“Art has played an important role in shaping how America sees itself,” said South Dakota Art Museum director Donna Merkt . America in Art is an exhibition at the South Dakota Art Museum at South Dakota State University in Brookings running through January 2, 2027. The exhibition explores the people, places, ideals, contradictions, achievements, possibilities, and stories of the nation. “Looking back at the last 250 years also asks us to look forward,” added Merkt. “The exhibition invites visitors to consider not only what America has been, but what we hope it might become over the next 250 years.”
Merkt emphasizes how vital art is to the development of our perceptions of the nation. “We recognize the faces of George Washington , Abraham Lincoln , and other national figures in part because artists helped make those images familiar, repeatable, and symbolic, often with the support of public institutions,” she added. For this exhibition, Merkt says the key question was not “What happened over 250 years?” but rather “How have people understood, experienced, imagined, challenged, and represented America?”
LIFESTYLE ISSUE august 2026
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