This year marks the 50th anniversary of 1968, a notable twelve months of worldwide political upheaval and burgeoning social movements. Through six distinct gallery installations and a number of rarely seen objects from the permanent collection, Sheldon explores the politics of activism, cultural experimentation, and artistic production of the late 1960s.

The permanent collection galleries feature:

• Rock posters that promoted shows at the two major venues in San Francisco between 1966 and 1968;
• Photography by Josef Sudek, known as "the poet of Prague" for the lyrical qualities of his images;
• Works selected by guest curator Bridget R. Cooks to present visions of life at the crossroads of the modern Civil Rights Movement;
• A unified portfolio, with contributions from sixteen visual artists and eighteen poets, published as Artists and Writers Protest Against the War in Viet Nam;
• Paintings, sculpture, drawings, and prints by artists who exhibited together as the Hairy Who, Nonplussed Some, and False Image and are now grouped under the name Chicago Imagists; 
• Works by artists included in the 1968 Venice Biennale's United States Pavilion, organized by Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery (today Sheldon Museum of Art) and its founding director, Norman Geske.