Exhibition Featuring Iconic Photographs by Ansel Adams Comes to The Westmoreland in September

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GREENSBURG, Pennsylvania (August 19, 2026) — The Westmoreland Museum of American Art is pleased to announce the presentation of Ansel Adams: Majestic Lands from September 13, 2026, through May 2, 2027. The exhibition features over 40 photographs by Ansel Adams, including a selection the photographer himself handpicked to represent the best of his life’s work. Called the Museum Set, the photographs reveal the importance he placed on the drama and splendor of the natural world.

Ansel Adams: Majestic Lands is presented in dialogue with Victoria Sambunaris: Altered Lands, which invites visitors to consider how the American landscape has changed over time. While Adams often portrays nature as timeless and untouched, Sambunaris reveals landscapes shaped by the infrastructure, industry, and systems of modern life.

“Presenting these two exhibitions in dialogue demonstrates how the American landscape tradition extends into the 21st century and asks visitors to reconsider how we think about landscapes today given the continuing intervention of humans on natural environments,” stated Nicole Lampl, Curator of American Art. “Additionally, these exhibitions culminate our 2026 Year of American Landscape focus tied to the 250th anniversary of the United States.”

In a career that spanned more than five decades, Ansel Adams (1902 -1984) became one of America’s most beloved landscape photographers and one of its more respected environmentalists. There are few other artists whose name and works represent the extraordinary level of popular recognition and artistic achievement. Adams profoundly influenced the course of 20th century photography with his exquisite and technically precise images as well as through his personal energy and devotion to advancing the cause of photography as an art form. As an artist, educator, innovator, and writer, he helped establish many of the institutions that have come to represent the highest aspirations of the medium of photography.

The photographs in this exhibition are drawn from the celebrated Museum Set, a portfolio Adams assembled late in his life to represent the works he considered his greatest artistic achievements. Included are many of Adams’ most famous and best-loved photographs. Together, the images reveal the breadth of his work, from monumental landscapes to intimate studies of nature. Also included in the exhibition is a photo portrait of Ansel Adams by James Alinder.

This exhibition was organized by Turtle Bay Exploration Park, Redding, CA, in association with Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA. Since 1967, Landau Traveling Exhibitions has presented more than 700 fine art and architecture exhibitions at museums and university galleries throughout the United States and the world. The presentation at The Westmoreland additionally features works by Adams from a private collection.

For more than 25 years, contemporary photographer Victoria Sambunaris has traveled across the United States capturing landscapes shaped by our incursions into the natural world. Equipped with a large format field camera and color negative film, she spends weeks researching and revisiting locations before making a single exposure. Her methodical process is driven, as she describes it, by a fascination with “how we inhabit our landscapes and what they become as we forge ahead.”

While both Adams and Sambunaris capture grand vistas largely devoid of human figures, Sambunaris brings infrastructure like railroads, highways, mines, and powerlines into sharp focus within these sublime settings. Rather than separating untouched wilderness from human intervention, her meticulously composed photographs reveal the two as inseparable parts of the contemporary American landscape.

This exhibition was organized in collaboration with Silver Eye Center for Photography, Pittsburgh.

On Sunday, September 13 from 2 to 4pm, the Museum presents Perspectives on Photography, a conversation with artist Victoria Sambunaris, collector Evan Mirapaul, and Leo Hsu, Executive Director of Silver Eye Center for Photography, exploring contemporary photography through multiple perspectives. This program is free and open to the public and will be moderated by Nicole Lampl.

The Ansel Adams and Victoria Sambunaris exhibitions are ticketed. Tickets are available at the Museum with no advance registration required. Pricing is $10 for adults and $5 for children. Museum members and children ages three and under are free. Advanced registration is required for groups with more information available at thewestmoreland.org/group-tours. Admission to these exhibitions will be free on select dates, including upcoming Sunday Fun Days and other community events. Check the events calendar on the Museum’s website for more information. General admission to the Museum remains free for all during the run of these exhibitions, providing access to all other areas of the Museum, including the award-winning Steel Valley Visions: An American Legacy exhibition and accompanying immersive experience as well as the popular Play Ball! The Art of George Sosnak exhibition. 

The Westmoreland’s exhibition program is generously supported by the Hillman Foundation and The Heinz Endowments. Additional support for Ansel Adams: Majestic Lands is provided by the Westmoreland County Tourism Grant Program.

About The Westmoreland Museum of American Art:   
Western Pennsylvania’s only museum dedicated to American art, The Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, offers meaningful and engaging cultural experiences that build community and inspire creativity, new ideas, and action through the power of art. The Westmoreland’s extraordinary permanent collection, with its strong focus on the art and artists of Southwestern Pennsylvania, is complemented by an impressive temporary exhibition schedule featuring both nationally traveling exhibitions and those organized by the Museum. Additionally, The Westmoreland presents a full calendar of community-oriented and family-friendly events and experiences. The Museum was one of only two institutions awarded Art Bridges 2026 Bridgemaker Prize for its exceptional community engagement efforts.  
   
General admission to the Museum is free. The Museum’s operating hours are September–May: Wednesday–Sunday, 10am–5pm; June–August: Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, 10am–5pm and Friday, 12–7pm. The Museum is closed Monday and Tuesday and on New Year’s Day, Easter, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.    

For more information, visit thewestmoreland.org. 

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