CA / San Francisco
Museum of Craft and Design
"Jennifer Crupi: A Display of Gestures"
Jun. 28 – Oct. 5
The flick of a wrist, a hand on a hip: Such momentary motions provided the spark for works in sterling silver and aluminum, in which jewelry and sculpture meet – and become – conceptual art with something to say about how the body talks.

CA / San Jose
San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles
"Now and Then: Early Art Quilts by Ros Cross 1973 – 76"
to Jul. 20
"Vel Garrick: Conversational Watercolor Quilts"
Jul. 26 – Nov. 9
Ros Cross’ innovative sculptural quilts – five are on view here – included stuffed parts and hanging pieces, and opened new frontiers in the art-quilt medium. Vel Garrick is an emerging quilt artist who uses novelty fabrics and “conversational prints” (that include recognizable images) to create new images with dizzying detail; this is the first show of her work.

IA / Des Moines
Des Moines Arts Festival
Jun. 27 – 29
Iowa’s capital city celebrates summer with food, music, wine, beer, comedy, acrobats, a film festival, a juried art show – and Saturday-night fireworks. Let’s go!

MA / Boston
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
"Quilts and Color: The Pilgrim/Roy Collection"
to Jul. 27
Collectors Gerald Roy and the late Paul Pilgrim initially sought out American quilts that reflected the bold colors and designs of abstract expressionism and op art. Over five decades, their ambitious collection expanded to include more traditional and historical examples, and to number in the thousands; the 60 quilts here are a vivid sample.

MN / St. Paul
Goldstein Museum of Design
"Signed by Vera: Scarves by an Iconic Designer"
to Jun. 29
For 40 years after World War II, Vera Neumann’s boldly patterned scarves – incorporating her instantly recognizable signature – were the jaunty finishing touches on women’s outfits around the world. The Goldstein Museum of Design draws on its collection of about 550 Vera scarves for this overview.

NM / Santa Fe
Blue Rain Gallery
"Year of the Horse: New Works by Rimi Yang and Shelley Muzylowski Allen"
Jul. 4 – 19
Shelley Muzylowski Allen’s background as a painter resounds in her fluid blown-glass sculptures of animals, into which she incorporates paint, metal, and other materials. Rimi Yang also often portrays equines in her vibrant paintings, making this show doubly auspicious for horse lovers.

NY / New York City
Museum of Arts and Design
"Multiple Exposures: Jewelry and Photography"
to Sep. 14
"NYC Makers: The MAD Biennial"
Jul. 1 – Oct. 12
Concepts of beauty and identity are among the issues that come into focus through images and objects from global artists in “Multiple Exposures”; “NYC Makers,” the first MAD exhibition organized since Glenn Adamson became director, is a showcase of work by about 100 of New York’s top artists and designers, chosen from among the city’s established practitioners as well as its emerging enfants terribles.

NC / Charlotte
Mint Museum
"Allure of Flowers"
to Aug. 10
The Mint has plucked flowery works in jewelry, glass, textiles, and other mediums from its permanent collection, and arranged them by bloom – roses, lilies, asters among them – to show how each has been used as a motif from the mid-19th century to the present.

PA / Philadelphia
Moderne Gallery
"David Ebner: 50 Years of Studio Furniture"
to Jun. 30
Ebner’s apt phrase for his sculptural furniture, “antiques of the future,” evokes both its innovative design and its timeless charm. Fascinated by woodworking since childhood, Ebner studied with Wendell Castle and other masters before taking his own place in the pantheon of the American studio furniture movement. This show of more than 60 pieces is the first comprehensive look at an influential career that has spanned 50 years.

WA / Tacoma
Museum of Glass
"Look! See? The Colors and Letters of Jen Elek and Jeremy Bert"
to Jan. 18, 2015
Don’t just stand there. Touch it. Wear it. That’s the message of this show, which combines glass sculptures with about 50 neon letters that visitors can arrange, rearrange, and even don. 

WV / Huntington
Huntington Museum of Art
"Walter Gropius Master Artist Series Presents: Jeanne Quinn"
to Aug. 10
Before embarking on her career in ceramics, Jeanne Quinn was a student of baroque music performance, an apprentice violinmaker, and a flutemaker. In her ethereal installation Floating, hundreds of porcelain objects suspended in space are arranged in a pattern inspired by lace that has its own visual rhythm.

View the complete shows and events calendar.