Declare: A Civic Gospel | Chrysler Museum of Art

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The Myers House

The home of the first permanent Jewish residents of Norfolk, this historic house offers a glimpse of the life of a wealthy early 19th-century merchant family.
More about the house

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

With an extensive collection of more than 106,000 rare and unique volumes relating to the history of art, the Jean Outland Chrysler Library is one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the Library

Goode Works on Paper Center

The Goode Works on Paper Center houses nearly 10,000 photographs, drawings, prints, and other works on paper.
More about the center

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Jean Outland Chrysler Library

Visit one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the library

Goode Works on Paper Center

The Goode Works on Paper Center houses nearly 10,000 photographs, drawings, prints, and other works on paper.
More about the center

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This June, the Chrysler Museum will mark the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence with a new acquisition: Declare: A Civic Gospel. This commemorative publication was produced by Arion Press, a San Francisco–based publisher and the only press in the United States whose books are produced entirely by hand. Created in collaboration with Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Declare brings together contemporary American artists, writers, and thinkers to reflect on the legacy of the Declaration—honoring its past while interrogating its future.

The edition is comprised of three core elements: a rendition of the Declaration’s Preamble; an interior volume collecting newly commissioned essays and poems by American writers; and a suite of wood medallions engraved by leading American artists, each visualizing a core concept of the Declaration. Adding further material resonance to the project, the medallions were produced from wood sourced from trees planted by enslaved residents at Monticello during Jefferson’s lifetime.

Sonya Clark (American, b. 1967), Octoroon, 2018, Canvas and thread, Museum purchase, 2020.6

Beginning June 22, Declare: A Civic Gospel will be presented in the Oval Gallery alongside Sonya Clark’s Octoroon (2018). Clark, one of the artists featured in Declare, reconceives the image of the United States flag to examine the enduring legacies of race, identity, and exclusion in American history. Together, these works invite visitors to reflect on the promises and contradictions embedded within the nation’s founding ideals. Presented during the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence, the installation seeks to foster dialogue about the evolving meaning of citizenship, freedom, and belonging in the United States 250 years after the nation’s founding.

More special exhibitions

On view right now

Through September 13, 2026

Imperial Colors: Chinese Glass at the Chrysler Museum
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Through October 18, 2026

Ilse Bing Between Paris and New York
Exhibition Details