The Huntington Museum of Art will host an exhibit titled A Moment in The Sun from July 5 through October 18, 2026.
“This exhibit was inspired by the universal human experience of recognizing that our time on Earth is precious and fleeting,” said HMA Curator John Farley. “The artworks in this exhibit, curated mostly from HMA’s permanent collection, are gathered to propose an encouraging idea for the living – the mundane and the numinous coexist more often than we realize. Amid even the deepest gloom, it is possible to find purpose, meaning, and joy.”
The title of the exhibit was inspired in 2025 when researchers in the Canary Islands filmed a deep-sea anglerfish near the surface of the ocean. “This small fish, a female, had spent her entire life thousands of feet below in the cold, dark depths,” Farley said. “Then, in poor health, she drifted up to the light and experienced the warmth of the sun for the first and last time.”
Curating A Moment in The Sun has been a personal experience for Farley. “My mother, Anne Farley, passed away in the summer of 2024. Learning how to live with this fact, how to orient myself each day, has been a tremendous challenge,” Farley said. “I came to understand that while losing Mom felt intensely personal, grieving the loss of someone important is an experience that everyone has in common. Mom remains a great force for good in my life. I believe the same is true for all who have lost loved ones. So, this exhibit, A Moment in The Sun, is really about presence, not absence. It’s about being here together.”
This exhibit is presented by Byron Dan Farley and dedicated in loving memory of Anne Elizabeth Layne Farley (1953-2024).
This exhibit is presented with support from The Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.
This project is supported with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Tourism and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval of the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.
For more information about HMA exhibits or membership, visit hmoa.org or call (304) 529-2701. HMA is fully accessible.
West Virginia residents may obtain a summary of the registration and financial documents from the Secretary of State, State Capitol, Charleston, WV 25305. Registration does not imply endorsement.