Exploring America: Art from Across the Country
Published July 1, 2026 by Elias Gemmen, GVAM Student Gallery Assistant
July is the perfect summer month to pack up your car, pick up some iced coffee, and hit the road to travel across the country. Whether it’s with friends or alone, you can count state lines or the beautiful and odd sights across America.
Though of course, all the homebodies can stay comfortable in their homes and live vicariously through images of America. Re-created by artists in the GVSU Art Museum Collection. You’ll find photographs, drawings, paintings, and many more forms of art depicting the country from the wonderful to the mundane. Some artists like Virginia Jenkins create images based on their own travels, bringing beautiful sights of the northwest coast right to you.
Jim Nieboer photographs the stillness of Michigan through the everyday wonder. William Henry Jackson can show you scenery through a new lens in his paintings, making you slow down to appreciate the beauty. Or, if you’re feeling a little more adventurous, David Lubbers has a wide variety of photographs from across the country.
Check out more views of the United States of America in the GVSU art collection, or go out this summer to create your own!
Explore more artistic view of America
This guest blog was written by GVSU student Elias Gemmen, Student Gallery Assistant for GVAM.
Learning Resources
David Lubbers
Want to learn more? Check out these resources available at the GVSU Libraries!
eBook: Tourism in the USA: A Spatial and Social Synthesis
By Dimitri Ioannides and Dallen Timothy, 2009
Tourism in the USA explains the evolution of tourism paying attention to the forces that shaped the product that exists today. The focus of the book includes the manner in which tourism has played out in various contexts; the role of federal, state, and local policy is also examined in terms of the effects it has had on the US travel industry and on destinations.
eBook: Landscape Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots
By Rob Sheppard, 2012
Pro photographer Rob Sheppard starts with the basics–composition, light, and perspective–and describes how to connect with your scene. He covers all the key camera features that affect your image, including how changing focal lengths alters your perspective and the aperture’s direct correlation with depth of field.
Mathias Alten, Mount Hood, Oregon, oil on board, 1909, 2007.605.1.
David Lubbers, Evening Storm, Monument Valley, Utah, silver Gelatin Print, 1990, 2021.6.12.
Virginia Jenkins, The River, Acrylic on Paper, 2012.127.1.
William Henry Jackson, Snowy Range from Bellevue, Colorado, Photochrome, 2015.65.42.
Jim Nieboer, Michigan Landscape, Pinhole Photograph, 1998.361.1.
David Lubbers, Stone, Merced River, Yosemite, California, Silver Gelatin Print, 2020.33.34.
MaryBeth Koeze, Oxbow Light, monoprint, ca 2000, 2003.167.1.