Monday 27 June 2011 Great American Hall of Wonders opens July 15
The Great American Hall of Wonders opens July 15, 2011 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., running until January 8, 2012
This new exhibition explores the nineteenth-century American belief that the people of the United States shared a special genius for innovation, through works of art, mechanical inventions, and scientific discoveries, and captures the excitement of citizens who defined their nation as a “Great Experiment” sustained by the inventive energies of Americans in every walk of life.
The Great American Hall of Wonders investigates questions that are still critical today. The exhibition reveals both the successful experiments of the past, as well as the ones that went awry, and invites today’s citizens to explore a valuable legacy left by the founding fathers: a belief in the transformative power of American inventiveness.
The museum is the only venue for the exhibition, which is organized by Claire Perry, an independent curator who specializes in nineteenth-century American cultural history. Until 2008, Perry was curator of American art at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University.
The Great American Hall of Wonders
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