Tom Nussbaum: But Wait, There’s More!

Tom Nussbaum: But Wait, There’s More!

September 13, 2025-January 4, 2026
Located in Rand Gallery, Elevator Lobby, and Weston Gallery

Nussbaum is a state treasure, an artist who fiddles not only with his own creative dynamic but with family psychology and even community issues.

–Dan Bischoff, “Art about Artists Making Art,” The Star-Ledger, September 27, 2008

 

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.

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.



Images:

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

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

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

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



Tom Nussbaum: But Wait, There’s More! is made possible with generous support provided by the Lyn and Glenn Reiter Endowed Special Exhibition Fund and the Judith Targan Fund for Museum Publications, Linny & Rick Andlinger, Susan & Art Hatzopoulos, Bobbi and Steve Plofker, Bruce Schnelwar and Lyn Rosenswieg, and Margo & Frank Walter.*

*as of 6/12/25