Fairfield University Art Museum Announces Exhibitions to Commemoratethe 250th Anniversary of the U.S.

Press release

FAIRFIELD — Fairfield University Art Museum is pleased to announce three exhibitions planned for the 2025-26 academic year, as part of a series of cultural and artistic events commemorating the 250th anniversary—semiquincentennial—of the United States. The exhibitions will explore key moments in U.S. history, culture, and art, combining various programs into one united celebration of the nation’s milestone anniversary.

“As our nation approaches the 250th anniversary of its founding, we at Fairfield University are proud to host exhibitions that commemorate the American story and invite us to reflect more deeply on our complexity and exceptionalism,” said Mark R. Nemec, PhD, President of Fairfield University. “Through the lens of artists representing an array of experiences and perspectives, these exhibitions invite us to consider not only where we have been, but who we are—and who we aspire to become. In doing so, they exemplify our spirit of inquiry and our commitment to education as a means of engaging in meaningful dialogue with our campus community and beyond.”

The first exhibition in the Bellarmine Hall Galleries, Monuments: Commemoration and Controversy, will be on view Sept. 19 – Dec. 20, 2025. Organized by The New York Historical, the exhibition will explore monuments in public spaces as flashpoints of debate over national identity, politics, and race, featuring sculptures, photographs, prints, and artifacts, including a fragment of the statue of King George III torn down during the American Revolution and a maquette of New York City's first monument to a Black woman, Harriet Tubman.

Also on view will be Stitching Time: The Social Justice Collaboration Quilts Project and Give Me Life: CPA Prison Arts Program. This complementary pair of exhibitions of artwork by incarcerated artists will be on view Sept. 12 – Dec. 13, 2025 in the Museum’s Walsh Gallery in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. These exhibitions highlight racial injustice and celebrate creativity and political activism through quilts by men incarcerated in Louisiana State Penitentiary, and artwork by women incarcerated in Connecticut’s York Correctional Institution.

The final exhibition in the series, For Which It Stands…, will run from Jan. 23 – July 25, 2026, and will feature 75 works by diverse artists across art movements from the early 20th century to the present day, focusing on depictions of the American flag. The exhibition will include works ranging from Childe Hassam’s Italian Day, May 1918—lent by the Art Bridges Foundation—to a new textile sculpture being commissioned for the exhibition, by Maria de Los Angeles. Works by Jasper Johns, Faith Ringgold, Robert Rauschenberg, Shepard Fairey, and Julie Mehretu, will challenge viewers to consider who the American flag truly represents and whether justice is available to all. Additional pieces by renowned artists like Emma Amos, Eric Fischl, Glenn Ligon, and many others will further enrich the exhibition, offering a diverse range of artistic expressions. This exhibition is supported by a $15,000 grant from Connecticut Humanities.
Included works are coming from private collections, artists, galleries, and institutions such as the Forge Art Project, Columbia University Avery Library, Delaware Museum of Art, The Mattatuck Museum of Art, Bridgeport Public Library, Gordon Parks Foundation, Orlando Museum of Art, Westport Public Art Collections, Yale University Art Gallery, the State of Connecticut’s CT Artists Collection, and the Fairfield University Art Museum’s own collection.
“These exhibitions are an opportunity for all of us to examine the narratives that have shaped our country, particularly those that have been overlooked or challenged,” said Carey Mack Weber, Frank and Clara Meditz Executive Director of the Fairfield University Art Museum. “Through these artworks, we invite visitors to engage deeply with the pressing issues of justice, representation, and unity—issues that are as relevant today as they were when our nation was founded.”

A robust selection of programming has been developed to complement these exhibitions, including gallery talks with contemporary artists, lectures on topics ranging from Latinx monuments to artist Florine Stettheimer’s passion for Americana, and family-friendly events centered around flag-making, quilting, and monument creation. All events are free and open to the public.

Opening Night Lecture: Stitching Time: The Social Justice Collaboration Quilts Project and Give Me Life: CPA Prison Arts Program
Thurs., Sept. 11, 5:30 p.m.
Jeffrey Greene, program manager, Community Partners in Action (CPA) Prison Arts Program
Maureen Kelleher, co-founder, The Social Justice Collaboration Quilts Project
Dolan School of Business Event Hall and via livestream

Jeffrey Greene, program manager, CPA Prison Arts Program will deliver the opening night talk, preceded by brief remarks by Maureen Kelleher, co-founder of The Social Justice Collaboration Quilts Project. The title Give Me Life comes from this quote from Prison Arts Program alumni Renee Peterson: “White. Or Grey. Boring. Depressing. Very cold, all the time. It was awful. Small. It made me feel small sometimes. But, art makes me feel like a big person again. It gave me life.”

