Perspectives on America

On View September 13 - November 22, 2026

What does America mean to you?

Perspectives on America brings together diverse artistic and literary voices to explore the complicated, evolving story of America. Drawing from the Evansville Museum’s permanent collection alongside a broader literary tradition, the exhibition examines the dreams, challenges, contradictions, and possibilities that have shaped the American experience.

Throughout the exhibition, visitors will encounter works that invite reflection on themes both timeless and deeply contemporary: dreams realized and unrealized, the grandeur of nature alongside industrial expansion, the promise of opportunity amid wealth disparity, and moments of both hope and despondence.

These works do not shy away from America’s complicated past or present. Instead, they ask us to consider where we have been, where we are now, and where we might go next. Even amid criticism and uncertainty, many of the voices represented here ultimately look toward the future with hope.

As American actor and poetry enthusiast Martin Sheen describes it, this exhibition is a “letter to America”—to the country we love, the country we question, and the country we believe can always be better.

America is a promise written on paper and a work built by hand. It is a place of bold dreams, vast landscapes, extraordinary people, and enduring contradictions. Perspectives on America invites us to celebrate those dreams while acknowledging the work that remains.

As we continue forward together, these artistic and literary perspectives encourage us to consider the promises of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—and what it means to work toward those ideals for all.

Literary Voices

The exhibition incorporates excerpts from or references to works by a range of American and international writers and poets, including:

• Jimmy Santiago Baca, Immigrants in Our Own Land (1979)
• Katharine Lee Bates, America the Beautiful (1893)
• Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, America, I Sing You Back (2014)
• Lawrence Ferlinghetti, I Am Waiting (1958)
• Horace, Odes, III.2.13 (23 CE)
• Langston Hughes, Let America Be America Again (1935)
• Shirley Geok-Lin Lim, Learning to Love America (1998)
• Abraham Lincoln, The Second Inaugural Address (1865)
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, A Shadow (1875)
• Wilfred Owen, Dulce et Decorum Est (1921)
• Martin Sheen, host, The American Dream, The Martin Sheen Podcast (2026)
• Walt Whitman, I Hear America Singing (1860)

Perspectives on America encourages visitors to look closely, think critically, and consider their own perspective on the American story.

Made Possible By

This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of Stephanie M. Engelbrecht and the Efroymson Family Fund.