Cold War to the Cosmos: Distant Early Warning Systems and the Arctic examines the Arctic’s strategic importance during the Cold War and underscores ways the era fueled global tensions around technology, free expression, and the limits of human progress. As the U.S. and Soviet Union pushed technological boundaries, from missile detection systems to moon landings, the world lived under the constant shadow of nuclear fear, grappling with the promises and perils of the Atomic Age.

At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. championed Abstract Expressionism and jazz as cultural propaganda to showcase the creative potential of a free society. Artistic innovation became both a personal statement and a geopolitical tool, reinforcing the value of free expression on a global stage.

This exhibition revisits the legacy of the Cold War through works by Abstract Expressionists like Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning, demonstrating the power of individual expression in an era defined by ideological conflict. Amid new space races and evolving global conflicts today, Cold War to the Cosmos: Distant Early Warning Systems and the Arctic exemplifies the vital role of artists who continue to shape our understanding of the cosmos and our place within it.