America at the Crossroads: The GUITAR and a Changing Nation

America at the Crossroads: The GUITAR and a Changing Nation, a nationally touring exhibition from the National GUITAR Museum, tells more than 200 years of American history through an instrument that became an enduring part of American culture.

40 instruments, accompanied by photographs, video, and historical interpretation, follow the guitar across generations of American life. From early Spanish instruments to the acoustic and electric guitars that transformed popular music, visitors will see how the guitar evolved alongside changes in technology, industry, politics, and American culture.

The guitar crossed communities and musical traditions, gave musicians a powerful means of personal and political expression, and evolved alongside the technologies used to make, record, and experience music. Through the instruments and the stories behind them, America at the Crossroads reveals how the guitar both reflected a changing nation and became part of the cultural changes taking place around it.