The Arlington Common is pleased to present If You Can Want, You Can Need, a new work by artist Susan Weiss exploring beauty, desire, and the line between wanting and needing.

The exhibition combines a series of original Polaroid photographs and a box installation of the black tulip. Together, these works examine how ordinary objects become symbols of aspiration, accumulation, and obsession. The black tulip – appearing almost impossibly dark yet revealing itself as deep purple upon close inspection – serves as a metaphor for the illusions that fuel desire and the promises that often remain out of reach. The box installation reinforces this concept in a structural landscape that evokes endless acquisition, while the intimate Polaroid photographs invite slow looking and close consideration. Viewers are asked to consider how beauty is constructed, considered, and pursued, and how the act of wanting can evolve into something more urgent.

Join Susan for the Opening Reception on Friday, August 7, 2026, from 5:00 – 7:00 PM in the Watkins House at the Arlington Common.

This event is free and open to the public.

Gallery Hours are Monday, Thursday and Friday from 1-3 PM , and Saturday from 10 AM-12 PM

Susan Weiss is a photographer and filmmaker whose work explores identity, beauty, memory, and systems of observation. Her projects investigate the relationship between personal experience and the broader cultural narratives.

Corporate sponsorship: Duck Tape/Shurtape Technologies