Emerson Contemporary is Emerson College’s platform for showcasing contemporary visual art. It is focused on presenting living artists, their ideas, experiments, and creative practices in the areas of media art, performance art, and emergent technologies, while critically examining these works in their social context. Working with the principal that artistic practice is an intellectual activity and works of art are a form of knowledge production, Emerson Contemporary engages the public with temporary exhibitions and related public programing.

Emerson Contemporary amplifies the voices of living artists, creative changemakers, and technologists who broaden how we understand our present moment and help us reimagine what is possible by encouraging experimentation, commissioning new works, and supporting artistic research. In support of this mission, Emerson Contemporary frequently showcases historically underrepresented artists and actively creates opportunities for working artists to engage in new technologies.