{"id":914215,"date":"2026-07-05T13:39:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T13:39:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/914215\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T13:39:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T13:39:58","slug":"show-and-tell-see-how-museums-and-galleries-are-celebrating-250-in-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/914215\/","title":{"rendered":"Show and tell: See how museums and galleries are celebrating 250 in the US"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US is celebrating 250 with some breathtaking displays of art and heritage.<\/p>\n

\"WillemWillem de Kooning\u2019s 1956 abstract expressionist painting, January 1st, is part of Glenstone Museum\u2019s celebration of pathbreaking art from America. (Glenstone Museum)<\/p>\n

The Smithsonian Institution\u2019s Our Shared Future: 250 spans museums, libraries, research centres and the institute\u2019s zoological park in Washington DC. New York\u2019s Metropolitan Museum of Art is presenting installations, performances, talks and film screenings. The National Gallery of Art has launched a year-long programme drawing on more than 75,000 works from its collection.<\/p>\n

Here are other, smaller shows that tell the story in intriguing ways.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

AMERICA AT 250<\/b><\/p>\n

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston <\/b><\/p>\n

\"PaulPaul Revere\u2019s Sons of Liberty Bowl (1768). (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)<\/p>\n

MFA has reimagined its 18th-century Art of the Americas galleries, unveiling eight new themed spaces that bring together work by American, Native American and indigenous artists. On display: Gilbert Stuart\u2019s iconic 1796 portrait of George Washington, which remained unfinished but is the image by which most Americans know the first US President (since it is also the image on the one-dollar bill). Master silversmith and military officer Paul Revere\u2019s Sons of Liberty Bowl (1768), engraved with words of defiance, representing the colonies\u2019 determination to be free. And a ceramic jar (1857) by the enslaved potter and poet David Drake, who signed all his work, wielding literacy as an act of resistance years before the civil war (1861-65).<\/p>\n

\"GilbertGilbert Stuart\u2019s unfinished 1796 portrait of George Washington. (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

PICTURES MORE FAMOUS THAN THE TRUTH<\/b><\/p>\n

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts <\/b><\/p>\n

This show places five paintings of George Washington by Junius Brutus Stearns (1810-1885) alongside portraits and sculptures by the contemporary artist Titus Kaphar.<\/p>\n

Where Stearns\u2019s paintings, widely circulated as prints, helped establish enduring visual narratives of Washington\u2019s life, Kaphar revisits these familiar scenes and reimagines them, stripping away canvas to insert the names of enslaved people, for instance; or incorporating lines from Washington\u2019s will, in which he finally emancipated his slaves.<\/p>\n

Kaphar likens his commentary to \u201cconstitutional amendments\u201d that expand the viewer\u2019s historical understanding. \u201cTitus\u2019s paintings are a way to understand both the promise and the peril, the fact and fictions, of Stearns\u2019s versions of Washington,\u201d says curator Leo Mazow.<\/p>\n

\"(Above(Above left) Shadows of Liberty, a 2016 work by Titus Kaphar. (Above right) Washington as Statesman at the Constitutional Convention, a 1856 work by Junius Brutus Stearns. (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

THE STATUE OF LIBERTY FROM BARTHOLDI TO WARHOL <\/b><\/p>\n

Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Texas<\/b><\/p>\n

Over and over, this symbol of the United States has been reimagined. This show explores the monument\u2019s roles as artistic muse, pop-culture icon, and symbol of immigration, patriotism and resistance. The nearly 100 artworks and objects featured include works by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Norman Rockwell, Nari Ward and others. At the heart of the exhibition is one of Frederic Auguste Bartholdi\u2019s rare bronze models of his famous statue.<\/p>\n

\"AndyAndy Warhol\u2019s Statue of Liberty (1962). (Wikimedia)<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

WE MAKE HISTORY<\/b><\/p>\n

Anacostia <\/b>Community Museum, Washington DC <\/b><\/p>\n

The centrepiece of this show is the Plummer family diary, the only known multigenerational diary begun by an enslaved person in America. Started by Adam Plummer in Maryland in 1841, it was continued by his daughter Nellie.<\/p>\n

Across the exhibition, letters, photographs and sports memorabilia representing everyday life explore how personal records contribute to the stories that shape communities. Interactive stations invite visitors to reflect on what they would preserve from their personal, family and community histories.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

TIES OF OUR COMMON KINDRED <\/b><\/p>\n

Glenstone Museum, Maryland<\/b><\/p>\n

\"WalkerWalker Evans\u2019s iconic portrait of the 27-year-old sharecropper Allie Mae Borroughs (1936). (Glenstone Museum)<\/p>\n

Drawn from the museum\u2019s permanent collection, this exhibition celebrates major turning points in American art through works by Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Ruth Asawa, Andy Warhol and others. Among the works are Barbara Kruger\u2019s Untitled (I Shop Therefore I Am), a statement on consumerism and mass media; Walker Evans\u2019s iconic image of sharecropper Allie Mae Burroughs during the Great Depression; and Thomas Demand\u2019s series Presidency, depicting the Oval Office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The US is celebrating 250 with some breathtaking displays of art and heritage. Willem de Kooning\u2019s 1956 abstract…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":914216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[32],"tags":[238093,27717,20181,648,1032,1033,171,135768,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-914215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-america-at-250","tag-american-art","tag-american-history","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-htwknd","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116867658663684326","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=914215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/914216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=914215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=914215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=914215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}