Much Here Is Beautiful: Photography Surveys of the U.S. Bicentennial
Much Here Is Beautiful: Photography Surveys of the U.S. Bicentennial presents 225 photographs portraying people and places across the United States from the nineteenth century through the years before and after the 1976 Bicentennial. The exhibition looks at how photography has been used to document the nation, connecting the Bicentennial-era projects with the longer history and continuing influence of federally supported survey photography.
The exhibition focuses especially on a six-year grant program created by the National Endowment for the Arts to mark the country’s Bicentennial. Inspired by the Farm Security Administration’s Depression-era photography, the program supported more than 70 regional surveys and involved over 200 photographers. In 1983, the Smithsonian American Art Museum received 1,000 photographs by NEA grant recipients, including works from 13 survey projects. The exhibition expands that history with photographs drawn from the museum’s collection and institutions across the country, including works that have rarely or never been shown before.
When: September 18, 2026–April 18, 2027
Hours: Open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Tickets: Free admission
Venue: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Description: Photographs span the Northeast, South, Midwest, and West, offering views ranging from the California coast and Kansas heartland to New York City streets. The exhibition’s title is taken from Robert Hayden’s poem “American Journal.” Hayden served as the Library of Congress’s Consultant in Poetry, now known as the U.S. Poet Laureate, from 1976 to 1978.
Artists represented: William Bell, Joe Deal, Linda Eber, Terry Evans, Wendy Ewald, Emmet Gowin, Robert K. Hower, Robert Townsend Jones Jr., Reagan Louie, Kenneth McGowan, Joan Clark Netherwood, David Seman, Ted Wathen, Carleton E. Watkins, Marion Post Wolcott, and Penny Wolin.
Organizers: The exhibition is organized by John Jacob, the McEvoy Family Senior Curator for Photography, and Krystle Stricklin, assistant curator of photography.
Catalogue: A fully illustrated companion catalogue, published by Radius Books in partnership with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, includes histories of all 72 surveys and hundreds of reproductions. It is available through the museum store and online for $65.
Note: The page does not provide a run time, age guidance, scheduled showtimes, or event-specific accessibility information.