Ahead of the country’s semiquincentennial this summer, 45 artists fanned out across Philadelphia, diving deep into museum archives, rare book collections, historic gardens, and libraries, looking at previous commemorations of the Declaration of Independence as inspiration for new work.
The result is Radical Americana, a series of 22 exhibitions marking the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding. The exhibitions run through July 5 at various sites around the city, including the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Museum for Art in Wood, Biello Martin Studio, and the Cliveden historic estate.
Organized by The Clay Studio, Radical Americana called on artists to create work addressing what the Declaration of Independence means to them, informed by research about arts and culture from other milestone anniversary years.
Adam Chau, a Connecticut-based ceramist, went into storage with a curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to view the extensive collection of presidential china and considered what those design choices were trying to communicate. In response, Chau created dinnerware for the conceptual first gay president of the United States. For Presidential China, he worked with blanks provided by Lennox—the company that produces the White House china—and designed a pattern with 50 stars using both the colors of the original pride flag and the expanded progress pride flag, which includes representation of communities of color and the transgender community.
Adam Chau weaves queer themes into his porcelain work, as in 2025's Generated Love, 7 x 7 x 1.5 in.
