Photography Exhibit Explores Modern America

Photography Exhibit Explores Modern America

Published 10:30 am Saturday, July 11, 2026

DANVILLE, Ky. — A pictures exhibition on the Norton Center for the Arts is giving guests an opportunity to mirror on the which means of American id by pictures of the nation’s current previous.

“Be The People: Portraits of Contemporary America” is now open within the Grand Foyer Gallery and options work by Kentucky photographer Jon Cherry. The exhibition is a part of America250KY, the statewide observance tied to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Cherry, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist and artist, makes use of the exhibit to look at life within the United States over the previous 5 years. His pictures discover moments formed by politics, grief, satisfaction, religion and misinformation whereas asking viewers to contemplate what it means to be an American right this moment.

The exhibit connects current nationwide occasions with the beliefs on the middle of the nation’s founding, together with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Rather than presenting a single reply, the gathering invitations viewers to contemplate how these beliefs are understood, debated and examined in fashionable life.

Cherry’s work has appeared in nationwide and worldwide publications, together with The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press and Reuters. His background as a working photojournalist provides the exhibit a documentary focus, utilizing actual individuals and actual moments to point out the complexity of the nation in recent times.

The Norton Center is presenting the exhibition as a part of a broader alternative for guests to contemplate each historical past and the current day. While the nation’s 250th Independence Day has handed, the questions raised by the exhibit stay present: how Americans perceive each other, how nationwide occasions form communities and the way residents proceed to outline the nation’s future.

The exhibit is free and open to the general public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday by Friday. Guided group excursions can be found by request, and Norton Center workers mentioned the exhibit will stay on show by May 2027.

Visitors may additionally view the Norton Center’s everlasting assortment whereas on the venue. The assortment consists of Ex Astris, a 14-foot brass-plated sculpture by Louisville artist Tom Lear positioned on the entrance to the Grand Foyer; the Haven Gillespie Fountain and Plaza; and The Walking Man, an authentic work by Auguste Rodin donated in 1980 by David Grissom in honor of his late father.