Advance Ticket Sales Announced for Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow

CLEVELAND (March 11, 2025)—It’s time to dream louder. The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) announces ticket information for its next major exhibition, Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow, on view in the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Exhibition Hall and Gallery from Sunday, May 25, through Sunday, September 7, 2025. This exhibition is presented by Akron Children’s.

Takashi Murakami is known for his pantheon of vividly colorful characters and his unique style that simultaneously honors the rich tradition of Japanese art and deploys the cultural energies of anime, manga, otaku, and kawaii in singular contemporary artworks. This expanded version of Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow is filled with paintings and sculptures that pulsate with color, sheen, and vibrant energy. Originally displayed at The Broad in Los Angeles in 2022, visitors can explore how—after shared historical events and trauma—art can address crisis, healing, outrage, and escapist fantasy. 

In addition to works more than 30 feet wide on view, the centerpiece of the exhibition is the re-creation of the Yumedono, or Dream Hall, from Nara’s Horyuji Temple complex in the CMA’s magnificent atrium. Visitors can enter Murakami’s rendering of the Yumedono to experience four new paintings by the artist that the structure was designed to house. The interpretation of this exhibition at the CMA also includes new artworks from Murakami placed in conversation with works in the museum’s permanent collection galleries, meant to provide helpful context and to spark emotional connections.

Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow is organized by The Broad, Los Angeles.

Curated by Ed Schad, Curator and Publications Manager, The Broad.

How to Purchase or Reserve Tickets

The CMA recommends reserving tickets through its online platform by visiting the Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow exhibition web page. Tickets can also be reserved by phone at 216-421-7350 or on-site at one of the ticket desks.

Tickets are expected to book quickly and are not guaranteed. Your first choice of date and time may not be available, so please have other date and time options in mind when reserving tickets. Advance ticket sales are highly recommended. 

Member Tickets 

Leadership Circle and CMA members have the first chance to reserve free timed tickets beginning on Tuesday, March 11, at 10:00 a.m. To become a member; to verify, renew, or upgrade membership levels; or to confirm login information, go to the membership page or call the ticket center at 216-421-7350. 

Member Preview Days

Members see it FIRST and for FREE! Members can view Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow first on Member Preview Days, from May 16 through May 24, 2025. Join today and reserve tickets during the presale.

Public Tickets

Nonmembers may begin purchasing tickets on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. 

Ticket Pricing

Adults $30; seniors $28; students and children ages 6 to 17 $15; children 5 and under and CMA members free

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About the Cleveland Museum of Art 

The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, which includes more than 66,500 artworks and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. The museum is a significant international forum for exhibitions, scholarship, and performing arts and is a leader in digital innovation. One of the leading encyclopedic art museums in the United States, the CMA is recognized for its award-winning open access program—which provides free digital access to images and information about works in the museum’s collection—and free of charge to all. The museum is located in the University Circle neighborhood with two satellite locations on Cleveland’s west side: the Community Arts Center and Transformer Station.

The museum is supported in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture and made possible in part by the Ohio Arts Council (OAC), which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts. The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. For more information about the museum and its holdings, programs, and events, call 888-CMA-0033 or visit cma.org.

The exhibition is presented by Akron Children’s.

Generous support is provided by the Gottlob family in loving memory of Milford Gottlob, MD. Additional support is provided by Mrs. Viia R. Beechler, Gries Financial Partners, Kenneth H. Kirtz and family, and Frank and Fran Porter.

All exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Exhibitions. Principal annual support is provided by Michael Frank and the late Pat Snyder, the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation, the John and Jeanette Walton Exhibition Fund, and Margaret and Loyal Wilson. Major annual support is provided by the late Dick Blum and Harriet Warm and the Frankino-Dodero Family Fund for Exhibitions Endowment. Generous annual support is provided by two anonymous donors, Gini and Randy Barbato, Gary and Katy Brahler, Cynthia and Dale Brogan, Dr. Ben and Julia Brouhard, Brenda and Marshall Brown, Gail and Bill Calfee, Dr. William A. Chilcote Jr. and Dr. Barbara S. Kaplan, Joseph and Susan Corsaro, Ron and Cheryl Davis, Richard and Dian Disantis, the Jeffery Wallace Ellis Trust in memory of Lloyd H. Ellis Jr., Leigh and Andy Fabens, Florence Kahane Goodman, Janice Hammond and Edward Hemmelgarn, Robin Heiser, the late Marta and the late Donald M. Jack Jr., the estate of Walter and Jean Kalberer, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, the William S. Lipscomb Fund, Bill and Joyce Litzler, the Roy Minoff Family Fund, Lu Anne and the late Carl Morrison, Jeffrey Mostade and Eric Nilson and Varun Shetty, Sarah Nash, Courtney and Michael Novak, Tim O’Brien and Breck Platner, Dr. Nicholas and Anne Ogan, William J. and Katherine T. O’Neill, Henry Ott-Hansen, the Pickering Foundation, Christine Fae Powell, Peter and Julie Raskind, Michael and Cindy Resch, Marguerite and James Rigby, William Roj and Mary Lynn Durham, Betty T. and David M. Schneider, Saundra K. Stemen, Paula and Eugene Stevens, the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Claudia Woods and David Osage.