In the January 1941 State of the Union Address, President Franklin D. Roosevelt identified "Four Freedoms," essential human rights that should be universally protected: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. American artist Norman Rockwell later illustrated these rights as aspects of daily American life. Rockwell's paintings were mass-produced on magazine covers and propaganda posters to promote the war effort, becoming the face of the Four Freedoms.

The Four Freedoms: Real and Imagined explores and contextualizes the Four Freedoms by comparing the ideals depicted by Rockwell with people's lived experiences in the United States during World War II. You're invited to step into a recreation of the dining room in Rockwell's iconic Freedom from Want image and re-imagine the scene.

This exhibition was conceived, curated, and installed by Westminster College Museum Studies students. It is made possible, in part, by the Anson Cutts Gallery Fund for America's National Churchill Museum.

A self-proclaimed pastime painter, Winston Churchill did not put brush to canvas until the age of 40. Although he received no formal training as an artist, he pursued his hobby with characteristic passion, and it became a lifelong interest.

A 1920 essay, which later became the basis for his book Painting as a Pastime, serves as Churchill’s personal credo on the creative process and recounts the origins of his interest in painting. The essay describes how, in 1915, Churchill was pressured to resign his position as First Lord of the Admiralty following a disastrous campaign in the Battle of Gallipoli during World War I. "I had great anxiety and no means of relieving it," he wrote. With "long hours of unwonted leisure in which to contemplate the frightful unfolding of the war," he turned to painting as a means to clear his mind and relieve his stress — an antidote that served him throughout the remainder of his turbulent career.

A Passion for Painting brings together in one gallery all the Churchill paintings in the collection of, or on loan to, America’s National Churchill Museum. It includes remarkable new acquisitions Beach at Walmer, painted in 1938 on the eve of World War II, and Firth of Forth, depicting the coast of Scotland around 1925.

This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Catherine Churchill (1968-2022), whose contributions to the study of Churchill paintings were many and brilliant. Made possible, in part, by the Anson Cutts Fund.

This exhibition includes selected items from the collection of Churchill Fellows Sandra L. and Monroe E. Trout of Wisconsin. A recent gift to the Museum, The Trout Collection includes sculptures by Oscar Nemon, works by Sarah Churchill, and other items related to Winston Churchill assembled over the course of several decades. The exhibition is on view in the Sandra L. and Monroe E. Trout, Sr. of Wisconsin Gallery.