Resisting the Long War
2026 Veteran Art Triennial & Summit
Building on the international success of previous Triennials, the 2026 Veteran Art Triennial and Summit, Resisting the Long War, foregrounds artists’ creative defiance to war and militarism. Across exhibitions, performances, and public programs, the Triennial traces overlapping histories of antiwar organizing and offers urgent visions of peace, repair, justice, and collective liberation generated by communities impacted by war.
SAVE THE DATE Veteran Art Summit November 5 — 8, 2026
Triennial Exhibitions Fall 2026 - Winter 2027
A Revolution of Values at Elmhurst Art Museum
September 12, 2026 – January 3, 2027
Creative Rebellion at the Chicago Cultural Center
October 2, 2026 - March 7, 2027
Freedom Fighters at the Chicago Cultural Center
October 2, 2026 - October 3, 2027
Shifting Horizons at the Hyde Park Art Center
October 24, 2026 – April 18, 2027
War Abolition at Walls Turned Sideways
October 29, 2026 – February 25, 2027
Veteran Art Summit
November 5 – 8, 2026
From November 5th through 8th, in the days leading up to Veterans Day, the Veteran Art Summit will bring together featured artists for free public programs that deepen our understanding of war resistance while emphasizing relationship building and community care. The Summit will include a series of keynote performances at each hosting institution—Chicago Cultural Center, Elmhurst Art Museum, Hyde Park Art Center, Walls Turned Sideways—along with poetry readings, panel discussions, gallery tours, artmaking and movement workshops, and so much more.
In 1967 Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his searing “Beyond Vietnam” speech naming militarism, materialism, and racism as the “giant triplets” threatening American democracy. He called for nothing less than a “radical revolution of values.” Days later, Dr. King led an antiwar march to the United Nations where, for the first time, a group of Vietnam veterans gathered under the banner declaring “Vietnam Veterans Against the War.” Their act of public refusal inaugurated one of the most powerful anti-war organizations in US history, demonstrating that those trained for war could become some of its fiercest opponents.
Taking up this lineage, Resisting the Long War situates veteran art within broader antiwar, abolitionist, and decolonial movements and in alignment with the spectrum of artists actualizing Dr. King’s call for a radical revolution of values.
Curated by Aaron Hughes, Mohamed Mehdi, and Amber Zora. Curatorial advising by Ronak Kapadia, Meranda Roberts, and Nhung Walsh.
