Starting Wednesday, July 15, Gulf War veteran Ehren Tool will set up shop inside the Elmhurst Art Museum and begin making ceramic cups — hundreds of them — while visitors watch.

Tool, a former Marine who earned his MFA from UC Berkeley in 2005, has made and given away more than 27,000 cups over his career. Each one draws on his military experience and what the museum describes as the tensions between military and civilian life. His two-week residency, running through Wednesday, July 30, previews a larger exhibition opening this fall.

That exhibition, "A Revolution of Values," is the Elmhurst Art Museum's contribution to "Resisting the Long War," the 2026 Veteran Art Triennial and Summit. The triennial, now in its third iteration after events in 2019 and 2023, is organized by the Chicago-based Veteran Art Movement and curated by Aaron Hughes, Mohamed Mehdi, and Amber Zora.

The Elmhurst museum at 150 S. Cottage Hill Ave. is one of four venues. The others are the Chicago Cultural Center, the Hyde Park Art Center, and Walls Turned Sideways.

"A Revolution of Values" opens Saturday, September 12, and runs through Saturday, January 3, 2027. According to the museum, the show features "veteran artists who have turned away from militarism and toward solidarity." It spans ceramics, sculpture, papermaking, printmaking, photography, poetry, and video.

Featured artists include Drew Cameron, Brittney Chantele, Rodney Ewing, Eric J. Garcia, GOODW.Y.N., Gina Herrera, Nathan Lewis, and Gerald E. Sheffield II, along with archival materials from Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Iraq Veterans Against the War. The full artist roster had not been announced as of Sunday, July 6.

The triennial's thematic anchor is Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1967 "Beyond Vietnam" speech, in which he named militarism, materialism, and racism as "giant triplets" threatening American democracy and called for a "radical revolution of values."

The exhibition is supported in part by Explore Elmhurst and the DEMIL Art Fund, which provides veteran artists with $5,000 grants. The Elmhurst Art Museum is also a Blue Star Museum, offering free admission to active-duty military families.

A Veteran Art Summit running Thursday, November 5, through Sunday, November 8, will bring featured artists to all four venues for free keynote performances, poetry readings, panel discussions, gallery tours, and workshops.

Tool's residency includes a special one-day workshop on Tuesday, July 22, with tickets available through the museum's online shop.

Admission is $18 for adults, $15 for seniors, $10 for students, and $5 for children. The museum offers free admission on Friday, July 10, and Friday, August 7.

Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday. The museum is closed Monday and Tuesday.