A Gilded Age mansion is reimagined; the rarely seen world of a pioneering woodworker is explored; and more must-see American openings.

By VASILISA IOUKHNOVETS

Cambridge, “Pedro Gómez-Egaña: The Great Learning” (Opens Feb. 21)
Colombian-born visual artist Pedro Gómez-Egaña makes sculptures, immersive installations, and performances that highlight the changing subjectivity of time and space, particularly in modern culture. In his first Stateside museum exhibition, the artist takes inspiration from the architectural features and optical illusions of the Parthenon to investigate how architecture shapes our lives. A moving set resembles an apartment with shifting, duplicated walls. Gómez-Egaña invites the viewer to rethink how everyday objects and our domestic spaces hold influence over us. listart.mit.edu

Chicago, “A Tale of Today: Materialities” (Until Apr. 27)
The Driehaus Museum of 19th-century art, architecture, and design is housed in the former home of Chicago banker Samuel Nickerson. After its construction in 1883, the house was the most expensive residence in the city. Signs of Gilded Age America remain in the onyx, exotic wood, stained glass, and 17 types of marble that decorate the interior. For the museum’s largest contemporary exhibition, 14 artists were asked to take inspiration from within the museum, responding to materials such as the long-gone taxidermy that used to decorate the house, the delicacy of the stained-glass windows, and the significance behind Nickerson’s early adoption of the lightbulb. driehausmuseum.org

Madison, “The Crafted World of Wharton Esherick” (Until May 18)
A solitary painter, Wharton Esherick settled down in the woods northeast of Philadelphia in 1913. He soon started carving simple frames for his paintings, slowly discovering an affinity for woodworking that would eventually become his lifelong dedication. For the next 55 years, Esherick sculpted wood, still considered a plain craft medium, into elegant and one-of-a-kind furniture that included curved tables, twisted staircases, and a dovetail fireplace. After the designer’s death in 1970, his studio and home were converted into a museum holding almost 3,000 of his works. The secluded museum is visited mostly by those who know where to look, meaning this exhibition at the University of Wisconsin—Madison’s Chazen Museum of Art brings a selection of groundbreaking pieces to a new crowd. chazen.wisc.edu

Find the full list at The Grand Tourist.