The Cleveland Museum of Art Marks the Nation’s 250th Anniversary with a Range of Exhibitions Spotlighting American Artists

CLEVELAND (April 16, 2026)—The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) will mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States with a series of exhibitions on view this year that explore the breadth, complexity, and ongoing evolution of American art. From Indigenous works on paper and Martin Puryear’s expressive abstract sculptures to Andrew Wyeth’s innovative watercolors and Emma Amos’s celebration of community, these programs draw on the museum’s collection, alongside key partnerships and loans, to foreground artists whose work reflects the diverse histories, cultural traditions, and creative networks that continue to shape the American experience. 

“As the nation marks its 250th anniversary, we celebrate the many histories, voices, and artistic traditions that have shaped American life,” said William Griswold, the Sarah S. and Alexander M. Cutler Director of the Cleveland Museum of Art. “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.” 

 
Featured Exhibitions

Spectacular Freedom: Andrew Wyeth and the Modern American Watercolor  
September 20, 2026–January 18, 2027  
The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Gallery  
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Explore Andrew Wyeth’s innovative watercolor practice through nearly 75 works from the artist’s estate—most never previously exhibited—alongside a selection of his tempera paintings. Spectacular Freedom: Andrew Wyeth and the Modern American Watercolor offers a fresh perspective on a celebrated American artist’s early decades, highlighting his engagement with watercolor at a time when it was seen as a national medium, distinctively suited for depicting American experiences.  

Spectacular Freedom: Andrew Wyeth and the Modern American Watercolor is organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art in association with the Wyeth Foundation for American Art, with support from the Andrew & Betsy Wyeth Study Center of the Brandywine Museum of Art.  

Presented by the Wyeth Foundation for American Art  

 
Martin Puryear: Nexus  
April 12–August 9, 2026  
The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Exhibition Hall and Gallery 224B 

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Martin Puryear’s (American, born 1941) singular work across mediums illuminates the expressive potential for abstraction in our time. Martin Puryear: Nexus highlights the global histories that have inspired Puryear’s practice, offering a fresh and timely perspective on his impactful body of work. While accentuating the art’s visual allure, this exhibition and its accompanying catalogue shed light on the ways that the artist’s unique visual vocabulary has been shaped by his enduring interests in global traditions of material culture, African American history, and the natural world.    

Presented by the Henry Luce Foundation, the Terra Foundation for American Art, and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. 

Principal support is provided by the late Agnes Gund. Generous support is provided by the Gottlob family in loving memory of Milford Gottlob, MD, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by Kenneth H. Kirtz and family.   

 
still/emerging: Native American Works on Paper  
Through June 7, 2026 
James and Hanna Bartlett Prints and Drawings Galleries | Galleries 101 A–B 

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still/emerging: Native American Works on Paper is the first exhibition to highlight the Cleveland Museum of Art’s rapidly expanding collection of prints and drawings by Native American artists. Around 30 works created from the 1950s through today highlight the unique histories and perspectives of Indigenous artists from a number of backgrounds and tribal affiliations.  

This exhibition is made possible with support from the Malcolm E. Kenney Curatorial Research Fund.  
 
 

 
The Gift: Emma Amos with Friends  
September 13, 2026–January 24, 2027  
Mark Schwartz and Bettina Katz Photography Galleries  

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Emma Amos: Among Friends centers on Amos’s monumental portrait series The Gift (1990–94), which was recently acquired by the Cleveland Museum of Art. This suite of 48 watercolor portraits, painted from life, depicts women artists, writers, and curators in Amos’s intergenerational community. Made as a birthday present for her daughter India, The Gift animates the importance of creative kinship as a source of strength, support, and inspiration, which Amos learned from her mother. Marking the first time The Gift has been displayed in nearly 20 years, this exhibition as well as its accompanying catalogue and digital resource illuminate the context for this work’s production and its legacies.  

American Printed Silks, 1927–1947 

Through Sunday, November 8, 2026 
Arlene M. and Arthur S. Holden Gallery 

Free; No Ticket Required 
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Between the late 1920s and late 1940s, the US was a leader in printed silks used in fashionable attire and interiors. This exhibition showcases printed silks in the CMA’s collection from four American companies—Stehli Silks Corporation, H. R. Mallinson and Company, Silks Beau Monde, and Onondaga Silk Company.   
 

Staff and Community Voice Labels 

The national observance of America250 asks us to reflect on the past and look forward to the future. Our own lived experiences shape how we view the history of the United States, resulting in a range of stories, interpretations, and perspectives.  

