“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” So begins the second paragraph of The Declaration of Independence, signed on July 4, 1776. And yet, with the United States approaching its 250th birthday, we’re still trying to pin down what “America” is. To celebrate the country’s Semiquincentennial, a new exhibition frames “Americanness” as an evolving and fluid concept. Works are shown in pairs—from local Maine artists to those nationally recognized—to compare how different artists process American identity. “American Conversations” speaks to how that national identity is continually reinvented. —Maggie Turner

The exhibition Hank Willis Thomas: Looking for America also opens on April 10. Information here