UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.- What does it mean to be American? The Palmer Museum of Art is examining that question in the special exhibition Dreaming American Futures: Invitational 250, on view now through November 29. The major juried exhibition is mounted in response to the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and includes artwork from 50 contemporary artists chosen from the Penn State and local communities. The Palmer Museum in the College of Arts and Architecture at Penn State is commemorating the yearlong anniversary alongside other arts and cultural institutions all over the country.
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“In the spirit of democracy, we wanted to invite artists to submit works that reflect on what life is like in the United States and what futures can unfold here,” said Amanda H. Hellman, Alvin L. and Jean Y. Snowiss Director of the Palmer Museum of Art. “This is the first open-call juried show we’ve had at the Palmer, so we are thrilled to be able to display works made for the people, by the people, in our community this year.”
50 Artists
The call for artists included Penn State students, faculty, staff, and alumni who reside in the state of Pennsylvania, as well as local artists who live within a 50-mile radius of State College. Nearly 300 entries were submitted, from which the 59 artworks by 50 artists were selected by a team of jurors. The five jurors included Janine Yorimoto Boldt, the Palmer’s curator of American art; Folayemi Wilson, artist and associate dean for access and equity in the College of Arts and Architecture; Philadelphia artist and Penn State alum Roberto Lugo ('14 MFA); Lori Fisher, director of the Bellefonte Art Museum; and Malavi Suresh, spring 2026 curatorial intern at the Palmer and third-year art history major studying medieval art and architecture from Europe and South Asia.
“I was impressed with the thought-provoking variety of submissions,” said Boldt, who spent weeks reviewing artwork with the other jurors. “The selected artworks provide insight into some of the issues that most affect our community, our neighbors, and Penn State students. “Even though we are living through a challenging moment, the exhibition is ultimately hopeful about our shared future.”
Four Themes
The selected artworks in the exhibition include paintings, sculptures, ceramics, mixed-media assemblages, photographs, and works on paper from the last two years. Stylistically, the 2D and 3D objects run the gamut from naturalistic realism to full abstraction, but all center around four forward-looking themes relevant to many who call the United States home: Activating Change, Bridging the Divide, Pursuit of Happiness, and A More Perfect Union.
The themes for Dreaming American Futures were identified by Palmer staff from visitor responses during a Palmer gallery installation on view during summer 2025. In the installation Shaping American Histories, Dreaming American Futures, visitors were asked to reflect on American artworks from the Palmer collection and give comments and thoughts on the nation’s past, its present moment, and its potential futures. The themes for the artists to respond to in the 250th invitational exhibition were then derived from hundreds of comments written on sticky notes that were plastered across the gallery wall by visitors.
Dreaming American Futures artist Adwar Oguttuh, a 2026 Penn State graduate, said two of the themes especially resonated with him.
“At a time when division often dominates public discourse, the themes ‘Activating Change’ and ‘Bridging the Divide’ feel especially relevant because they invite us to see one another more fully,” he said. “I hope visitors leave with a greater awareness of the unseen stories and burdens people carry and with a renewed sense of connection, recognizing that many of the burdens we carry in silence are more universal than we often realize.”
One Shared Nation
Visitors who explore the exhibition can reflect on the nation’s past, examine the present, and imagine future possibilities through both overarching and personal takes on the American experience. Beyond the four themes, common threads that appear in the artworks include family memories, historical legacies, the American Dream, freedom of speech, the fragility and beauty of democracy, and cultural identities enriched by a long history of immigration. Each work also includes a statement from the artist about their art and experience.
“The United States is a nation built by immigrants,” said Furong Zhang, an artist who lives and works in central Pennsylvania. “My painting The Chaotic Stage is deeply rooted in my personal Chinese American immigrant journey, capturing the complex web of memories, emotions, and cultural rebirth that occurs when immigrating to a new country.”
Tulu Bayar, artist and professor of art and art history at Bucknell University, has two artworks on view that are handmade silk paper prints from a portfolio featuring figures locked in embrace. The hugs speak “urgently to this moment,” she said. “Before we can imagine a more perfect union, we must first learn how to hold one another with dignity, compassion, and love,” she said.
Dreaming American Futures: Invitational 250 will be on view until Sunday, November 29. The exhibition is organized by the Palmer Museum of Art. Support for the exhibition is provided in part by Palmer Museum of Art Sandstone Members Benson and Christine Lichtig and Sally and Richard Kalin and the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State.
Artists included in the exhibition are Stephen Althouse, Audrey An, Cami Barber, Kumasi J. Barnett, Tulu Bayar, Venus Bayat, Brandon Berrett, Sophie Brenneman, Susan Marie Brundage, Cheryl Capezzuti, Andre Chaszar, Janise Crow (Crow’s Nest Arts), Clara D’Silva, Chet Davis, Caitlin M. Downs, Rachel Duke, Sandy Erwin, Kennedy René Ferguson, Cecil Fish, Madison Flynn, Dotty Ford, Adriana Forsythe, Irwin Freeman, Annette Hestres Garcia, Jackie Gianico, Rebecca Horwitt, Betsa Houshmand, Brooke Hull, Jennifer Kelly, Tae Hee Kim, Doah Lee, Heidi Theresa Manfred, Ilze Martinez, Anna Mavrodieva, John McKaig, Cristin Millett, Zsuzsanna Nagy, Sarah Nelson, Adwar Oguttuh, Daniel Oliva, Stephanie Oplinger, Michele Randall, Cookie Redding, Krishna Schroth, Lelaina Scott, Melissa Stephens, John H. Strother, Roxi Thoren, Angelo Roman Varisano and Furong Zhang.
