Route 66 Exhibit Opens at Mother Road Market

A participatory art show built from public donations of Route 66 found objects is on view in Tulsa through December 11.

Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Fine Art

Flat graphic illustration of an unlettered highway shield emblem on a receding asphalt stripe under a crescent sun, in warm orange and turquoise tones. — The Route 66: Lost, Found Office, a participatory art exhibit marking the highway's centennial, opened Friday at Mother Road Market in Tulsa and runs through December 11. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Would you visit a local art exhibit featuring community-donated objects in your area?

The Route 66: Lost, Found Office, a participatory artwork exhibit marking the Route 66 centennial, launched Friday at Mother Road Market. The project invites the public to donate found objects related to the history of Route 66.

Why it matters

The exhibit gives Tulsa residents a hands-on way to engage with the history of Route 66, a highway that runs through the region. It also showcases work by University of Tulsa students who helped assemble the project.

The exhibit was assembled by University of Tulsa students in less than three months and opened November 6, 2026. It remains on view at Mother Road Market through December 11, and the number of donated objects has not been reported.

The players

Adam Rozan

Adam Rozan is the Senior Audience Development Lead at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and the creator of the Route 66: Lost, Found Office project.

University of Tulsa

The University of Tulsa is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma, whose students helped produce the exhibit.

The details

The Route 66: Lost, Found Office is a project by Adam Rozan, Senior Audience Development Lead at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. The exhibit is part of the J. Donald Feagin Visiting Artist Grant and was produced with four students from the ACE associates program leading an entire major.

Students assembled the exhibit in less than three months before launch.
The exhibit opened Friday, November 6, 2026, at Mother Road Market.
The exhibit closes at Mother Road Market on December 11, 2026.

Culture Shift

The exhibit extends the 2026 centennial of U.S. Route 66 into a participatory art format, inviting the public to contribute the artifacts that shape the highway's history. It reflects a broader move among museums and artists toward collecting community-sourced objects rather than only curated collections.

Visitors can see the exhibit in person at Mother Road Market through December 11. Residents can also consider donating a found object related to Route 66 history to the project.

The takeaway

Community-sourced exhibits like this one show how everyday objects can preserve regional history. Readers in Tulsa can visit before the December 11 closing to see what the public has contributed.