Our America: 250 Years of Independence, Innovation, and Creativity

As the United States marks 250 years of independence, Newfields invites Indianapolis to experience the American story as a living, evolving landscape of creativity unfolding across its campus. The semiquincentennial becomes an opportunity to rediscover the power of American imagination as expressed through art, architecture, and nature. Across the IMA Galleries, The Garden, and historic homes, this campus-wide initiative unfolds as a mosaic of installations and interventions, illuminating how artists and designers have shaped both the visual and physical landscape of the United States. Through a guest-centered tour featuring 16 stops, guests will encounter iconic works by artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Elizabeth Catlett, Edward Hopper, and Horace Pippin alongside three newly acquired photographs by Sheila Pree Bright, which were selected to commemorate the semiquincentennial and are on view at the museum for the first time. The tour also showcases our rich collection of architectural landmarks, including the Lilly House and Oldfields Gardens by the Olmsted Brothers Firm and the Miller House and Garden by Eero Saarinen and Dan Kiley. For Indianapolis, it is a moment of civic pride and cultural participation. We invite guests to see familiar spaces with fresh eyes, trace shared histories across the campus, and reflect on how creativity has continually propelled the nation forward. In honoring 250 years of resilience and reinvention, Newfields acts as a living canvas where art, place, and people converge to consider the past, engage the present, and imagine the future.