2300 South First Street
Louisville, KY 40208
(502) 852-6794
Website: louisville.edu/art/ Facebook: /Hite.Art.Institute Instagram: @hiteart
Hours: Monday – Friday: 9am – 4:30 pm, Saturday 11am-4pm
Doing Americana: Photography, Mythology, and the American Dream
Dates: August 28 – October 31, 2025
Events: 2-Day Workshop >
$325 includes all materials. Limited to 10 people.
Anyone interested should contact mitch.eckert@louisville.edu
Drawing from the University of Louisville Photographic Archives’ extensive Standard Oil (New Jersey) and Fine Print collections, Doing Americana:Photography, Mythology, and the American Dream peels back the layers of the seemingly natural myth of the American “good life.” Collaboratively curated by a mixed undergraduate and graduate class in the Spring of 2025, this exhibition invites viewers to look closer at how photography has helped shape American ideals of nationhood, domesticity, labor, and freedom. In the images presented, nostalgia and patriotism collide to paint an outwardly harmonious picture of the American Dream, subtly smoothing over the cracks and empty promises of a dream few Americans are able to fully achieve.