The Cleveland Museum of Art is commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States with a yearlong series of exhibitions exploring the breadth and ongoing evolution of American art. The programming, announced April 16, 2026, places Indigenous artists, abstract sculptors, and contemporary painters at the center of a broad examination of American cultural history, drawing on the museum’s collection alongside key loans from partner institutions.

The series includes several overlapping exhibitions. Martin Puryear: Nexus, on view April 12 through August 9, examines the artist’s career across mediums with attention to material culture and African American history. Still/emerging: Native American Works on Paper, the museum’s first exhibition devoted to its expanding collection of prints and drawings by Native American artists, is on view through June 7. This fall, the museum opens The Gift: Emma Amos with Friends (September 13–January 24, 2027), centering on Amos’s 48-watercolor portrait series depicting women artists and writers in her community, a suite recently acquired by the CMA. Also opening in September, Spectacular Freedom: Andrew Wyeth and the Modern American Watercolor will feature nearly 75 works from Wyeth’s estate, most never previously shown publicly.

CMA director William Griswold described the ambition of the programming in terms of representation: “By lifting up the artists who define our culture, we aim to ensure that all of our visitors can see themselves in their museum and its collection, while discovering art and stories beyond their own experience.” Community programming runs alongside the exhibitions, including staff-curated gallery labels, Sunday afternoon American Art History Tours from June through July, and a Family FunDay on July 4 at the Community Arts Center.

Source: Cleveland Museum of Art