Defining America: Place, Identity, Idea

IAC's 17th Annual American Art Conference will celebrate three centuries of evolution in American ideals and our sense of place and self as manifest in the nation's art. What is conceived to be American art has evolved continuously over the past 300 years. To take but one example, the English-dominated work in the colonies of the 18th century would give way in the early 19th to art representing and celebrating the ideals of the New Republic. At the same time, where that art was produced would shift, as Boston ceded primacy of place to New York and Philadelphia. Over the ensuing two centuries, individuals, regions, artistic movements, and schools would, in ways philosophically, explore varying aspects of the American Experience. And in the later part of the 19th century, the conversation that was American art would grow even more inclusive, as groups that had historically been marginalized added their voices.