The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City is best known for its innovative, elegantly installed decorative arts exhibitions. But the three Hewitt sisters who, in 1897, founded the forerunner of the institution—the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration—were also interested in American painting. There are more than 3,000 works by Frederic Church (1826–1900), 300 by Winslow Homer (1836–1910) and 80 by Thomas Moran (1837–1926) in the collection, many acquired from the artists’ families and most classifiable as studies, in keeping with the pedagogical mission of the founders.

The Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut, is one of the best places in the world to study the Hudson River School. Re-installed after a two-and-a-half-year national tour, the collection includes major works by Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, Albert Bierstadt, Sanford Gifford, John Kensett and others.

California artist Jeremy Lipking (b. 1975) presented his third solo show at Arcadia Gallery in New York City this summer. The influence of his heroes—the American John Singer Sargent, the Spaniard Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida, the Swede Anders Zora, the Frenchman Jules Bastien-Lepage—is evident in the elegant draftsmanship and spirited paint-handling of this young artist. In fact, while not distractingly anachronistic, Lipking’s paintings could pass for works from the nineteenth century.

The Whitney Museum of American Art’s Biennial, a survey of contemporary American art first held in 1932, has become decreasingly relevant for a variety of reasons that manifest a deeper dilemma in our culture. As America seems to be technologically advancing, morally adrift and politically polarized, a vibrant and creative culture that would boldly engage questions of our human condition and graciously transcend our divisions is critically necessary. Yet, if the 2006 Biennial is a measure of the attitudes and aims of a significant segment of contemporary curators and artists, we need to be looking for fresh strategies to reinvigorate our culture. We need to encourage artists to understand and embrace a greater sense of their roles as guardians and facilitators of cultural stewardship and development. The Whitney should organize Biennials that facilitate dialogue on issues that truly matter to the social and spiritual development and healing of our fractured nation.