Home - New Bedford Whaling Museum

2024 Members' Trip

Join Chief Curator Naomi Slipp on a New Bedford Whaling Museum Members’ Exclusive Trip to Alaska. Enjoy unique insight and access to Alaskan Indigenous art, whaling history, and cultural traditions with stops in Juneau, Sitka, Anchorage and Utqiagvik (Barrow).

 

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Free Bloomberg Connects Guide App

Take your visit to the next level with our Bloomberg Connects digital guide featuring audio tours, item descriptions, deeper insights, and more! Available in more than 30 languages, and features over 300 museums.

 

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“A SINGULARLY MARINE & FABULOUS PRODUCE”: THE CULTURES OF SEAWEED

This major exhibition probes humankind’s fascination with seaweed across the nineteenth century and into today, tracking changing aesthetics and modes of representation.

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All Hands

New Bedford Whaling Museum Curator of Maritime History, Michael P. Dyer will explore the deep cultural connections between American whaling and the U.S. Navy in the 19th century up to the First World War.

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A photograph of a highly saturated coral reef with schools of fish swimming in the foreground and background. There is text in the middle that reads "Big blue pictures."

New 3D Theater Experience

Big Blue Pictures, a new immersive 3D theater experience at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, is the first and only 3D theater on the SouthCoast of Massachusetts.

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Upcoming Events

THE CONSERVATION OF CHARLES SIDNEY RALEIGH’S PANORAMA OF A WHALING VOYAGE

Wednesday, December 13, 2023 6-7pm

In 2022, the New Bedford Whaling Museum was awarded a major, competitive national grant through the “Save America’s Treasures” program to conserve one painting of our 22-panel panorama series: Charles Sidney Raleigh’s Panorama of a Whaling Voyage. Museum members will be familiar with our 1,275 foot long painting, The Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World, painted by Benjamin Russell and Caleb Purrington around 1848, conserved and exhibited in 2018.

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"LOVE LETTERS FOR NEW BEDFORD" SHORT FILM

Thursday, December 14, 2023

Join us during December's AHA! Night for the premiere of "Love Letters for New Bedford", a short documentary film. In 2022, New Bedford Creative at the NBEDC oversaw the successful completion of the first-ever place-based pilot of Creating Connection in New Bedford, a national initiative by Arts Midwest to make creative expression a recognized, valued, and expected part of everyday life.

 

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OR, THE WHALE BY JOS SANCES: AN ARK THAT INCLUDES US ALL

Friday, January 5, 2024

Kick off this year’s Moby-Dick Marathon with a delicious dinner followed by a captivating lecture featuring artist Jos Sances and Melville Scholar Jeffrey Peterson, Ph.D. In this lecture, master printer Jos Sances will tell the artist’s tale of making Or, The Whale (2019-20), a 14-by-51 foot scratchboard mural detailing the history and cost of American capitalism.

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Tickets

Admissions

Online ticketing is now our primary method of selling admission. Discounted admission tickets can only be purchased onsite.

Museum & 3D Movie Price
Adults $27
Seniors (65+) $25
Youth $17
Museum Members $4

 

Museum Only Price
Adults $23
Senior (65+) $21
Youth $13
Museum Members FREE

 

Become a Member

Members enjoy free admission year-round and many other benefits. Before you purchase your admission ticket, CONSIDER BECOMING A MEMBER!

Extend Your Admission

Bundle your visit to the New Bedford Whaling Museum with admission to either the Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum or the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center to save at both attractions. Buy or learn more at our Admission Desk.

Guides
Plan your visit using the Museum's Visitors Guide (also available in Chinese, French, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish).

Download the Bloomberg Connects app for our gallery guide including audio, images, video, and an interactive map.

Exhibitions

Seaweed Banner

Rotating Exhibitions

Check out what's on view right now at the Museum.

Lagoda

Permanent Exhibitons

Spend an hour or spend a day at the Museum. There is always something to discover.

Jeffery C. Becton (American; b. 1947), Blue Calm, 2014. Photomontage on aluminum, 42 x 75 inches, image courtesy of the artist.

Upcoming Exhibitons

The Museum is always working on the next big exhibit to bring to our guests. Get a sneak peek at what we're creating for you.

photograph of crewmen at work aboard the bark Sunbeam in 1904

Traveling Exhibitions

Extended beyond the New Bedford Whaling Museum walls.

Online ticketing is now our primary method of selling admission. We have maximum capacity caps in effect at the Museum and tickets are sold on a first-come-first-served basis.

Adventures at sea, science, history, art, cookbooks, kids' books, and more — the Museum store has something for all the book lovers on your list.

Choose from prints available at 1000 Museums, or request prints of artworks in our collection.

Shop all of our gifts. The Museum store has hundreds of items available, you're sure to find the perfect gift for that special someone on your list!