We Hold These Truths…

Some truths we hold dear. Others we let gather dust.

We Hold These Truths… explores moments in American history marked by deep patriotism and deep political divides.

Holly Bass’s largest exhibition to date marks the return of visitors to UMMA’s iconic Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Apse following a nearly year-long restoration of its signature marble floor, transforming the storied space into a sequence of encounters with rooms, replicas, and acts of writing that move through the nation’s past and present.

Anchored in the centennial and semi-centennial years of the past and present, the exhibition includes an 1876 parlor, a 1976 den, and a central gathering space organized around a long “Century Table” assembled from pieces across eras. At the heart of the exhibition rises an attic-like structure framed by exposed trusses, evoking the domestic space where objects and stories accumulate. Suspended above, elements of inscription appear on the trusses, suggesting that the national story is at once inherited and still evolving. Below, video works framed as windows invite viewers to look again at shared narratives, while a focal audio work, composed from community reflections, and voiced in hushed tones by the artist, imagines possible futures.

Long a gathering place shaped by remembrance and civic aspiration, UMMA’s Apse has evolved over more than a century. Bass extends this layered past, using the language of the home to ask what truths we inherit, what histories remain unresolved, and what stories we choose to carry forward.

Presented in partnership with the U-M Stamps School of Art & Design Roman J. Witt Residency Program