The Woodmere Art Museum is celebrating America’s 250th birthday in joyful style with Arc of Promise, a sweeping exhibition exploring how Philadelphia artists have pictured “America” as an idea — from the nation’s founding all the way to today. The show is on view now through January 10, 2027.
Drawing largely from Woodmere’s own collection, the exhibition gathers paintings, sculpture, and works on paper spanning the 1790s to the present. Maps and flags hang beside social and allegorical images from the 18th through the 21st centuries, placed in lively dialogue — a conversation across generations about national identity and freedom.
The title comes from beloved Philadelphia-born artist Jerry Pinkney (1939–2021), whose “arc of promise” affirmed America’s capacity for renewal with optimism and equity. Pinkney’s own works anchor the show — including his 1982 portrait of Jackie Robinson, first issued as a 20-cent commemorative stamp — alongside a sculptural portrait of educator Mary McLeod Bethune by Selma Burke, the artist behind the design of the American dime, protest photography by Harvey Finkle, and new work by Philadelphia artists creating today.
Woodmere pairs the exhibition with companion programs, including a free November 7 lecture on landscape painter Frederic Edwin Church in his bicentennial year. Set amid the museum’s gardens and outdoor sculpture in Chestnut Hill, it’s a perfect fall outing for art lovers and families alike.
Photo: Woodmere Art Museum
