Museum

Discover the art and life of the celebrated American sculptor, educator, and Indigenous rights advocate, Cyrus Dallin, at the only museum in the country solely dedicated to sharing his legacy.

In the intimate setting of the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum, visitors experience over ninety artworks spanning the sculptor’s sixty-year career. The Museum’s comprehensive exhibits explore Dallin’s unique body of work in the context of his commitment to the arts, education, and justice.  

Mission

The Mission of the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum is to promote new insights into our shared history by exploring the life, work, and values of the celebrated, Utah-born sculptor who lived and worked in Arlington, Massachusetts for over forty years. Guided by Dallin’s own values, we seek to provide uplifting and meaningful experiences that promote a more inclusive understanding of our shared history.

Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge that the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum is located on the ancestral lands of the Massachusett Tribe, the Indigenous peoples from whom the Colony, Province, and Commonwealth have taken their names. We pay our respects to the Massachusett and to Indigenous peoples from across Turtle Island who inhabit historic Massachusett territories today. View the Museum’s entry hall panel entitled, “Whose land are you on?” written by Elizabeth Solomon, Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag Elder and Tribal Council member.

Our Commitment to Racial Justice

We, the Directors, Trustees, and staff of the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum, share with our community collective dismay and heartbreak over the senseless loss of life among Black men, women, and children. We acknowledge and need to understand more fully how racism in our community, state, and country continues to marginalize and endanger Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and limits their opportunities. We fully support the values expressed in the Town of Arlington’s official statement on racial justice.

Cyrus Dallin believed that America was not living up to its ideal as a beacon of democracy. “If [Americans] are to retain our self-respect and continue to hold our place in the world,” he said, “we must admit our faults and mistakes and do our utmost to make up for them.”

Museums are gatekeepers of our country’s history. Museums choose what stories to tell, who can tell them, and to whom they are told. At the Dallin Museum, we recognize the complex task of interpreting the legacy of Cyrus Dallin, a white sculptor with a unique background who represented Indigenous peoples in his art.

Guided by our mission, and in consultation with stakeholders from underrepresented communities, we will continue to share Dallin’s legacy through meaningful experiences that promote cultural sensitivity, mutual respect, and a more inclusive understanding of our history.

Museum Staff & Boards