UMMA and the Labadie Collection Launch Ambitious Exhibition Series on American Protest and Social Movements

Julie Ault awarded inaugural commission, will open American Sampler: Activating the Archive on January 24, 2026

September 2025—The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) announced today a landmark commission and exhibition project from acclaimed artist, curator, and researcher Julie Ault: an immersive investigation into the architecture of American protest. American Sampler: Activating the Archive will open on January 24, 2026, as the country celebrates its 250th anniversary, offering an important reflection on the role dissent plays in shaping American identity.

This two-year exhibition inaugurates a groundbreaking partnership between UMMA and the Labadie Collection at the University of Michigan Library, one of the world’s largest repositories of political dissent and social movement materials from around the globe. Ault, the recipient of the inaugural UMMA Labadie Artist Research Residency, brings her decades-long commitment to cultural activism and historical inquiry into an extensive installation that reframes the visual language of protest as a driving force in U.S. history.

American Sampler brings together an extraordinary selection of artifacts, artworks, and archival documents from UMMA, the Labadie Collection, and elsewhere to illuminate the strategies, visual vocabularies, and effective methods of protest. Ault’s focus spans the Black freedom struggle, civil rights organizing, and antiwar activism—particularly the resistance to the U.S. war in Vietnam—while tracing how these movements connect to broader, ongoing efforts for justice.

Through carefully selected juxtapositions of art and documentary materials presented on and surrounding a towering 40-foot-tall gallery wall in UMMA’s Vertical Gallery, the installation immerses visitors in a history of how protest is enacted, communicated, and remembered.

Included in the exhibition are archival materials from a spectrum of intersecting political and cultural movements rarely seen on public display: Freedom Rider testimonials, GI and veteran war resistance material, printed matter from the Black Panther Party, courtroom records from the Chicago Seven Trial, pacifist statements, and more. These are presented alongside works of art by Romare Bearden, Robert Indiana, Corita Kent, Jacob Lawrence, Nancy Spero, Félix González-Torres, and others—illuminating the tactics, networks, and symbols that form the foundation of American social movements.

Working closely with Labadie Collection Curator Julie Herrada, Ault is creating American Sampler as a living installation over its two-year span, with rotating selections that reflect the social landscape of contemporary activism.

“This is a moment when the mechanics of democracy are under intense scrutiny,” said Christina Olsen, UMMA Director. “Julie Ault’s American Sampler reminds us that the imagery and tactics of protest and the power of organized resistance are not only our political inheritance, but a vital part of the cultural imagination.”

This exhibition marks the first in a three-part series under the UMMA and Labadie collaboration. The second project will debut in Fall 2026 with a newly commissioned installation by renowned artist Tomashi Jackson in UMMA’s Tisch Apse. Jackson’s work explores themes of racial justice and community activism. The third installment, still in development, may include a published volume or a public symposium, extending the dialogue around American protest and social justice to new forms and audiences.

The exhibition will be held in UMMA’s Vertical Gallery, with selected installations extending into the UMMA Café to create a dynamic, immersive experience for visitors. American Sampler offers a vital resource for both dedicated researchers and the general public, inviting all to explore the enduring questions of ideological conflict, justice, and resilience that shape American society.