Katrina Ellis

America’s cultural map looks very different when you stop following the obvious route. The Smithsonian, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the monuments of Washington and the great houses of Newport deserve their reputations. But they can also create the impression that serious American culture is concentrated in a handful of famous destinations. Travel farther, or simply look more closely, and another America appears: one of unexpected museums, eccentric collectors, historic estates, remarkable...

What if one of America’s most revealing art galleries has never really been a gallery at all? For generations, the state fair has occupied a wonderfully unruly corner of American life: livestock barns and Ferris wheels, pie contests and rodeos, prize vegetables, marching bands, blue ribbons and foods whose encounters with a deep fryer can border on performance art. Yet behind all that exuberance lies another tradition; one built by quilters, basket makers, canners, embroiderers, potters, crop...

Washington's diplomatic community is accustomed to cultural receptions and embassy gatherings, but every so often an event manages to transcend protocol and offer something more memorable: a genuine glimpse into the soul of a nation. Such was the atmosphere at the opening reception of the new Embassy of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas in Washington, D.C., where guests were welcomed not simply into a diplomatic space, but into a celebration of Bahamian identity, hospitality, and cultural...