Current Exhibition

THE HOODIE:
Identity, Power, Protest

Simple in form, universal in closets, and endlessly adaptable, the hoodie is a staple of modern dress. But it’s far more than just a sweatshirt. The hoodie is a lightning rod — a garment charged with cultural meaning, entangled with fear, power, resistance, and identity.

Depending on who wears it and where, a hoodie can signal danger or safety, anonymity or rebellion, belonging or exclusion. It has been worn by skaters, students, athletes, designers, protesters, and presidents. Each appearance raises provocative questions: Who gets to wear a hoodie without consequence? What does a hood conceal — and what does it reveal?

The hoodie also asks deeper questions: How are these meanings prescribed? Who defines what a hoodie means — and who resists those definitions? Is the hoodie a blank slate, a projection, or a site on which we design our own identity?

As you move through the exhibition, we invite you to consider your own relationship to the hoodie. What do you see when you look at this garment—and what might others see? What does it mean to wear a hoodie today? And what story does it tell when you put one on?

Featuring a monumental sculpture by Billie Grace Lynn and Hoodies by: