Spoleto Festival USA unveils 2026 festival poster featuring Jasper Johns’ Three Flags

Spoleto Festival USA unveiled the official poster for its 2026 Festival season, featuring Jasper Johns’ seminal 1958 work Three Flags. The announcement marks the beginning of the Festival’s public countdown to its 2026 season, taking place May 22–June 7 across Charleston’s historic theaters, churches, and public spaces.

Widely regarded as one of the most influential American artists of the 20th century, Johns transformed familiar national imagery into layered meditations on identity, perception, and meaning. Created in 1958, Three Flags reimagines the American flag through dimensional perspective and repetition, inviting audiences to reconsider one of the country’s most recognizable symbols through a new lens.

The selection of Three Flags arrives as the Festival prepares for a landmark season coinciding with America’s 250th anniversary. Through more than 110 performances across opera, theater, dance, music, jazz, and community programming, the 2026 Festival will explore the theme of freedom of expression — the creative liberty that fueled the nation’s founding and continues to shape its cultural identity today.

“Freedom of expression is at the heart of why this festival exists,” said Spoleto General Director and CEO Mena Mark Hanna. “As we reflect on America’s 250th anniversary, we are reminded that art remains one of the most powerful ways a society examines itself. Jasper Johns’ Three Flags embodies that spirit of inquiry and reinterpretation. Like the Festival itself, the work challenges us to look beyond the familiar and engage with the complexity, plurality, and ongoing evolution of the American experience.”

Since its founding in 1977, Spoleto Festival USA has served as one of America’s premier performing arts festivals, bringing internationally renowned artists together with emerging voices to create bold, interdisciplinary experiences. The 2026 season will continue that tradition through world premieres, reimagined classics, and distinctly American perspectives.

The official 2026 Festival poster was revealed during a public event at the Gibbes Museum of Art, followed by a conversation between Hanna and Alex Rich, Gibbes Museum of Art President and CEO, discussing the artwork, its cultural resonance, and the Festival’s vision for the upcoming season.

The 2026 Festival poster is now on sale at shop.spoleto.org.

Spoleto Festival USA was founded in 1977 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who sought to create an American counterpart to the annual Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, which he had founded in 1958. Spoleto Festival USA is internationally recognized as America’s premier performing arts festival. For 17 days and nights each spring, Spoleto Festival USA fills Charleston’s historic theaters, churches, and outdoor spaces with performances in opera; theater; dance; and chamber, symphonic, choral, and jazz music. With General Director & CEO Mena Mark Hanna at its helm, the 2026 season takes place from May 22 to June 7 in various locations throughout Charleston. Spoleto Festival USA is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization.