The Newport Art Museum presents Play/Pretend — a cross-generational exhibition exploring how imagination shapes identity from childhood through adulthood. From building blanket forts to inventing elaborate storylines for dolls and action figures, childhood play allows us to test roles and imagine new possibilities. As adults, that instinct evolves. We continue to construct narratives about who we are and how we are perceived. Play / Pretend traces this continuum between early imagination and adult self-construction, revealing play as a lifelong act of discovery.

Featuring historic dolls and automata, works from the Redwood Library & Athenaeum, the collection of Shelley D. Schorsch and contemporary artists including Saberah Malik, Tom Deininger, Gerry Perrino, Entang Wiharso, Christina Pell, and Rick Lazes, the exhibition places 18th to 20th toys in dialogue with artists working today.