OMAA to Present Looking for America, on View April 10 – July 19, 2026
Ogunquit, Maine, March 4, 2026—The Ogunquit Museum of American Art (OMAA) will present the exhibition Looking for America from April 10 through July 19, 2026, featuring the work of world-renowned artist Hank Willis Thomas alongside, for the first time, a selection of artists he has collaborated with, in response to America’s 250th anniversary. The exhibition highlights the power of creative communities, while asking the timely question: What does it mean to look for America, and whose America are we seeking?
Bringing together the work of Hank Willis Thomas and a multigenerational group of artists connected through years of shared studio space, conversation, and collaboration, the exhibition unfolds as a collective inquiry—one shaped by dialogue, proximity, and the exchange of ideas.
Artists whose works are included in the exhibition are Chris Bernsten, Adam Easterling, Sam Giarratani, Jennifer Hoffman-Williamson, Jessica Frances Grégoire Lancaster, Hector René Membreño-Canales, Andina Marie Osorio, Karinne Smith, Will Sylvester, Hank Willis Thomas, Deborah Willis, and Christine Wong Yap.
Looking for America is curated by Helen Banach, Creative Director, Hank Willis Thomas Studio; Kalia Brooks, Program Officer, Fundamental Philanthropy; and Devon Zimmerman, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Ogunquit Museum of American Art.
Explains Zimmerman, “Ideas of collectivity have long been a sustained theme of investigation—and a model for making—within Thomas’s practice. We are thrilled that this exhibition explores his engagement with shared action and community building, as seen through the artists he has collaborated with, past and present, whose works are presented in dialogue with his own.”
Anchored by Thomas’s exploration of history, visual culture, and archival imagery, Looking for America examines photography and material as sites where meaning is both revealed and obscured. His works trace the afterlives of protest, the legacies of colonialism, and the visual languages that have shaped American identity, inviting viewers to consider how visual culture and social power become intertwined. Surrounding these works are contributions by the other artists in the exhibition, extending these questions through personal explorations of family, diaspora, labor, memory, and belonging.
The exhibition is organized into seven thematic sections that bring the works into dynamic dialogue: Freedom Rings, At Home and Abroad, Shining Sea, Black Righteous Space, Material Memory, An Art History, and Family.
Freedom Rings, for example, confronts the promises and contradictions embedded in America’s most enduring ideals. Drawing on the visual language of protest, national symbolism, and mass media, this section examines how freedom is proclaimed, performed, and contested.
At Home and Abroad explores how ideas of home, nationhood, and identity are shaped by movement across borders—forced and voluntary, historical and ongoing. The works in this section consider America not as an isolated place, but as a product of global exchange, colonial ambition, migration, and cultural entanglement. Together, these, and the other sections of the exhibition, move between the public and the intimate, the monumental and the fragile.
Quilts made from prison uniforms, reflective surfaces that shift with the viewer’s movement, and works that repurpose everyday materials point to the ways history is embedded in bodies, objects, and landscapes. What emerges is not a unified portrait, but a constellation of perspectives—distinct yet interconnected.
Looking for America ultimately suggests that America is not a fixed place or singular story, but an ongoing search. In this shared pursuit, meaning is generated not alone, but together, through sustained looking, listening, and making.
ADDITIONAL EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS
Three additional exhibitions will be presented at OMAA during the 2026 season: American Conversations, on view April 10 – November 15; Carl Sprinchorn: All the World is a Painting, on view August 6 – November 15; and Maggie Strater: In her Own Light, on view April 10 – November 15. Additionally, OMAA will present guest lectures by such renowned artists as Cara Romero, and a robust slate of programs, special events, and community collaborations. Visit https://ogunquitmuseum.org for more information.
ABOUT OGUNQUIT MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART (OMAA)
Opened in 1953, OMAA was founded by the artist Henry Strater. The museum shares close historic and geographic ties to one of the earliest modern arts communities in the United States. OMAA houses a permanent collection of paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, and photographs from the late 1800s to the present. The museum showcases American art by mounting modern and contemporary exhibitions and accompanying educational programming and events. OMAA sits on approximately three acres of gardens right on the water with stunning panoramic views of Maine’s iconic coves and outcroppings. The museum is open for the 2026 season from April 10 through November 15. For more information, visit ogunquitmuseum.org.
Media Contact: Meg Blackburn, meg@blackburncreative.com
