{"id":211238,"date":"2026-01-16T12:06:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T17:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/?p=211238"},"modified":"2026-01-16T12:06:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T17:06:52","slug":"america-will-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/2026\/01\/16\/america-will-be\/","title":{"rendered":"America Will Be!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Driskell Center<\/a> at the University of Maryland<\/a> is pleased to announce its next exhibition, \u201cAmerica Will Be!\u201d Timed to coincide with the United States\u2019 250th anniversary, this exhibition explores the rich and ever-unfolding history of how artists and communities have explored the complexities, opportunities, failures, and triumphs of \u201cThe American experiment.\u201d On view at The Driskell Center gallery from February 9 through May 8, the exhibition will open with a public reception on February 6 from 5 to 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

America Will Be! is curated by Dr. Nicole Archer<\/a>, Art and Design Department Chair, and Dr. Jordana Moore Saggese<\/a> (University of Maryland, College Park). Lead support for the exhibition and its programming is provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art, with additional support from the Maryland State Arts Council<\/a> and the University of Maryland\u2019s Arts for All initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Through objects and images that harness the power of the U.S. flag, this exhibition asks: How is race used to politically disenfranchise American citizens and asylum seekers? How have members of the Black community responded to systematic political exclusion with resilient, creative forms of political participation? And how might we expand what it means to participate in democracy as we write the nation’s next chapter together?<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica Will Be!\u201d proudly showcases 25 artworks, objects, and documents created across generations and U.S. regions, which are often considered in relation to one another but are seldom displayed together. Highlights include David Hammons\u2019s iconic African American Flag (1990), which reimagines the stars and stripes in the colors of Pan-African unity; June Edmonds\u2019s Four Years in the White House Flag (2019\u201321), a meditation on power, presence, and the symbolism of the flag through rhythmic fields of color; and Hank Willis Thomas\u2019s 14,719 (2018), a monumental textile installation in which each of the 14,719 embroidered stars represents a person who was shot and killed in the United States during that year. Together, these works confront and transform one of the nation\u2019s most charged symbols, exploring its capacity to hold both collective pride and protest. These important loans complement works in The Driskell Center\u2019s permanent collection, including Faith Ringgold\u2019s Declaration of Freedom and Independence (2009) from her celebrated print portfolio, underscoring The Driskell Center\u2019s ongoing commitment to collecting and presenting art that redefines the visual and political meanings of American identity. America Will Be! provides an opportunity for the community to reflect on and learn from the complex ways artists and communities have used the symbol and image of the flag to confront the pressures and meanings of loyalty\u2014to nation, to community, and to self.<\/p>\n

An exhibition preview and opening reception, featuring a commissioned performance by the artist Sheldon Scott, will be held in The Driskell Center Gallery on Friday, February 6, 2026, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exhibition co-curated by Dr. Nicole Archer, Art and Design Chairperson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":211239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-211238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-announcements","category-210_art-design-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211238"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211240,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211238\/revisions\/211240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}