An exhibition from the Smithsonian American Art Museum is coming to the Weatherspoon Art Museum this Fall. “Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice” brings together artworks illustrating the lives and impact of cultural figures, civil rights advocates, and mid-century politicians and world leaders.

Additionally, the museum at UNC Greensboro will open for two Sundays this fall with programming to learn more about “Fighters for Freedom.” These special events bring an opportunity for the public to preserve snapshots from their personal history through the “Conversations in Black” exhibition, which draws from photographs submitted by community members for the initiative of the same name. 

An overview of the year will be at the annual Fall Open House on Sept. 25, 5–7 p.m. This chance to see both new and returning art is free with live music and light refreshments. 

With support from the Art Bridges Foundation, the Weatherspoon has partnered with many community collaborators: Creative Greensboro, Parks and Recreation, and the African American Atelier, as well as with UNCG colleagues in the African American and African Diaspora Studies program to create a slate of programming that responds to the themes of the exhibitions while encouraging new artistic expression from local artists.  

Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice 

Sept. 6 to Nov. 29 

“Fighters for Freedom” pays creative tribute to African-American activists, scientists, teachers, performers, and heads of state. Using a colorful palette and the addition of tiny buildings, flags, and vignettes, artist William H. Johnson captures a historic perspective with a message that the pursuit of freedom is an ongoing, interconnected struggle full of moments of both triumph and tragedy.

Born in Florence, South Carolina, a teenage Johnson left the Jim Crow South for New York City in 1901. He was accepted into the National Academy of Design, where he won most of the prizes the academy offered during his five years of study.

Left to right: William H. Johnson, Marian Anderson, about 1945. Oil on paperboard, 35 5/8 x 28 7/8 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum. Gift of the Harmon Foundation; 1967.59.657
William H. Johnson, Booker T. Washington Legend, about 1944-1945. Oil on plywood, 39 7/8 x 30 7/8 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum. Gift of the Harmon Foundation; 1967.59.664
William H. Johnson, Harriet Tubman, about 1945. Oil on paperboard, 28 7/8 x 23 3/8 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum. Gift of the Harmon Foundation; 1967.59.1146

He moved to Scandinavia where his style became influenced by European modernism. Upon his return to New York in 1938, he began painting African Americans in different scenarios: Southern sharecroppers, city hipsters, Black soldiers training for war, and religious events. “Fighters for Freedom” was Johnson’s last series painted in the mid-1940s.

“Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice” is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Generous support for this project is provided by Art Bridges. 

Conversations in Black 

Aug. 9 to Jan. 10, 2026 

Leading into the Fall 2025 semester, the Space for Engagement/Tannenbaum Gallery will feature photographs from “Conversations in Black,” a grant-funded collaborative initiative to collect and make accessible the rich history and contributions of African-American educators, lawyers, artists, doctors, teachers, and everyday Greensboro citizens.

The exhibition invites comparisons to the people and professions explored in “Fighters for Freedom,” highlighting local equivalents whose contributions have made a lasting impact on our community. 

“Conversations in Black” is in collaboration with UNCG University Libraries and Conversations in Black: African American History and Heritage, Greensboro, NC.

Pattern Recognition 

June 7 to Jan. 10, 2026 

This exhibition features artworks from the Weatherspoon’s collection in which artists explore the power of patterns, the ways in which they can provide both stability and activation, and how they can register both familiarity and surprise.

Pattern Recognition is the result of generous collaborations with UNCG’s Departments of Consumer, Apparel, and Retail Studies; Biology; Mathematics and Statistics; and the School of Dance.

Left to right: Steve Roden, “music into color and architecture” (4PK), 2004. Oil, beeswax, acrylic and ink on linen, 58 x 74 in. Weatherspoon Art Museum, UNC Greensboro. Gift of Geoffrey H. Wall in honor of Nancy Doll, Director of Weatherspoon Art Museum; 2012.22 © Estate of Steve Roden
Kate Gilmore, Wall Bearer, 2011. Digital print, 33 1/4 x 55 1/2 in. Weatherspoon Art Museum, UNC Greensboro. Gift of the artist; 2012.1. © Kate Gilmore

Making Connections: Art, Place, and Relationships

July 8 to Dec. 6 

This ongoing exhibit presents newly rotated works this fall, including drawings by Robert De Niro Sr., Jo Sandman, Sarah Stein, and Max Weber, as well as 19th-century ukiyo-e prints by Utagawa Hiroshige and Torii Kiyomitsu.

“Making Connections” demonstrates how the Weatherspoon has served as an academic museum with deep connections to and relationships with its campus, Greensboro, and broader communities for over eight decades.

COMING THIS SPRING

Of Salt and Spirit: Black Quilters in the American South 

In 2026, the Weatherspoon will open a new exhibit that surveys some of the vibrantly designed and richly varied quilt-making traditions maintained by Black women in the US South through the 20th century and into the present day. 

Organized by the Mississippi Museum of Art and curated by Dr. Sharbreon Plummer, it foregrounds the deliberate, complex practices of quilters who have cultivated networks of mutual support and preserved personal histories around and through their craft.

Harriet’s Powers 

In tandem with “Of Salt and Spirit,” the Weatherspoon will present a commissioned project by North Carolina artist Precious D. Lovell. Her installation will celebrate the life and artistry of Harriet Powers (1837–1910), considered by many to be the mother of the African-American story quilt tradition. 

Combining quilting, sculpture, collected historical objects, and sound, this artwork will provide visitors with an opportunity to expand their thinking about the legacies and futures of Black quilters through Lovell’s contemporary artistic response.

MORE TO COME AT THE WEATHERSPOON 

This fall, the museum’s central atrium will be dedicated the Warmath Commons. This gift from the Warmath family celebrates and advances more than 60 years of commitment to the museum and its mission, ensuring that it remains a welcoming space for exploration, connection, and community. 

Sarah Warmath and her late husband Jack were pivotal in shaping the Weatherspoon’s future as early supporters of the capital campaign for the Anne and Benjamin Cone Building, helping the museum grow from a campus gallery into the distinguished institution it is today.

Meet the New Fellow 

The Weatherspoon is excited to announce its third annual Margaret and Bill Benjamin Faculty Fellow for the new academic year. John Borchert, Ph.D. will join the museum team to explore the ways in which close study of physical artworks in the galleries can inform the creation of virtual worlds online. A scholar of digital humanities and game studies, Borchert serves as director of videogaming and esports studies at UNCG. 

He will convene gatherings of faculty from across disciplines to strategize how the collections and archives can be activated through real-time 3D technology in ways that support both traditional art history and contemporary design studies.

Story by Janet Imrick, University Communications
Photography by Sean Norona, University Communications; and courtesy of the Weatherspoon Art Museum and the Smithsonian American Art Museum