Resistance rendered
Student art moves beyond the frame — inviting viewers into a vivid, immersive dialogue on justice and dissent.
From the second floor of Keller Hall, a cascade of fabric unfurled down the stairwell, pooling onto the floor below. Printed with bold text and layered imagery, the art installation looked as if it was in motion. Color and scattered paper butterflies punctuated the piece, drawing the eye along its length and into its message: NOT FOR SALE.
At the University of Dayton Human Rights Center, creativity and advocacy converged during the Social Practice of Human Rights 2026 conference in early April. This year’s theme, “Creative Resistance – Artivism, Technology and the Right to Dissent,” transformed the atrium into a space where art didn’t just hang — it moved, it draped, it demanded attention.
“I am so proud that we have made something beautiful together about a topic we all are so passionate about,” said Bailey Johnson, a graphic design senior who helped create a collaborative piece with several other design students.
Their piece, “Dignity is Non-Negotiable,” stretched across the windows outside the Human Rights Center on Keller Hall’s second floor. Johnson said the group drew inspiration from the phrase as a response to those who deny members of the LGBTQ+ community respect, basic human rights and the freedom to live peacefully.
“We are extremely grateful to be students at a university that encourages us to use our voices for good,” Johnson said.
Other installations throughout the atrium tackled topics including immigration, human trafficking, gun violence, the right to protest and healthcare, turning the space into a chorus of visual protest.
And even as students walked to class passing between floors — up the stairs, along the railings, beneath the suspended fabric — the work refused to stay contained, reminding viewers that these messages, like the installation itself, are not meant to be neatly held in place.
Photographs by (top) Jacob Feucht ’26, (bottom) Julia Daschbach ’26 and Maggie Endres ’26
A version of this article appears in print in the Summer 2026 University of Dayton Magazine, Page 5. EXPLORE THE ISSUE — MORE ONLINE