society & Jason Russell House for our Museums of Arlington program featuring public historian and storyteller Sean Osborne. Sean taught us so much about the legacies of Quock Walker, Lemuel Haynes, and Sojourner Truth - courageous Black Americans who fought to make the promises of the Declaration of Independence a reality for all people.

We invited Sean to write the interpretive text for Dallin's portrait relief of Judge William Cushing, who presided over the last of the assault cases initiated by Quock Walker against his former enslaver. Sean has also written a dedicated panel about Quock and his legal fight that ultimately ended slavery in Massachusetts.

Stay tuned! Our new Euro-American Figures Gallery - including Sean's interpretive text - will be unveiled later this month!

08/14/2026

Thanks to Intelligent Labor and Moving , Cyrus Dallin's Euro-American figures are taking up short term residence with his friends and family. 😅 Step one of our Euro-American Figures Gallery installation is complete. The new exhibit will be installed in the coming days. Stay tuned. And yes, we are still open!

08/13/2026

Join the Museums of Arlington for an afternoon of family fun and a lively presentation by storyteller and public historian Sean D. Osborne!

08/12/2026

Add social media manager to the list. 😎

08/11/2026

What do an American Revolutionary silversmith and Italy’s elite, feather-hatted infantry have in common? Way more than you’d think! 🪶

Our Director of Outreach and Engagement, Nancy Blanton, recently had the pleasure of visiting Desenzano del Garda, Italy, where she came across a monument dedicated to Italy's Bersaglieri. She was immediately struck by the similarities between the Bersaglieri and Paul Revere and his fellow Midnight Riders.

Founded in 1836, the Bersaglieri made extreme speed their entire identity. Traditionally, they didn’t walk—they ran everywhere at a brisk jog to outmaneuver the enemy, eventually using bicycles and motorcycles to keep the fast pace.

The legacies of the Bersaglieri and the Midnight Riders are deeply rooted in their nations’ struggles for independence. (The Bersaglieri became a symbol of the Risorgimento, or reunification of Italy.) And both represent the power of a rapid response force. Whether by hoof or on foot, when the nation called, these Patriots moved at a sprint! 🐎👟

Image: Monumento ai Bersaglieri d’Italia, Desenzano del Garda. Installed in 2023. Photo by Nancy Blanton.

08/03/2026

We had so much fun sharing snacks and catching up at our volunteer appreciation picnic! Our volunteers are truly what makes the Dallin Museum special. ❤ We are SO grateful to Food Link Inc. for the tasty treats and 4imprint for the beautiful magnet giveaways.

And Emma's sculpture-themed trivia game was a hit! Here's one that stumped me. "Charlestown is home to a cast stone statue of a pile of sacks of what beloved vegetable, commemorating the storage sheds that used to house them along Millers River?"

Answer posted in the comments!

07/30/2026

🚨A surprising friendship! Our digitization project has revealed another fun discovery - a letter from Alexander Calder to Cyrus Dallin. 😲 Calder is best known for his kinetic "mobiles" and massive abstract metal monuments like Flamingo in Chicago, IL. Both men were members of the National Academy of Design. While their artistic styles differed dramatically, Calder and Dallin appear to have shared a friendship based on mutual respect.

In his letter, dated March 14, 1934, Calder echoed Dallin's frustration with the Academy's jury selection process, which appeared to grant the Painters' Jury greater authority than the Sculptors' Jury in determining the final selections for the Academy's exhibitions.

"The painters assume a high hand and should be challenged for rights," wrote Calder.

Calder's words may have encouraged Dallin to act. The archive includes replies from members of the Academy's Council acknowledging Dallin's concerns, as well as a notice of a special meeting on May 23, 1934 "for the purpose of considering changes in the Jury Rules." These changes would give jury members the power to select artworks in their respective disciplines. We hope Dallin and Calder were satisfied with the outcome!

07/29/2026

We had a great time making art in the park on Saturday! Many thanks to Chuck Luca and Geri Tremblay for making all of our artists feel welcome and supported. ❤🎨

07/23/2026

We had an incredible time with these amazing Lakota youth from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota! The kids toured the museum and learned all about Cyrus Dallin's art and Indigenous rights advocacy. Then, we discussed how Dallin used armatures to build his clay models. The kids created their own sculptures using armatures made of toothpicks and foil. We love these annual visits, which are organized by Joy Harris from the Lakota YouthStay Program!

Address

611 Massachusetts Avenue
Arlington, MA
02474

Telephone

+17816410747

Website

http://www.dallin.org/

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