MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Currier Museum of Art is planning to reopen to the public on Thursday, with new exhibits, and programs for veterans.

“The museum belongs to the community as a place of discovery and learning, but also as a place to escape from a tough year,” Alan Chong, director of the museum, said in a statement Monday.

The Art for Vets Studios will host expanded veterans and community programs in renovated classrooms.

A new exhibit, “The Body in Art: From the Spiritual to the Sensual,” will explore the creative ways artists through the ages have used the human body as a means of expression. Another will celebrate original drawings of Tomie dePaola, the book illustrator and author of “Strega Nona” who died last year. The exhibit will launch a fund set up in his honour to support art education for young people.

Also on view is “Critical Cartography: Larissa Fassler in Manchester,” in which the museum’s artist-in-residence used large-scale maps to capture the strange and sometimes humorous interactions in Manchester.