Becoming: America at 250
Photographs by Dennis Church

These are tumultuous times. However, America has never been a finished idea. At 250 years old, the nation remains in a constant state of becoming—shaped by land, labor, belief, conflict, and quiet endurance. This year-long online photographic exhibition honoring the 250th anniversary of the United States will be drawn from both newly made photographs and the artist’s five-decade archive.

Through his lens, Church turns towards everyday life: working landscapes, accidental humor, rural roads, human traces, and the subtle tensions between past and present. His images do not declare what America is − they ask what it is becoming. His images form a portrait of a country shaped by contradiction, ambition, fatigue, wonder, and persistence.

Developed in collaboration with Art Farm Iowa, this project is grounded in a place where art, agriculture, and community intersect. Art Farm Iowa’s mission − to cultivate culture through creativity rooted in the land − provides a vital context for Dennis Church’s photographs, which focus on everyday spaces and lived environments rather than spectacle or monument.

The exhibition will unfold steadily across online platforms over the year, culminating in a book Becoming: America 250 at year’s end. The book will be available by pre-order on its own and be part of select Art Farm Iowa Memberships. Archival, limited exhibition prints will also be available online.

Connect with Art Farm Iowa on Instagram or Facebook to see the exhibition unfold.

About Dennis

Dennis Church is an American photographer whose work transforms everyday moments into vibrant, graphic images. Raised on a small farm in rural Iowa, he began photographing in 1975 and has since exhibited widely in the U.S. and internationally. His work appears in Bystander: A History of Street Photography, and his recent books include AMERICOLOR (2024) and DIRT FRESH (2025). Church lives and works in Delray Beach, Florida, finding color, humor, and meaning in the ordinary.