The Resistance Is Not Dead is a newsletter headline that promised a comeback for democracy itself, and what it delivered instead was a round-up of art-world news, including a satirical courtroom drawing from the McCarthy era. The juxtaposition is a bit odd, and the newsletter leans into it, bundling the announcement of a nationwide pro-democracy art and activism group alongside a museum expansion, a residency change, and a puppet that mocked the president at a Seattle protest.
Fall of Freedom Comes Back
The newsletter opens with the announcement that Fall of Freedom, a nationwide pro-democracy art and activism group, is returning for another round just in time for the midterm election. The group is anchoring its second year with hundreds of events across the United States this weekend.
Alice Neel’s McCarthy-Era Drawings Head to Auction
Also in the mix is a timely cultural artifact: two of Alice Neel’s satirical courtroom drawings, which depict one of the highly publicized trials of the McCarthy era, are headed to auction. The drawings are described as satirical, and the trial they document was part of the era’s notorious hearings.
Max Bond Jr. Gets His Due
Brian Goldstein writes about Max Bond Jr., the unsung Black architect who was instrumental in the creation and design of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Bond has been overshadowed by starchitect David Adjaye, according to the piece. The story is titled “The Overlooked Black Architect Who Shaped a Landmark Smithsonian Museum.”
The Other News Items
The newsletter rounds up other items in its usual format:
- Art Movements: Cyra Levenson leads the Yaddo Artist Residency, Ann Temkins steps down at MoMA, Rose B. Simpson wins the Santa Fe Mayor’s award, Roy Lichtenstein x Alex Da Corte, and more.
- The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford partners with the Samdani Art Foundation to spotlight Bangladeshi art.
- The Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires is doubling its space with a newly announced expansion by Mexican architect Frida Escobedo, who is also designing The Met’s forthcoming contemporary wing.
Cosmo Whyte’s Return to Michigan
The newsletter also highlights a new exhibition by Cosmo Whyte, a Stamps School of Art & Design alumnus, at the Stamps Gallery at the University of Michigan. The show explores memory, migration, and who shapes history through drawing, sculpture, and installation. It runs through December 12, 2026.
The Trump Puppet Moment
One of the newsletter’s lighter items is a brief note about a Trump puppet that stole the show at a recent Seattle protest, vividly illustrating exactly where the president’s head is these days.
Reading Between the Lines
The newsletter is doing what newsletters do: telling readers what’s happening in the art world this week. The McCarthy-era drawings and the puppet moment are entertaining, but they aren’t really about the resistance. They’re just items to file.
The Max Bond Jr. story is the one with substance. Bond’s role in the museum’s creation has been overshadowed, and the piece aims to correct that record. That’s the closest the newsletter comes to delivering on its headline.
What the Newsletter Actually Is
The newsletter is a digest of news, opportunities, and events curated by Hyperallergic, the arts and culture website. Its editor-in-chief, Hakim Bishara, edited the issue. The headline’s promise of a democratic revival is a rhetorical device that lands as a joke, since the actual content is a standard roundup.
Key Facts Box
- Fall of Freedom: hundreds of events across the U.S. this weekend
- Alice Neel drawings: two satirical courtroom works from the McCarthy era, headed to auction
- Max Bond Jr.: architect of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Cosmo Whyte: exhibition at Stamps Gallery, University of Michigan, runs through December 12, 2026
The newsletter is doing its job. It’s just not the job its headline promised. The headline is a tease that doesn’t pay off. The resistance isn’t dead, but the newsletter doesn’t actually tell you what the resistance is doing. It tells you that a pro-democracy group exists and that a satirical drawing from the 1950s is being sold. That’s a weird combination, and the newsletter seems to know it.
Source material: “The Resistance Is Not Dead,” Hyperallergic.
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