Small Talk was a free, focus exhibition that considers how contemporary artists employed language and text through themes of pop culture and word play, and techniques of assemblage and collage.

Whether text is the image itself or is assembled from different sources, it can reveal more than the letters themselves. Similarly, words used in popular culture to describe music, sports, and other categories can take on new meanings when seen from a different perspective. Visitors could see how artists such as Kay Rosen, Robert Rauschenberg, Jeffrey Gibson, Cheryl Pope, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, and more played with text and image to reveal hidden meaning and consider the power of language.