D.C. Mondays: The Phillips Collection and America at 250
As the United States celebrates its 250th year, learn how one local historic site is commemorating the anniversary with an art exhibition. The Phillips Collection debuted Out of Many: Reframing an American Art Collection in November 2025 as a celebration and examination of the beauty and complexity of this nation’s history. Hear from members of The Phillips Collection staff about how this exhibition was developed to tell a more diverse constellation of stories depicting the people, cultures, landscapes and histories of the United States from the early 20th century to the present.
The exhibition features artworks from The Phillips' permanent collection as well as the historic collections of African American art at Howard University Gallery of Art and The David C. Driskell Center at the University of Maryland, among other institutions.
About the Speakers
Adrienne L. Childs, Ph.D., is senior consulting curator at The Phillips Collection and co-curator of the recent exhibitions Out of Many: Reframing an American Art Collection and Vivian Browne: My Kind of Protest. She has published widely on race and representation in European art as well as African American art. Her latest book is Ornamental Blackness: The Black Figure in European Decorative Arts (Yale University Press, 2025).
Amanda Acosta is digital archivist at The Phillips Collection, where she collaborates cross-departmentally to bring access and relevancy to the institutional archives. With nearly a decade of experience across disciplines in museums, libraries, archives and non-profits, she holds a bachelor’s in art history from Virginia Commonwealth University and a master’s in library and information science from the University of Maryland, College Park.
How to Participate
This program is free and will take place online. To participate, please register in advance to reserve your space. Once you have registered, we will email you a link and details for joining on Zoom. Simply follow that link at the time the program starts (12 p.m. EST / 9 a.m. PST). When you register, you can also request to receive a reminder email one day before the program with the link included.
About the D.C. Mondays Series
Join authors, researchers and community members online for lively discussions about Washington, D.C.’s history, politics, culture and more. Browse upcoming programs