Palmer Museum of Art
Greider Family Gallery, Level 2
Community Curates: Dreaming American Futures
July 2 – August 23, 2026
Over the past year, the museum has engaged the community in a variety of ways to gather diverse perspectives about the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence and how they have played out over the course of the 250 years since its signing. In reflecting on the nation’s past, present, and future, visitors shared ideas about important moments in the country’s past as well as strategies to pursue in the present that look toward building a “more perfect union” of the future. The primary thoughts that emerged from visitor contributions inspired three themes pursued in this exhibition and include: Activating Change, Bridging the Divide, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
To assist community members in curating works to include in the exhibition, museum educators and graduate assistants identified a large selection of works on paper that related to the identified themes. The community was then invited to review the list of possibilities and participate in three rounds of voting in order to help shape the artworks to be included in this community-curated exhibition. More than 100 community curators participated in reviewing, evaluating, and ranking 60 works on paper from the Palmer’s collection.
Palmer Museum of Art
Barbara and Lee Maimon Teaching Gallery, Level 2
Constellations: Celebrating the Legacies of Betye Saar
May 9 – September 13, 2026
In 1996, the Palmer Museum of Art mounted a groundbreaking installation by Los Angeles-based artist Betye Saar. Titled Tangled Roots, the exhibition explored Saar’s mixed-race identity, her signature repurposing of found objects, and her commitment to seeking the spiritual connections that unite all humankind.
Thirty years later, the Palmer is honoring the artist’s 100th birthday with an intimate show exploring the constellation of legacies inspired by her work. The centerpiece is Saar’s formative Vision of El Cremo (1967), a mixed-media assemblage acquired by the museum in the wake of the 1996 exhibition. In the decades since that important acquisition, Palmer staff have made a concerted effort to add works by underrepresented artists to the museum’s holdings. Drawn largely from the permanent collection, the exhibition celebrates the legacies of family, art, cosmology, and cultural heritage.
Artists represented in the exhibition include Betye Saar, Alison Saar, Lezley Saar, Linda Stein, Louise Nevelson, Marc Petrovic, Avel de Knight, Radcliffe Bailey, Kara Walker, Romare Bearden, Whitfield Lovell, Vanessa German, Sam Gilliam, and John Nathaniel Robinson.
Palmer Museum of Art
Michael J. and Aimee Rusinko Kakos Galleries, Level 1
Dreaming American Futures: Invitational 250
June 13 – November 29, 2026
Artists were invited to submit works that address the following themes: Activating Change, Bridging the Divide, Pursuit of Happiness, and A More Perfect Union. Featuring recent paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, prints, and ceramics, the exhibition invites us to reflect on the past, ponder our present moment, and dream of future possibilities.
