Sometimes the smallest details can make a big impression. Visitors entering the Allentown Art Museum on May 14, 2026, and after will be welcomed by an eye-catching installation of oversized-feather images. Everyone will pass through the Museum’s new Peacock Room. Below, the AAM’s Vice President of Curatorial Affairs, Elaine Mehalakes, explains how the Room came to be and what you’ll see.
Installation view of Ellen Berkenblit: The Clouds are Luminous at the Allentown Art Museum
“When we invited artist Ellen Berkenblit to have an exhibition at the Museum, ultimately titled The Clouds are Luminous, she came for a visit and we walked through the gallery spaces thinking about all of the possibilities. Our second-floor galleries can be used for a single large exhibition, or for two or even three separate exhibitions. We knew we wanted to dedicate the high-ceilinged, open space of Scheller Gallery to Ellen’s monumentally scaled recent paintings. The much more intimate proportions of the adjacent Fowler Gallery presented other possibilities.
“The small gallery seemed like the perfect space in which to feature Ellen’s works on paper, a key part of her artistic practice that she alternates with painting. I was excited to display a broader selection of the artist’s work, especially since this show would introduce it to many people for the first time.
One Night Only: Ellen Berkenblit, October 24, 2019, Dallas, Texas
“While we were in the gallery brainstorming, Ellen showed me a picture of an installation she had done in Dallas, Texas, in 2019 for her exhibition One Night Only. Set in a shotgun-style home, it featured a wallpaper designed by the artist on which variously scaled works were hung at different heights, with unsettling effect.
“We thought about how great it would be to explore the use of wallpaper in Fowler Gallery, as a means of setting off Ellen’s drawings and collages while creating an immersive environment for visitors.
“Ellen chose to transform a small and delicate source image—a Victorian drawing of a peacock feather—into a bold and outsized design for the room. Its asymmetrical pattern and black background appear to simultaneously push the framed drawings forward while attracting the eye to the offbeat rhythm of the feathers in between the works. The design upended the expectation of docile domesticity usually associated with wallpaper and created a memorably immersive experience.
Installation view of Ellen Berkenblit: The Clouds are Luminous at the Allentown Art Museum
“The effect was so compelling that we’ve decided to install Ellen’s wallpaper in the Museum’s vestibule coincident with the mid-May closing of The Clouds are Luminous.”
Ellen Berkenblit: The Peacock Room will welcome visitors to the Museum with an unexpected and encompassing visual experience.