Arts & Culture

Theater, live music, galleries, art classes, exhibitions, movies, lectures, and book signings - the opportunities to engage with the arts and culture on the island are numerous and diverse. Starting with a walk up Main Street you will encounter several galleries that are also shops and shops that are also galleries. It’s tough to discern the line between the two as you are surrounded by art for your walls, your shelves, and yourself. There are numerous spots downtown to buy original paintings depicting island scenes and hand woven shawls highlighting the colors of our landscapes.

Night life on the island could mean a stage production by one of the several acting troupes or gallery hopping on the docks with warm light emanating from the beckoning doorways. You can also take in a feature film downtown or choose from a wide range of live musical options in the various venues all within walking distance or a short cab ride from Main Street.

During the day there are even more opportunities to experience arts and culture on the island. You can take a class in plein air painting or learn to make your own Nantucket lightship basket in the manner of seafaring folks from the nineteenth century. The public library, the Nantucket Atheneum, often hosts lectures of cultural significance as it has for nearly two hundred years.

If you time your visit just right you can also attend the Annual Daffodil Festival Weekend, the Nantucket Wine and Food Festival, the Nantucket Book Festival, the Nantucket Film Festival, the Nantucket Garden Festival, the Nantucket Comedy Festival or the Nantucket Arts Festival. Please check the following pages in this guidebook for more information or visit nantucketchamber.org.