Niki Johnson: Pillars of Democracy

July 1 – August 15, 2026

The Contemporary Dayton is proud to present Niki Johnson: Pillars of Democracy, a series of four large-scale collaged portraits envisioning Liberty, Justice, Freedom, and Forward as first-time voters from Milwaukee. Set across Wisconsin landscapes at dawn, midday, dusk, and night, the works reflect how democratic values are lived, protected, and renewed at the local level.

Constructed from discarded stencil paper and leftover spray paint collected during the 2020 installation of Shepard Fairey’s Voting Rights Are Human Rights mural, the series bridges more than a century of voting rights activism through both material and design. Inspired in part by Bertha Boyd’s 1911 suffrage poster Votes for Women, the works foreground the central role of women in democracy, from early suffragists to first-time voters today, uniting generations through civic participation and creative resistance.

Built collaboratively over ten months with the support of Milwaukee artists and community volunteers, Pillars of Democracy reminds us that democracy is not abstract, but rather something we actively build, sustain, and strengthen through everyday acts of participation, dialogue, and collective care.

Presented during The Contemporary Dayton’s 35th anniversary season, the exhibition reflects our ongoing commitment to freedom of expression and to creating space for artistic inquiry, civic engagement, and public dialogue.

Johnson is a Milwaukee-based artist, curator, and Executive Director of the Forward Art Initiative. She earned her BFA from the University of Memphis and her MA/MFA in Studio Art from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her work is included in the collection of the Dayton Art Institute and has been reviewed in publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, Hyperallergic, and Vice Magazine.