As the United States of America reaches its semiquincentennial this 4 July, museums across the country are grappling with what being American and celebrating the US means. Cultural institutions are digging deeper, highlighting American artists, imagery and artifacts to explore the nation’s history.
Artists from a multitude of backgrounds, spanning centuries and geographical locations, are put in conversation to examine what the last 250 years have meant for the country and what the future may hold.
Below, the Guardian has assembled a list of exhibits at museums across the nation.
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1. Native Americans of New Jersey: Past and Present
Lincroft, New Jersey. Monmouth Museum. Through 2 September 2026
Curated by Dr Phoebe Farris, who is of Powhatan-Pamunkey descent, this exhibit was developed with guidance from Indigenous artists and authors, humanities experts, educators and Monmouth University’s provost.
Historical objects and contemporary artwork are put in conversation to help visitors understand Indigenous life across the region. The exhibit features artifacts and items shared by tribal communities and the Monmouth County Historical Association, along with loans through a partnership with Art Bridges.
Also featuring bilingual interpretation, interactive elements and subsidized tours for Title I schools, the exhibit aims to make the history and presence of people Indigenous to what is now known as New Jersey accessible to all.
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2. Much Here is Beautiful: Photography Surveys of the US Bicentennial
Washington DC. Smithsonian American Art Museum. 18 September 2026 – 18 April 2027
Titled after a line in former US poet laureate Robert Hayden’s poem American Journal, this exhibit includes selected images from photography surveys, documenting people and places from the 19th century to the years before and after the US bicentennial in 1976.
That year, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), inspired by the Farm Security Administration’s Great Depression era photographs, created a grant program to fund regional photographic projects, capturing America 200 years on. The result? More than 70 NEA-funded photo surveys, which yielded thousands of photos by more than 200 photographers.
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3. America at 250
Boston, Massachusetts. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Opens 19 June
The MFA Boston is merging art produced by a wide range of artists – from Indigenous and non-Indigenous creators to Caribbean, North, South and Central American makers – to grapple with nationhood and which symbols are celebrated.
One juxtaposition in the exhibit is the way a founding father is remembered. For the Mohawk Nation, George Washington is known as “Town Destroyer”, but many Americans celebrate his being a founder of the nation. In the exhibit, a depiction of Washington by Alan Michelson, a Mohawk artist, is contrasted with an unfinished portrait of the first president from 1796 by Gilbert Stuart.
Coinciding with the nation’s 250th, MFA Boston is unveiling a major reinstallation of its 18th-century Art of the Americas galleries. The resulting galleries feature more than 400 works, including both long unseen pieces and new acquisitions.
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4. Facing Freedom in America
Chicago, Illinois. Chicago History Museum. Opens 4 July
Though 55 delegates attended the constitutional convention sessions, of which 39 ultimately signed the constitution, it has been the subsequent Americans – through generations of struggle and service – who have sought to define what “freedom” means.
Using images, artifacts and interactive elements, the Facing Freedom exhibit asks viewers what their own contribution to freedom in the country might be. The long-running exhibit features new works this year, created by four artists who are reflecting on the country’s founding documents, including the Declaration of Independence, the US constitution, the 13th amendment and the Northwest Ordinance.
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5. Containing Multitudes
Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minneapolis Institute of Art. Through 2 August
Named for the famous stanza in Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself, Containing Multitudes seeks to celebrate “the richness and contradictions” of the American experience through photography.
The exhibit features 95 works from the Minneapolis Institute of Art’s permanent collection, juxtaposing older images with recent acquisitions, and, as a result, putting photographers old and new in conversation with each other.
Widely known national artists like Dawoud Bey, Carrie Mae Weems and Ansel Adams tell the American story alongside contemporary artists in Minnesota, like Jaida Grey Eagle, Alec Soth and Xavier Tavera. The exhibit also features a selection of anonymous amateur photographs.
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6. Mississippi Made
Jackson, Mississippi. Two Mississippi Museums. Through 6 November
Mississippi Made tells the story of more than two centuries of the Magnolia state’s agricultural, musical, scientific and artistic contributions to the country through approximately 250 artifacts.
Artifacts shown in the exhibit include a Lindsey eight-wheel log wagon, developed in the early 20th century. The state’s rich musical and literary history is represented through items from BB King, Leontyne Price and Elvis Presley, as well as portraits of William Faulkner and Richard Wright painted by Mississippi artists.
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7. We Make History
Washington, DC. Anacostia Community Museum. Through January 2028
Marking the nation’s 250th anniversary this year and the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum’s 60th anniversary next, We Make History shows visitors how communities in the DC area contribute to the country’s story.
We Make History opened on 30 May, the 185th anniversary of the first entry of Adam Francis Plummer’s diary. Plummer’s diary itself anchors the exhibit, which also includes letters, photographs and other items that illustrate how community stories “are our nation’s building blocks”.
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8. America 250: Common Threads
Bentonville, Arkansas. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Through 27 July
Common Threads commemorates both the 1776 events that led to the nation’s founding and the subsequent 250 years of American art and civic participation.
The exhibit invites guests to explore how previous generations marked celebrations of the country’s founding, from America’s centennial in 1876 to other 20th-century patriotic displays.
Also included in the exhibit are historical works – textiles, paintings and toys, among others – from 1776. Local quilters and quilting guilds will work in the galleries to piece quilt squares made by K-12 students from across Arkansas and designed by Basil Kincaid.
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9. The Statue of Liberty from Bartholdi to Warhol
Fort Worth, Texas. Amon Carter Museum of American Art. 15 August – 3 January 2027
With nearly 100 artworks by more than 70 artists, The Statue of Liberty from Bartholdi to Warhol uses arguably one of the most iconic American symbols – the Statue of Liberty – to explore themes of patriotism, resistance and immigration.
Centered around a cast of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s bronze sculpture, one of only five domestic-scale reductions made during his lifetime, the exhibit examines the statue throughout its history.
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10. Life, Liberty and Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California. Autry Museum. Through 31 January 2027
“Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is one of the defining phrases of the Declaration of Independence. The Autry Museum is exploring that phrase in its latest exhibit, which seeks to examine how Angelenos have led to the city’s development in their interpretations of those words.
Combining both historical and contemporary art, items and media, the exhibit asks viewers to consider the past while shaping the future.