The Cleveland Museum of Art is proud to share a variety of these perspectives, featuring the voices of 10 artists on staff as they explore connections to a shared history through art. Each staff partner selected an artwork from the museum’s American Collection and responded to this question, “When you look at this work, what connections do you see between its story and our shared American history?” Their responses are presented as special labels next to the artworks in the galleries. 

Also on display are the voices of eight community members who took part in a Community Voice project. They were asked to share what the American Dream meant to them. All America250 labels remain on view through the end of 2026.  

Programming 

CMA is proud to offer a robust offering of programming including: 

American Art History Tours 

Sundays, June 7 through July 26, 2006, 3:00–4:00 p.m.  

Ames Family Atrium 
Free; Ticket Required 

In honor of America’s 250th birthday, celebrate more than 250 years of American art. From colonial works created before the Revolution to the sweeping landscapes of the Hudson River school, and from the vibrant modernism of Harlem and Greenwich Village to contemporary voices, this tour traces a distinctly American artistic journey. Explore how art in the United States evolved from John Singleton Copley to Amy Sherald, revealing a nation striving to live out its ideals. 

Pop-Up Open Studio: America250 

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, June 30, and July 1, 2, 2026, 10:00 am–1:00 p.m. 

Ames Family Atrium 

Free; no ticket required 

Open Studio days provide free, drop-in art-making sessions designed for the whole family, encouraging creativity and bonding through hands-on activities. Each day explores the theme of Life, Liberty, and Happiness.  

CMA Community Arts Center On-Site Activities   

2937 West 25th Street, Cleveland, OH 44113  

Free Parking in the Lot off Castle Avenue | Estacionamiento gratis en la Avenida Castle  

Family FunDay 

Sunday, July 4, 1:00—4:00 p.m. 

Free; All Ages; No Reservation Required 

Join us at the Community Arts Center for an all ages and skill levels program. Together, through innovation and creativity, all things are possible. Help us imagine what the next 250 years of America can look like. 

All exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Exhibitions. Principal annual support is provided by Michael Frank and the late Pat Snyder, the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation, the John and Jeanette Walton Exhibition Fund, and Margaret and Loyal Wilson. Major annual support is provided by the late Dick Blum and Harriet Warm and the Frankino-Dodero Family Fund for Exhibitions Endowment. Generous annual support is provided by two anonymous donors, Gini and Randy Barbato, Cynthia and Dale Brogan, Dr. Ben and Julia Brouhard, Brenda and Marshall Brown, Gail and Bill Calfee, the Leigh H. Carter family, Dr. William A. Chilcote Jr. and Dr. Barbara S. Kaplan, Mary and Jim Conway, Joseph and Susan Corsaro, Ron and Cheryl Davis, Richard and Dian Disantis, the Jeffery Wallace Ellis Trust in memory of Lloyd H. Ellis Jr., Leigh and Andy Fabens, Florence Kahane Goodman, Martha H. and Steven M. Hale, Janice Hammond and Edward Hemmelgarn, Linda Harper, Robin Heiser, the late Marta and the late Donald M. Jack Jr., the estate of Walter and Jean Kalberer, Robert M. Kaye, Jane and Doug Kern, the late Mrs. Nancy M. Lavelle, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, William S. Lipscomb, Bill and Joyce Litzler, the Roy Minoff Family Fund, Lu Anne and the late Carl Morrison, Mrs. Peta and the late Dr. Roland Moskowitz, , Jeffrey Mostade and Eric Nilson and Varun Shetty, Sarah Nash, Courtney and Michael Novak, Tim O’Brien and Breck Platner, Dr. Nicholas and Anne Ogan, William J. and Katherine T. O’Neill, Henry Ott-Hansen, the Pickering Foundation, Frank and Fran Porter, Christine Fae Powell, Peter and Julie Raskind, Michael and Cindy Resch, Marguerite and James Rigby, in memory of Dee Schafer, Betty T. and David M. Schneider, Elizabeth and Tim Sheeler, Saundra K. Stemen, Paula and Eugene Stevens, the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Claudia Woods and David Osage.  

The Cleveland Museum of Art is funded in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.  

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About the Cleveland Museum of Art 

The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, which includes more than 66,500 artworks and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. The museum is a significant international forum for exhibitions, scholarship, and performing arts and is a leader in digital innovation. One of the leading encyclopedic art museums in the United States, the CMA is recognized for its award-winning open access program—which provides free digital access to images and information about works in the museum’s collection—and free of charge to all. The museum is located in the University Circle neighborhood with two satellite locations on Cleveland’s west side: the Community Arts Center and Transformer Station. 

The museum is supported in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture and made possible in part by the Ohio Arts Council (OAC), which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts. The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. For more information about the museum and its holdings, programs, and events, call 888-CMA-0033 or visit cma.org.