Featured Works and Installations

In Focus: O’Neil Scott

At Peace shows resilience as a steady, inner armor, something that holds firm even as the world moves and reshapes itself around you. That armor is built slowly from everything you’ve lived through, each experience adding a new layer of strength. Over time, it becomes a quiet source of confidence, a reminder that you can face whatever comes next. That understanding, and the calm it brings, is what finally puts you at peace.

About the Artist
O’Neil Scott is a Philadelphia-based artist, born in Spanish Town, Jamaica whose practice is rooted in portraiture. Influenced early by his grandfather and uncle, both of whom pursued creative paths. Scott began drawing as a child, filling notebooks with characters both imagined and observed. Scott’s work is inspired by the Old Masters and contemporary realists alike. His transition from acrylic to oil paint marked a pivotal moment in his practice, allowing for greater depth, pliability, and exploration of complex narratives. Through his portraits, he engages with themes such as social justice, climate change, and subjects that speak to both personal truth and collective urgency. In 2025, Scott debuted his first solo museum large scale works exhibition at the Zillman Art Museum (University of Maine) in Bangor, Maine, a milestone that showcased the breadth of his evolving work and his commitment to storytelling through a Black diasporic lens. At the core of his paintings is a desire to invoke mindfulness, inspire contemplation, and foster deeper understanding of the human condition. Scott’s work has been featured at several prominent art fairs in the US and exhibited with notable galleries, and his paintings are part of esteemed corporate collections as well as private collections both in the U.S. and internationally.

At Home with Lady Normanby: A Regina Music Box Suited for Royalty (1899)

This remarkable example of mechanical music, donated to the Museum by Murtogh Guinness’ sister, Lady Normanby, recently underwent significant funder-supported restoration.

Leadership support for this exhibition is provided by Will and Mary Leland.

Artwork captions

O’Neil Scott, At Peace, 2025. Oil on Panel. On Loan Courtesy of the Tanya Weddemire Gallery.

“Sublima Corona Style No. 32” Coin-Operated Disc Music Box, 1899. Manufactured by the Regina Music Box Company, Rahway, New Jersey. Gift of the Dowager Marchioness of Normanby (1920–2018) in Memory of her Brother, Murtogh D. Guinness. Collection of the Morris Museum. 2005.18a-g. Photo by  Tim Volk.