Explore the Exhibition
Browse Selected Images
This exhibition examines depictions of the American flag through 75 works by a diverse group of artists, beginning during WWI with Childe Hassam’s Italian Day, May 1918 and continuing to the present day, including a textile sculpture commissioned for the show from Maria de Los Angeles. The exhibition includes work in a variety of media by artists including Jasper Johns, Faith Ringgold, Robert Rauschenberg, Shepard Fairey, and Julie Mehretu, and challenges viewers to consider who the American flag truly represents and whether justice is available to all.
For Which it Stands… forms part of America250: The Promise and Paradox, an initiative through which Fairfield University Explores 250 Years of the American Experiment.
Curator: Carey Mack Weber, Executive Director, Fairfield University Art Museum
Faculty Liaison: Aaron Weinstein, PhD, Assistant Professor of Politics
Image: Childe Hassam (1859-1935), Italian Day, May 1918, 1918, oil on canvas, 36 x 26 in. Art Bridges
Browse Selected Images
Events listed below with a location are live, in-person programs. When possible, those events will also be streamed and the recordings posted to our YouTube channel.
More events will be listed as the exhibition approaches - please check our Eventbrite site to register
Opening Night Lecture: For Which It Stands...
Thursday, January 22, 5:30 p.m.
Aaron Weinstein, PhD, Assistant Professor, Politics, Fairfield University, and Exhibition Faculty Liaison
Quick Center for the Arts, Kelley Theatre, and streaming
Dr. Weinstein’s talk explores the complex role of the U.S. flag in America’s “civil religion,” examining how its meaning shifts based on context, political use, and personal interpretation.
Opening Reception: For Which It Stands...
Thursday, January 22, 6:30 p.m.
Quick Center for the Arts Lobby and Walsh Gallery (the Bellarmine Hall Galleries will also be open for exhibition viewing)
Short Film Screening: Reclaim the Flag (2025)
Monday, January 26, 7:30 p.m.
The screening will be followed by a discussion chaired by Sean Edgecomb (Professor of Theatre, Visual & Performing Arts) with filmmaker Alexis Bittar, Luchina Fisher (VAP Film, Visual & Performing Arts), and Shane Vogel (Yale University, Professor of English and Black Studies, Chair of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies).
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Kelley Theatre
Co-sponsored with the Quick Center for the Arts and the Arts Institute
Art in Focus: Childe Hassam, Italian Day, May 1918, 1918, oil on canvas
Thursday, February 12, 12 noon and 1 p.m.
Bellarmine Hall Galleries and streaming
Lecture: The Role of Photography in Social Protest
Thursday, February 12, 5:30 p.m.
Sarah Churchill, PhD (Adjunct faculty, Visual & Performing Arts)
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Wien Experimental Theater and streaming
Lecture: American Art at the Crossroads: Between WPA Realism and Post-War Abstraction
Thursday, February 26, 5 p.m.
Viviana Bucarelli, PhD (Independent Scholar)
Bellarmine Hall, Diffley Board Room and streaming
Part of the Edwin L. Weisl, Jr. Lectureships in Art History, funded by the Robert Lehman Foundation
Art historian Viviana Bucarelli explores the legacy of the Museum of Modern Art’s wartime exhibition Americans 1943: American Realists and Magic Realists in the broader context of a shift in American art from the realism of the pre-war years toward the abstraction that came popular afterward.
Art in Focus: Jane Hammond, Untitled, 1993, oil on canvas with metal leaf
Thursday, March 12, Noon and 1 p.m.
Bellarmine Hall Galleries and streaming
Lecture: The Soiling of Old Glory: The Story of a Photograph That Shocked America
Thursday, March 19, 5:30 p.m.
Louis P. Masur, PhD, Rutgers University, Distinguished Professor of American Studies and History
Dolan School of Business Event Hall and streaming
Historian Louis Masur examines Stanley Forman’s iconic 1976 photograph The Soiling of Old Glory (a print of which will be on view in the exhibition), which provides a compelling window into racial tensions in 1970s America. The photograph was the subject of his 2008 book of the same title.
