It began in Worcester in 1963 with a few strokes of black ink, a yellow circle and a smile.
More than six decades after artist Harvey Ball created one of the world’s most recognizable images, the Museum of Worcester is giving the Smiley Face—and the Worcester artist behind it—a bigger place to call home.
The museum, formerly the Worcester Historical Museum, will open “The Smile Gallery: An American Icon” to the public Friday, Oct. 2, coinciding with World Smile Day.
The new multimedia exhibition completes a full renovation and 550-square-foot expansion of an existing gallery devoted to Ball and his creation. Designed by H2 Designs, the gallery explores Ball’s career as a visual and commercial artist, the creation of the Smiley Face and the image’s evolution from a Worcester-made button into a cultural symbol recognized around the world.
“Our Smile Gallery will surely be the happiest place in Worcester,” Museum of Worcester Executive Director Eric Butler said in the announcement. “This gallery cements Mr. Ball’s legacy as the creator of this global phenomenon and Worcester as the rightful home of this joyous icon.”
Ball created the Smiley Face in 1963, with the image initially appearing on a 7/8-inch button. Its uncomplicated design—two black eyes and a curved smile against a yellow background — would eventually appear on everything from clothing and posters to buttons and countless other products.
The museum describes the image as a symbol that crosses boundaries of gender, race, religion, economic class and politics, carrying a simple message of happiness and goodwill.
The expanded gallery also puts greater focus on Ball himself, something his family says was important in developing the exhibition.
“On behalf of the Harvey Ball family, we are thrilled with the new Smile Gallery that pays full homage to Harvey’s icon, his artistic talent, and most importantly, to the man himself,” Ball’s son, Charles P. Ball, said in the announcement.
He also credited the museum staff and Bill Wallace, who worked with Harvey Ball beginning in the mid-1990s and helped launch the first World Smile Day.
The choice of Oct. 2 for the gallery’s public opening connects the exhibition to another piece of Ball’s legacy.
World Smile Day carries Ball’s call to “Do one act of kindness. Help one person smile,” and the museum will incorporate that message into its opening weekend.
Admission to the Museum of Worcester and the Smile Gallery is free beginning at 1 p.m. Oct. 2, with extended museum hours through 7 p.m.
Visitors are encouraged to bring canned goods or other nonperishable food items throughout opening weekend. Donations will support Juniper Outreach and its efforts to distribute food to local schools, students and families.
The new gallery gives Worcester a permanent, expanded space to tell the story behind an image that long ago escaped the boundaries of the city where it was created.
And while the Smiley Face has traveled about as far as an image can — reproduced and recognized by generations around the world — the museum’s new exhibition brings its story back to where it started.
With Harvey Ball, in Worcester, and a simple smile.
