Visit the most patriotic museum exhibit in DC: Free show celebrates 250 years of American greatness

WASHINGTON, D.C. — If you’re looking for the most patriotic stop in the nation’s capital this summer, it’s about to open its doors. In celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, the Trump administration is marking the milestone with a major new art exhibition honoring the symbols, ideals, and creative spirit that define the United States.

“Passport to Patriotism: 250 Years of Diplomacy” will open July 30 at the Art Museum of the Americas in Washington, D.C., and will run through October 18. The free, public exhibition is a partnership between the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Art in Embassies and the American Arts Conservancy.

Erin Scavino, a former “Apprentice” contestant tapped by President Trump to direct the Art in Embassies program, is leading the initiative as part of broader efforts to elevate American culture and heritage. “We thought it was important to show gratitude, express our love for this great nation and honor the great Americans who have served this nation and those who celebrate it through art,” Scavino told Fox News.

The exhibition will feature works by more than 30 contemporary American artists exploring themes of patriotism, national identity, diplomacy, military service, and the promise of the American Dream. It ties directly to the founding ideal of self-government by citizens — and shows how those principles remain vibrant today. Highlighted artists include:

Brendan Murphy, celebrated worldwide for his monumental BOONJI Spaceman sculptures and optimistic conceptual works exploring imagination and human potential

Romero Britto, founder of The Happy Art Movement, who uses bold outlines, saturated color, and graphic pattern to craft his unique, Pop art–inspired flags and American icons — including his vibrant, joy-filled vision of the Statue of Liberty

Brandon Ralph, whose photography and sculptural interpretations of the American flag — crafted in newspaper-based papier-mâché — reflect the strength and resilience of the cultures and perspectives that comprise our nation

Papay Solomon, whose work draws on themes of migration inspired by his own family’s story

Kate Wasserbach Moore, whose America 250 Gown — a one-of-a-kind haute couture piece adorned with red and white stripes — channels the spirit of Betsy Ross through the sculptural silhouettes, refined craftsmanship, and modern American occasion dressing that define her practice

Old Glory itself will be the exhibition’s through-line: in total, 68 American flags will appear across 56 works, reimagined in nearly every medium — paint, steel, resin, watercolor, collage, couture, and photography. Among the flag works that will be on view:

Cey Adams creates multilayered, mixed-media collage flags informed by everyday imagery found in ads, posters, and newspapers — works that, in the artist’s words, “reflect the common thread of American values in us all”

Pablo Barba’s classically inspired painted figures embody the virtues associated with the colors of the flag: red for valor, white for purity, and blue for justice

Scott LoBaido’s Forever, a 104 × 204-inch oil-on-canvas American flag, was painted before a large public audience at the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., in commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary

Barbara Ernst Prey’s watercolors Gallantly Streaming and God and Country highlight the flag’s visual significance in the wake of the September 11th attacks, while her more recent 250th sets an American flag within a patriotic wreath

Kevin Champeny’s large-scale mosaic Defended, composed of individually hand-cast resin pieces, will invite viewers to experience the iconic flag both up close and from a distance

Nick Moss, raised on a rural Michigan farm where he learned welding, fabrication, and machinery repair at an early age, applies those skills to his welded steel American flags

Tim Yanke’s America 250, part of a series he calls his “Yankee Doodles,” was inspired by the flagpole he and his son installed in remembrance of the events of September 11, 2001

The flag will fly throughout the exhibition’s photography as well. Documentary and fine art photographers Brandon Ralph, Kyler Steele, Ryan Faer, Korina Marie Moore, Terry LaRue, Phil Penman, and Lori Hawkins capture the American flag flown in so many ways — in celebration and in solemn reflection, in whole or in part, from a flagpole or from a window, suspended from a ceiling or across a monument — telling a story both unique and varied about our stars and stripes.

The show will also include winning artworks from the American Heroes Student Art Contest, a nationwide competition open to students in grades 3–12 that invited entries inspired by American heroes. Selected pieces from all 50 states and U.S. territories will be displayed alongside the professional artists.

Scavino has stressed the importance of making high-quality art accessible to everyday Americans — not just coastal elites. “Art has become sort of a gatekeeping situation or something that’s only for the rich or the elite,” she noted. “We want kids. We want grandparents. We want families… There is something for everyone.”

She added that the display will use approachable elements like QR codes so visitors can hear directly from the artists. “You’re going to see a flag. You’re going to see a sculpture. You’re going to hear Americans tell their stories,” Scavino said.

The Art in Embassies program has advanced U.S. public diplomacy for over six decades by placing American artwork in diplomatic facilities around the world. Scavino views this D.C. exhibition as an opportunity to bring that mission home. “Through cultural exchange and the universal language of art, we strengthen understanding of the values and institutions that make America exceptional,” she said. “Patriotism isn’t abstract — it lives in the stories of service, sacrifice, innovation, and opportunity that define us.”

Additional highlights will include moving images honoring military service — from solemn scenes at Arlington National Cemetery to views of the Statue of Liberty rising over New York Harbor.

More details and the full list of participating artists are available at art.state.gov/freedom-250.

This initiative reflects a strong commitment under President Trump to honor America’s history, heroes, and creative legacy in celebration of the nation’s semiquincentennial.

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