William Charles Anthony Frerichs (Belgian American, 1829-1905), Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina, c. 1860. Oil on canvas, 22.25 × 34 in. Gift of Welborn & Patty Alexander. BRAHM Permanent Collection, 2014.1.03. Photo: Josh White

Landscape is never just scenery. Across American visual culture, images of land have shaped ideas about identity, ownership, belonging, and power—influencing how Americans understand both place and themselves. In this opening lecture for Horizon Line: 250 Years of American Landscape, curator Ian Gabriel Wilson-Rhodes introduces the exhibition’s central ideas by exploring how representations of our physical surroundings have functioned not only as subjects for artists, but as a cultural framework through which Americans have imagined history, nationhood, and the environment.

Moving across historical examples and broader questions of place, the talk offers an accessible way of thinking about how these images operate within cultural life. The lecture sets the stage for the exhibition and the lecture series to follow, inviting viewers to look more closely at how such imagery continues to shape the stories we tell about land, past and present.

The Exploring Horizon Line program series is made possible through the generous support of the Bryant and Nancy Hanley Foundation.