Community Curates

Over the past year, the museum has engaged the community in a variety of ways to gather diverse perspectives about the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence and how they have played out over the course of the 250 years since its signing. In reflecting on the nation’s past, present, and future, visitors shared ideas in summer 2025 about important moments in the country’s past as well as strategies to pursue in the present that look toward building a “more perfect union” of the future. The primary thoughts that emerged from visitor contributions have inspired the themes pursued in this exhibition and include: Activating Change, Bridging the Divide, and the Pursuit of Happiness.  

To assist community members in voting for works to include in the exhibition, museum educators and graduate assistants have identified a large selection of works on paper that relate to the identified themes. We invite our community to review the list of possibilities and participate in all three rounds of voting in order to help shape this community-curated exhibition. 

Artwork selections for this exhibition will be made through a series of three community voting opportunities, one round each for themes in the exhibition related to: Activating Change, Bridging the Divide, and Pursuit of Happiness.

If you’d like to find out more about each artwork before you vote, go here.