New York's Museum of Sex exhibits 3 centuries of sexuality in American cults

New York's Museum of Sex is now exhibiting three Centuries of Sexuality in American Cults and Communes, a groundbreaking exhibition curated by filmmaker, publisher and curator Jodi Wille.

[Family women in front of Father House, c. 1974 (Image: Museum of Sex)]

New York City: New York's Museum of Sex is now exhibiting three Centuries of Sexuality in American Cults and Communes, a groundbreaking exhibition curated by filmmaker, publisher and curator Jodi Wille.

Titled "Utopia: Three Centuries of Sexuality in American Cults and Communes", the exhibition was inaugurated on October 11, 2025 and will remain open for public till April 12, 2026.

"The two-story exhibition is the first of its kind to trace three centuries of sexuality, relationships and identity within America's utopian and alternative spiritual movements, and examine their influence on the larger culture", the museum said.

Key Highlights

The exhibition features over 20 historical intentional communities, and brings together an unprecedented display of more than 300 artworks, photographs, films, records, printed matter, clothing and rare artifacts to explore how sexuality and communal life shaped alternative visions of society and influenced the larger culture.

The Museum said Utopia reframes the history of American spiritual subcultures through the lens of desire, intimacy and creative reinvention among the following communities, including Shakers, Oneida Community, The Source Family, Church of All Worlds, Cockettes, Kerista Commune, Rajneesh/Osho, Dean and Dudley Evenson, Unarius Academy of Science, House of David, Father Divine, The Farm.

"These communities were laboratories for rethinking nearly every aspect of life, including sexuality, spirituality, gender, family and art," said curator Jodi Wille.

"Through their archives and creative expression, we witness their paths toward meaning and their attempts to reimagine new ways of living and loving in America. I'm thrilled to bring this exhibition and their extraordinary histories to a wider audience at the Museum of Sex", she added.

Parallel Events

Simultaneously, scholarly and immersive, Utopia highlights how these collectives used art, sexuality and ritual to forge alternative models of intimacy and belonging– challenging mainstream norms and leaving a lasting imprint on American culture.

The exhibition coincides with a lineup of invigorating programming across New York City, including Occult Humanities Conference at New York University on October 19, 2025, where Wille will present Cosmic Kinships: Intimacy, Creativity and Cultural Reinvention in American Esoteric Communities.

"This richly audiovisual talk will share rarely seen images and anecdotes not on view in the exhibition, deepening the exploration of how these groups envisioned new possibilities and kinship", the Museum said.

On Wednesday, October 22nd, 2025, The Roxy Theater at The Roxy Hotel will present– along with Museum of Sex and record label Sacred Bones– two screenings of THE SOURCE FAMILY documentary.

The event will also feature a Q&A and book signing after with Director Jodi Wille, family archivist and author Isis Aquarian, and author Dawn Hurwitz, aka Galaxy Aquarian, both wives of Source Family leader Father Yod, the organiser said.

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