Cincinnati Art Museum is hosting its first Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirror Room, and families have until Oct. 18 to catch it. Yayoi Kusama: All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins fills a gallery with yellow, polka-dotted pumpkins reflected into an apparent infinity of mirrors, and it’s on loan from the Dallas Museum of Art for its run at the Eden Park museum.
The installation requires a separate, timed ticket on top of the museum’s general admission, which is always free. For families weighing whether it’s worth the trip, the logistics matter as much as the art: entry is capped at two people at a time, tickets sell out fast and there are specific rules for bringing children under 16.
What Families Will See
The exhibition opens with 10 paintings and two prints Kusama made between 1990 and 2004, all part of her recurring pumpkin motif, which she has described as a form of self-portraiture. Visitors can look at those on their own schedule before lining up for the main event.
The Infinity Mirror Room itself is brief and tightly managed. Once inside, visitors get one minute and 30 seconds before a museum attendant, who stays in the room throughout, directs them back out. A full visit, counting the wait in line and time with the paintings, runs up to 30 minutes.
How Tickets Work
Tickets are $17 for adults and $14 for seniors, college students and children ages 6 to 17. Museum members get free admission to the exhibition, along with early access to tickets during member-only hours (Tuesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to noon, and weekends, 10 a.m. to noon).
Tickets are sold online only, in one-month batches released 30 days ahead of each visit date, and popular time slots go quickly. The museum recommends checking back often rather than waiting for a specific date to open up.
Only two people are allowed in the mirror room at once, and a single ticket holder may be paired with another visitor to fill that pair. Whole families do not enter together. Anyone hoping to experience the room with a spouse or a specific child should plan around that rule rather than assume the group will go in together.
Visiting With Kids
The museum’s ticket page walks through specific family scenarios, which is more detail than most exhibition pages bother with:
- Two adults are required for two children ages 15 or younger.
- A visit with a 16-year-old and a 15-year-old needs three tickets total, since the 15-year-old must enter the room with a ticket-holding adult while the 16-year-old waits in line to be paired with someone else.
- An infant under age 1 needs a free ticket but no separate seat. A carried infant or one in a front-style carrier counts as one of the two people allowed in the room.
- Children 15 and under cannot wait in line for the installation without a ticket-holding adult present, and the room attendant is not responsible for supervising them.
Strollers are not allowed inside the installation, though the gallery has a stroller parking area nearby. The museum also asks parents to use judgment about bringing small children at all, since the pumpkins are within reach and touching the art isn’t permitted.
Free Entry Times
The exhibition is free for members and non-members every Thursday evening from 5 to 8 p.m., and it was also free during three Art After Dark evenings this summer; the last one falls on Sept. 25, from 5 to 9 p.m. Free tickets for those windows go live online at 11 a.m. the day of the event and disappear quickly.
Related Article: Families looking for other no-cost outings around town can check free museum days in Cincinnati.
Good to Know
A few practical notes worth reading before booking:
- Bags aren’t allowed near the installation. Free coat check is available at the museum entrances or right outside the exhibition.
- Phones and cameras are permitted inside for photos, but they have to stay attached to a lanyard (provided on site) at all times. No flash, tripods or selfie sticks anywhere in the museum.
- There’s no re-entry once a visitor leaves the mirror room or the print and painting gallery, so a missed time slot means buying a new ticket for a later slot that day or another day entirely.
- Entering the room requires a short ramp with a 2-inch rise and no handrails, and the interior walkway is about 30 inches wide. Motorized mobility devices can’t be accommodated, though manual wheelchairs are available on site. Because of the sensory intensity, the space may not suit visitors with claustrophobia, and service animals aren’t permitted inside.
Plan Your Visit
Where: Cincinnati Art Museum, 953 Eden Park Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Exhibition dates: Through Oct. 18, 2026
Museum hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; closed Mondays
General museum admission: Free
Exhibition tickets: $17 adults, $14 seniors/students/children 6-17, free for members
Tickets and full visit guidelines: cincinnatiartmuseum.org
