American Fresco in the Capitol

A girl looks up in awe to a fresco narrating the American story through depictions of various foundational American patriots, ideologies, and victories. The Statue of Liberty, backdropped by the city that never sleeps, lifts the torch of freedom, illuminating from left to right the birth and rise, the past and present of the modern American nation. The left side portrays the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere’s Ride, the Battle of Fort McHenry, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Betsy Ross’ creation of the first flag, the Constitutional Convention, the Transcontinental Railroad, the cowboys of the Wild West, the Lewis and Clark expedition, and Manifest Destiny. In the bottom center, Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg Address. The right side illustrates more contemporary moments: doughboys in the trenches of World War 1, marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima, Ellis Island, the Wright Brothers’ miraculous first flight at Kitty Hawk, and the Jazz Era dominated by musical geniuses like Armstrong, Fitzgerald, and Holiday. To the side, classical pianist Leonard Bernstein accompanies his jazz counterparts, playing Gershwin’s classic American hit Rhapsody In Blue, while Hollywood Hills symbolizes the profound influence that American cinema has had on cultures around the globe. The fresco culminates in the Apollo 11 moon landing. The fresco’s primary mission is to represent America for what it is: a nation that, though not without flaws, has never, and never will, let the impossible dictate her future.