Art in Focus: Julie Mehretu, Corner of Lake and Minnehaha, 2022, color screenprint
Thursday, April 9, Noon and 1 p.m.
Walsh Gallery
Art Speaks!
Thursday, April 9, 6 p.m.
Campus and community members are invited to share their own responses to the exhibition through works of poetry and short prose.
Walsh Gallery
Lecture: Florine Stettheimer and Americana
Thursday, April 16, 5:30 p.m.
Barbara Bloemink, PhD
Bellarmine Hall, Diffley Board Room and streaming
Part of the Edwin L. Weisl, Jr. Lectureships in Art History, funded by the Robert Lehman Foundation
Art historian Barbara Bloemink, one of the foremost experts on Florine Stettheimer – a quintessential New York modernist – will give a talk exploring the artist’s passion for Americana, represented in the exhibition by the painting George Washington in New York, ca. 1939, on loan from Art Properties, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University
Art in Focus: Rosson Crow, Fragility (Pax Americana), 2023, acrylic, spray paint, photo transfer, and oil on canvas
Thursday, May 7, Noon and 1 p.m.
Walsh Gallery
Lecture: The Material Evolution of the American Flag
Tuesday, June 9, 5:30 p.m.
Bill DeMaida
Barone Campus Center, Dogwood Room
Noted collector of historical American flags Bill DeMaida will present artifacts from his collection of historic American flags as he explores the evolution of our nation’s most enduring symbol.
Family Day Series:
12:30-2 p.m. and 2:30-4 p.m.
(Space limited; registration required)
Stars, Stripes & Brushstrokes: American Impressionism Workshop
Saturday, January 24
What’s so “American” about American Impressionism? We’ll use Childe Hassam’s Italian Day, May 1918 painting as a jumping-off point for a fun painting workshop in the American Impressionist style.
Bellarmine Hall, Museum Classroom
Red, White, and YOU!: A Comics Workshop
Saturday, February 21
Escape the chill and draw some comics with us! Participants will be guided to create a comic-strip-like depiction, either of a significant moment either in American history, or in their and their family's personal history.
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts Lobby
Stitching Stories: Design Your Family Flag
Saturday, March 28
Participants and family members will be invited to celebrate the flags of their family background by designing and creating a new flag that expresses their unique identity and heritage!
Bellarmine Hall, Museum Classroom
Bits & Pieces, Stars & Stripes: Reimagined Flags from Recycled Finds
Saturday, April 25
Participants will be invited to bring their own materials and choose from the broad array of fabrics, single-use plastics, egg cartons, and the like, to create a unique 3D flag assemblage inspired by some of the contemporary artworks that use unconventional materials, from American military gear to native wildflowers.
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts Lobby
ArtDaily News
"Fairfield University Art Museum announces exhibitions to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the U.S."
Bellarmine Hall Galleries and Walsh Gallery Hours:
Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. (Thursday until 8 p.m.) - We are closed for national and university holidays and during inclement weather.
Location:
For GPS please use the following address: 200 Barlow Road, Fairfield, CT, 06824, or click on the map image at right for directions.
Parking:
For the Bellarmine Hall Galleries: free parking is available in front of Bellarmine Hall; handicap parking is available next to the service and classroom entrance on the lower level of Bellarmine Hall. For the Quick Center: free parking is available at the lot in front of the Quick Center, including handicap parking. Museum visitors may park in any available spot that is not marked reserved, handicap accessible only, or for service vehicles.
Admission:
The museum is open to the public and admission is free.
Tours:
Private tours with a curator are available for a fee; please contact museum@fairfield.edu or 203-254-4046.
Reach Us By train:
Take Metro-North, New Haven Line, to Fairfield Station (approximately 70 minutes from Grand Central Station).
www.mta.info/mnr
800-638-7646
For further information or to schedule a visit or tour, please contact
Fairfield University Art Museum
1073 North Benson Road
Fairfield, CT 06824
(203) 254-4046
museum@fairfield.edu