Reception: Stitching Time: The Social Justice Collaboration Quilts Project and Give Me Life: CPA Prison Arts Program
Thurs., Sept. 11, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Dolan School of Business Event Hall and Walsh Gallery

Opening Night Lecture: Monuments: Commemoration and Controversy
Thurs., Sept. 18, 5:30 p.m.
The New York Historical Vice President and Chief Curator Wendy Nālani E. Ikemoto
Part of the Edwin L. Weisl, Jr. Lectureships in Art History, funded by the Robert Lehman Foundation
Wendy Nālani E. Ikemoto will speak about the exhibition Monuments: Commemoration and Controversy, which she curated at The New York Historical and which will be on view at FUAM Sept. 19-Dec. 20, 2025.
Reception: Monuments: Commemoration and Controversy
Thurs., Sept. 18, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Bellarmine Hall, Great Hall and Bellarmine Hall Galleries

Family Day: Make Your Monument!
Sat., Sept. 20, 12:30-2 p.m. and 2:30-4 p.m.
Bellarmine Hall Galleries and Museum Classroom
Space is limited; registration required. Suitable for ages 4-10

Gallery Talk: Maureen Kelleher, co-founder, The Social Justice Collaboration Quilts Project
Sat., Oct. 4, noon
Walsh Gallery

Maureen Kelleher, co-founder of The Social Justice Collaboration Quilts Project at Louisiana State Penitentiary (also known as Angola Prison), will speak about her work with the quilt creators and the process of creating the pieces on view in the exhibition Stitching Time.

Lecture: Latinx Monuments in the United States
Mon. Oct. 6, 2025, 5 p.m.
Creative Capital, Director of Education Marisa Lerer, PhD
Bellarmine Hall, Diffley Board Room and via livestream
Part of the Edwin L. Weisl, Jr. Lectureships in Art History, funded by the Robert Lehman Foundation

Art historian Dr. Marisa Lerer works on modern and contemporary art in Latin America and Latinx art, with a specific focus on monuments as sites of public memory. Her talk will draw upon the themes introduced by the exhibition Monuments: Commemoration and Controversy and expand outward to consider the history of monuments dedicated to Latinx and Latin American figures in the United States and beyond.

Art in Focus: Johannes Adam Simon Oertel, Pulling Down the Statue of King George III, New York City, 1852-1853, oil on canvas
Thurs., Oct. 9, noon, in-person, and 1 p.m. via livestream
Bellarmine Hall Galleries and via livestream

Faculty Roundtable: Incarceration in the U.S.
Tues., Oct. 21, 5-6:30 p.m.
Dolan School of Business Event Hall and via livestream

A group of Fairfield University professors and formerly incarcerated individuals will share their unique perspectives—disciplinary and personal—on the issues surrounding incarceration in the United States. Panelists include Vice President of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Don Sawyer, PhD; Waide Center for Applied Ethics Director Gregg Caruso, PhD; Professor of English Sonya Huber, MFA; and Fairfield Bellarmine Vice Provost and Executive Director Kevin O’Brien, S.J.

Community Quilting Program
Thurs., Oct. 16, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Walsh Gallery and Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts Lobby

Contribute a square to a community quilt project led by artist Lizzy Rockwell during this drop-in event – all supplies provided.

Art in Focus: Stafford Mantle Northcote, Tong Yin Yee Shung Gun, Chinese Laundry, 1899, oil on canvas
Thurs., Nov. 6, noon, in-person, and 1 p.m. via livestream
Bellarmine Hall Galleries

Lecture: Sculpting the Past: Art, Identity, and Commemoration in Public Space
Thurs., Nov. 6, 5 p.m.
Kelley H. Di Dio, PhD, Rush C. Hawkins Professor of Art History, University of Vermont
Part of the Edwin L. Weisl, Jr. Lectureships in Art History, funded by the Robert Lehman Foundation
Barone Campus Center, Dogwood Room, and via livestream

Family Day: Making Meaning with Quilts
Sat., Nov. 15, 12:30-2 p.m., and 2:30-4 p.m. (two sessions)
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts Lobby
Registration required; ages 4-10

Quilting Bee Demo
Sat., Dec. 6, 2-4 p.m.
Walsh Gallery and Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts Lobby

Lizzie Rockwell and Peace by Piece: The Norwalk Community Quilt Project will be providing a live demonstration of a quilting bee; attendees can also contribute a square to our community quilt with provided supplies.