Tom Nussbaum: But Wait, There’s More!

September 13, 2025-January 4, 2026

As the carnival barker title implies, it’s fun: about as close to an exercise in pure enjoyment as you are likely to find in a Jersey art museum this year.
–Tris McCall, NJArts, September 24, 2025

Spanning six decades of imaginative, playful, and thought-provoking work, Tom Nussbaum: But Wait, There’s More! is the most comprehensive exhibition to date by this celebrated New Jersey-based artist.

From colorful, inventive sculptures to handmade toys, lyrical paper cuts, and design objects, the exhibition brings together more than 80 works that reflect Nussbaum's boundless creativity and ingenuity.

SELECTED WORKS

A vibrant abstract artwork with a chaotic arrangement of red, blue, and yellow geometric shapes interconnected by thin lines.

Tom Nussbaum (b. 1953). East Orange Boogie Woogie, 2015. Acrylic on steel. Collection of Jason McIntosh and Maria Zaitseva.

A colorful display of metal art figures resembling robots, illuminated with vibrant lights, creating playful shadows on the background.

Tom Nussbaum (b. 1953). Acme Robots Night Lights, 1985–1986. Thirteen night lights. Collection of the artist, Rolla Herman, and Duane Romanell.

Colorful abstract sculpture resembling a whimsical ship, with figures, strings, and a small boat, set against a neutral background.

Tom Nussbaum (b. 1953). But Wait, There’s More!, 2024. Acrylic on steel, wood, epoxy, tin, and paper. Collection of the artist.

A sculptural figure showcases a stylized person reclining on a round, smooth surface, with warm earthy tones and distinct features.

Tom Nussbaum (b. 1953). Listen, 2006. Acrylic on resin, Ed. 6/9. Montclair Art Museum, Gift of Lora Urbanelli, 2024.6.

Nussbaum’s wide-ranging career has taken him from Minneapolis to New York and across the country through commissions and exhibitions. You may have seen his public art in places like Montclair’s Bay Street Station or the Albert E. Hinds Gates in Princeton, NJ. This exhibition offers a closer look at the studio practice behind the public works, alongside rarely seen early pieces, and intimate works on paper.

The exhibition takes its name from one of Nussbaum’s latest works, But Wait, There’s More! (2024)—a fitting title for an artist who’s never stopped creating, questioning, and surprising. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, there’s always more to discover.

A fully illustrated catalogue, by Gail Stavitsky, with essays by Tom Nussbaum and Jennifer McGregor, accompanies the show, featuring new essays on Nussbaum’s career, creative influences, and public art projects.

The exhibition is curated by Gail Stavitsky, Ph.D, Chief Curator, Montclair Art Museum.

In the Studio with Tom Nussbaum

^{Endowment support provided by the Lyn and Glenn Reiter Endowed Special Exhibition Fund and the Judith Targan Fund for Museum Publications.}

^{PREMIER

Christine James and Nick De Toustain

Margo and Frank Walter}

^{VISIONARY

Judith Targan}

^{DREAMER

Lisa and Joseph Amato

The Lacey Family

Bobbi and Steven Plofker

Joan and Don Zief}

^{MAKER

Valerie Ablaza

Linny and Rick Andlinger

Sylvia Cohn

Susan E. Cole

Rosanne Guararra and Edward Gold

Susan and Arthur Hatzopoulos

Michael Heningburg, Jr., Esq.

Jeanine B. Downie, M.D.

Image Dermatology P.C.

Jason McIntosh

Patricia and Charles Selden}

^{TINKER

Susan Brady and Mustafa Abadan

Pamela Bryan

Octavia Art Gallery

Alexis Davis

Peter and Deborah Hirsch

Jennifer Ley and Kit Skarstrom

Lyn Rosensweig and Bruce Schnelwar

Cheryl and Marc Slutzky 

Linda and Brian Sterling

Robert and Sharon Taylor}

^{All MAM programs are made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and Museum members.}

Logos for New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, Discovery Jersey Arts