Art of Rebellion: Black Art of the Civil Rights Movement

Explore powerful artworks by African American artists who formed collectives during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. These collectives, made up of artists working together in distinct groups, created art specifically for African American audiences that asserted black identity and racial justice.

This exhibition includes 34 paintings, sculptures, installations and photographs produced by artists working both collectively and independently to address social and political issues surrounding the Civil Rights Movement and today. Situated within the story of these collectives is the Detroit rebellion of 1967.

The exhibition is organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts and is in collaboration with Detroit’s Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, which organized a complementary exhibition, Say it Loud: Art, History, Rebellion. Both are part of a community-wide reflection on the Detroit rebellion of 1967 that involves about 100 local institutions led by the Detroit Historical Society. The DIA exhibition has been generously supported by the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and the Whitney Fund.