Woodmere presents \u201cArc of Promise,\u201d a landmark exhibition exploring how Philadelphia\u2019s artists have envisioned \u201cAmerica\u201d as an idea, from the nation\u2019s founding to today. On view from June 20 through November 8, 2026, \u201cArc of Promise\u201d is presented in celebration of the United States\u2019 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n
Drawing largely from Woodmere\u2019s permanent collection, the exhibition spans the 1790s to the present, bringing together paintings, sculptures, and works on paper that reflect the ever-renewed ideal of the American experiment. Works depicting maps and flags, alongside social and allegorical representations from the 18th through the 21st centuries, are placed in dialogue\u2014revealing how Philadelphia\u2019s artists across generations have grappled with questions of national identity and freedom.<\/p>\n
The exhibition\u2019s title is inspired by the late Philadelphia-born artist and Germantown native, Jerry Pinkney (1939\u20132021), whose concept of the \u201carc of promise\u201d acknowledged America\u2019s painful histories\u2014slavery, displacement, and injustice\u2014while affirming the nation\u2019s capacity for renewal. Pinkney\u2019s vision, grounded in optimism and equity, frames the exhibition\u2019s central premise: that the promise of America is not fixed, but continuously reimagined by those who believe in its unfolding potential. Pinkney\u2019s works, including Jackie Robinson as a Brooklyn Dodger (1982)-first issued as a 20- cent commemorative stamp-will be on display, as well as historical works such as Portrait of Mary McLeod, a sculptural bust of the Black education advocate by African American artist Selma Burke\u2013now recognized as the woman behind the design of the American dime (December 31, 1900 \u2013 August 29, 1995).<\/p>\n
Alongside historical holdings from Woodmere\u2019s collection, and several important works on loan, will be pieces by Philadelphia artists living and working across the city today, including protest photography by Harvey Finkle and a mixed-media, handcrafted necklace by artist and member of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, Teri Hislop (b. 1962). At the heart of the exhibition, Henry Bermudez\u2019s Miss America (2019) is presented as a key focal work offering a layered vision of America through themes of migration, mythology, and identity. It will be juxtaposed with Hiram Powers\u2019 America, a marble bust by the neoclassical sculptor, portraying nineteenth-century America as a Greek goddess. The figure was Powers\u2019 representation of America\u2019s newfound freedom; the thirteen original states reflected in the stars on her crown.<\/p>\n