HMAAC Presents From Stono to Now: The Fire This Time
From Stono to Now: The Fire This Time
Black Resistance in American Art, 1739–Present
On View February 6 – March 21, 2026
The Houston Museum of African American Culture presents From Stono to Now: The Fire This Time — Black Resistance in American Art, 1739–Present, a landmark traveling exhibition examining nearly three centuries of Black resistance as expressed through visual art. On view February 6 through March 21, 2026, the exhibition offers a powerful meditation on rebellion, survival, and creative defiance as foundational forces in American history and culture.
“Black resistance is not a moment—it is a continuum. This exhibition honors the artists who have carried that fire forward.” — Najee Dorsey
Curated by artist and cultural historian Najee Dorsey, the exhibition takes its name and conceptual grounding from the 1739 Stono Rebellion, one of the earliest and most significant organized uprisings of enslaved Africans in colonial America. From this pivotal moment, the exhibition traces a continuum of resistance—spanning slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, the Civil Rights era, and into the present day—revealing how artists have consistently used visual language as a tool of protest, remembrance, and reclamation.
Through printmaking, painting, collage, and mixed media, From Stono to Now brings together works by contemporary artists whose practices confront power, document injustice, and assert Black humanity. Rather than positioning resistance as episodic or reactionary, the exhibition reframes it as a sustained cultural practice, passed from generation to generation and embedded within Black artistic expression.
As both historical reflection and urgent contemporary statement, From Stono to Now invites viewers to consider how acts of rebellion—both visible and subtle—have shaped American democracy, culture, and artistic production. The exhibition underscores art’s enduring role as witness, archive, and catalyst for change.
The Houston presentation will be accompanied by public programming, including artist talks and conversations designed to deepen engagement with the exhibition’s themes of memory, resistance, and cultural legacy.
Exhibition Details
Dates: February 6 – March 21, 2026
Venue: Houston Museum of African American Culture
Location: 4807 Caroline St, Houston, TX 77004
Admission & Hours: Visit the museum’s website for details
Featured artwork: Infinite 8, Simone & Baldwin by Derrick Phillips
