Worcester’s New Smile Gallery Celebrates Harvey Ball and a Global Icon

Worcester’s Harvey Ball and the Smiley Face Get a Bigger Museum Spotlight

By-Hank Stolz
Graphic-Radio Worcester/ Smiley Face-Harvey Ball

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Worcester, MA-Tomorrow is World Smile Day, and the Museum of Worcester will be opening up the happiest place in Massachusetts to the general public with the new Smile Gallery, celebrating the creation of Worcester’s Harvey Ball and the Smile Face’s journey as a global icon.

The gallery is a permanent expansion of a previously smaller second-floor exhibit, adding 550 square feet. Worcester Museum Executive Director Eric Butler tells Hank Stolz on Talk of the Commonwealth that, “We take a look at Harvey Ball as the artist that he was, a fine artist, a commercial artist, the creator of the smile face. We also take a look at the journey that Smile had around the globe as a cultural icon.” As Butler points out, “Everyone from Nirvana to Harry Styles to Forrest Gump. No matter where you look, you can see a smile face in this world.” Butler said it was a project that former, long time, executive director Bill Wallace had wanted to accomplish, “I think this project was one of Bill’s bucket list items. So, he always dreamed of having an expansive smile gallery on October 2nd.”

In addition to the gallery opening, the museum’s annual Harvey Ball fundraiser is scheduled for October 8th at Mechanics Hall, where Bill Wallace will be honored. Tickets are sold out and a wait list is now in effect. Visitors to the museum can also explore “Arab Massachusetts,” a new exhibit developed in collaboration with the Arab American National Museum in Michigan, highlighting the histories of Arab Americans across Worcester, Boston, Quincy, and Lawrence.

“Arab Massachusetts: Building Community in the Commonwealth” opened in Worcester on September 26 and runs through February 14, 2027. The exhibit was developed by the Arab American National Museum and includes stories from Worcester, Boston, Quincy and Lawrence spanning the late 19th century through the present.