Pursuit of Happiness: 250 years later

250 years ago, America declared its independence from Great Britain. The first sentence of the second paragraph from that declaration has become one of the most memorable and quoted lines in the English language: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The last of the “unalienable Rights” listed ⎼”the pursuit of Happiness”⎼ has always seemed unusual and slightly out of place in this context, though certainly not unwanted. What does the right to “the pursuit of Happiness” even mean then, and now? As we continue to strive and struggle to attain the ideals outlined for our country 250 years ago, approximately two dozen regional artists have created artwork in an attempt to answer that question.

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