The Metropolitan Museum of Art to Commemorate America’s 250th Anniversary with an Array of Art Displays and Events

In 2026, The Met will present a suite of art installations and programs highlighting the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The lineup includes public programs and performances, including a conversation with filmmaker Ken Burns and a screening of excerpts produced exclusively for The Met from his new documentary, The American Revolution, and performances of David Lang’s The National Anthems on Fourth of July.

The Museum will also present a range of special installations of art throughout the American Wing galleries, including a selection of works that address the origins of the American Revolutionary War. Additional details and programs will be announced at a later date.

Displays of Art in The Met’s American Wing

Revolution! (January 19–August 6, 2026; Gallery 758, American Wing)

This focused installation in Gallery 758 marks the semiquincentennial anniversary of the Declaration of Independence—the founding document of the United States of America—with a display featuring a variety of work from across The Met’s holdings. Works will address the roots and course of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), from early Indigenous conflicts and the 1765 Stamp Act imposed by the British government on its North American colonies to George Washington’s voluntary retirement from his two-term presidency in 1797. Rarely seen prints, produced in Europe and America, will reveal the transatlantic circulation of news and information about the struggle for United States independence during a fractious political era. This print culture underlines the global dimensions of the rebellion, the shared grievances and contested ideas about liberty that shaped and sustained it, and the consequential and still unfolding outcomes.

Revolution! will also highlight a selection of American and European prints, paintings, and decorative works of art depicting a range of individuals key to the contingent success of the war. These include the iconic contributors to the Declaration of Independence John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson; patriots and presidents Paul Revere and George Washington; the Wampanoag chief Metacomet, whose conflicts with early British colonists laid the groundwork for revolution; Mohawk leader Thayendanegea, who allied with the British in an effort to retain Indigenous sovereignty; and Black American poet Phillis Wheatley, who raised her voice against an expansive tyranny in her own struggle for emancipation.

Revolution! is curated by Sylvia Yount, Lawrence A. Fleischman Curator in Charge of the American Wing; Constance McPhee, Curator, Department of Drawings and Prints; and Wolf Burchard, Curator, Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts.

The American Wing will also feature in the Alexandria Ballroom (Gallery 719)—from fall 2025 through early August 2026—artist Titus Kaphar’s 2016 “tar” portraits of Ona Judge and William Lee, both enslaved members of the Washington family’s households, on loan from private collections. In addition, from March through summer 2026, a recent acquisition by Carla Hemlock (Mohawk) will be on view in dialogue with Rembrandt Peale’s portrait of Washington in the foyer of the Art of Native America installation (Gallery 746 South).

The Art of the American Revolution: A Conversation with Ken Burns (January 29, 2026)

On January 29, 2026, the Museum will present a conversation on the “Art of Revolution” with filmmakers Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein, co-directors with David Schmidt; US historians Philip Deloria and Jane Kamensky; and art historian Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, along with a screening of the new documentary, The American Revolution. Excerpts from the PBS series produced exclusively for The Met will be featured to highlight the creative process of visual storytelling. The conversation—among the filmmakers, historians, and art historians—will provide an opportunity to reflect on the continued relevance of historical imagery and the power of art to explore the varied stories of the country’s founding.

The program will take place in The Met’s Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on January 29, 2026.

David Lang’s The National Anthems (July 4, 2026)

On July 4, 2026, The Met will host a performance of David Lang’s The National Anthems at The Met Fifth Avenue. In preparation for the work, Lang studied the national anthems from 193 of the world’s countries to identify common themes. The resulting piece, which is structured as a series of five movements, is a complex meditation on themes of peace, war, patriotism, pride of place, and what it means to defend freedom.

The work will be performed by Clarion Choir, led by Steven Fox, and performances will take place at various intervals throughout the day on July 4 in the Charles Engelhard Court in The Met’s American Wing. Performances are free with Museum admission.

Veterans Take The Met
In fall 2026, The Met will host its fourth annual Veterans Take The Met event, building on the Museum’s commitment to celebrating and connecting communities through art. The gathering will honor generations of service members and will provide a space for veterans to engage with art in ways that foster personal reflection, inspire creativity, and create meaningful connections with others who have shared similar experiences.

About American Art at The Met

Since its establishment in 1870, The Met has acquired meaningful examples of American art. In 1924, the Museum opened a separate American Wing to display Euro-American domestic arts of the 17th to early 19th century; in 1980, painting and sculpture galleries and a skylit courtyard were added. In 2024, the department marked its 100th anniversary with a reinstallation of expanded collection areas, highlighting its history and ongoing evolution.

Today, the wing’s ever-growing collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Asian American, Euro-American, Latin American, and Native American makers. These dynamic holdings range from the colonial to early-modern period and include painting, sculpture, drawing, and decorative arts—furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill, and beadwork—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments by highly trained and self-taught artists, both identified and unrecorded.

American art of different time periods can be found across additional curatorial departments at The Met, including Arms and Armor, the Costume Institute, Drawings and Prints, The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, Modern and Contemporary Art, Musical Instruments, Photographs, and the Robert Lehman Collection, ranging from pre-colonial to contemporary works.

Recent exhibitions of varied American art at The Met include Witnessing Humanity: The Art of John Wilson (on view through February 8, 2026), Man Ray: When Objects Dream (through February 1, 2026), The Genesis Facade Commission: Jeffrey Gibson, The Animal That Therefore I Am (through June 9, 2026), The Magical City: George Morrison’s New York (through May 31, 2026), The Roof Garden Commission: Jennie C. Jones, Ensemble, Sargent and Paris, and The New Art: American Photography, 1839–1910.