America 250: The Liberty Bell Show

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Mitchell Anderson - Constanza Schaffner - Cassidy Toner

July - August
Opening Thursday, July 9*    18 - 20h
 

In observance of The United States of America’s 250th birthday, “America 250: The Liberty Bell Show” brings together artistic responses to one of the most enduring symbols in American history: the Liberty Bell. Cast in 1752 and installed in Philadelphia, it was ordered by the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly and inscribed with a verse from Leviticus: “Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” Traditionally associated with the public reading of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the Bell later became a powerful abolitionist and suffragist symbol. Its physical history is inseparable from its mythology: cracked and recast after early use, it eventually split again in the 19th century, at which point its broken state came to define it. Over time, the Bell has been reproduced endlessly as a civic image, emblem, and souvenir, its meaning shifting between object, symbol, and myth.



*The opening of this exhibition was moved from its natural habitat of July 4 to the 9th to coincide with my birthday.