The Block Museum’s collection is a resource for looking closely, asking questions, and thinking with others. In a recorded talk presented with Northwestern’s Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement, three artworks open new ways to consider Vigil, George Saunders’s novel and the 2026–27 Campus Reading Program selection. The works do not illustrate the book. They bring […]
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Projecting the Future: Block Cinema at 25 celebrates a milestone with a year of special programs and new initiatives The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of its Block Cinema program with Projecting the Future: Block Cinema at 25, a year-long series exploring the evolving possibilities of the moving image. […]
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Two new audio stops on The Block Museum of Art’s Campus Art Walk invite visitors to look closely at outdoor sculptures by Jesús Moroles and Thomas Sternal. The new entries were researched, written, and recorded by 2025–26 Block Museum curatorial interns Muyang Chen (Anthropology and Art History ’26) and Aja Frazier (History and Asian Languages […]
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Artist: Sammy Baloji Title: Raccord #1: Cité de Kawama Date: 2012, printed 2015 Medium: Inkjet print Dimensions: 33 x 95 ½ x 2 in. Credit: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Block Collection Council Fund purchase, 2025.26. Image copyright of the artist. Sammy Baloji’s diptych Raccord numéro un (#1): Cité de Kawama, […]
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Artist: Vivian Maier (American, 1926–2009) Title: At the Balaban & Katz United Artists Theater, Chicago, IL Date: 1961, printed 2024 Dimensions: 12 x 12 in. (30 x 30 cm.) Credit: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Block Board of Advisors Endowment fund purchase, 2024.18.1 © 2026 Estate of Vivian Maier, Courtesy of […]
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Picturing the Modern Metropolis brings together more than 100 prints, photographs, and drawings from The Block’s collection The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University presents Picturing the Modern Metropolis: Prints and Photographs from The Block’s Collection, on view September 9 through December 6, 2026. Bringing together more than 100 works focused primarily on the […]
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Funding will advance the museum’s planning for more sustainable collection care and building operations The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University has received a $25,000 grant from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation through the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative, established in association with Environment & Culture Partners to catalyze climate action in the visual […]
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Artist: Cara Romero (Chemehuevi / American, born 1977) Title: Amber Morningstar, from the series First American Girl Date: 2022, printed 2024 Medium: Inkjet print, pigment-based Dimensions: 43 1/2 × 39 3/4 in. (110.5 × 101 cm) Credit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, 2023–2024 Block Museum Student Associates acquisition, purchase funds provided by Craig Ponzio […]
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The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University has named Ainsley M. Cameron, D.Phil. (Oxon.), as Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs, effective September 1, 2026. Cameron joins The Block from the Cincinnati Art Museum, where she most recently served as Director of Curatorial Affairs & Initiatives. As Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs, […]
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Artist: Jeremy Frey (Passamaquoddy, born 1978)Title: Untitled Date: 2023Medium: Unique relief print and embossment with handwoven Wabanaki basket on handmade Dieu Donné paperCredit: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University. Purchased from Karma Gallery, 2026. 2026.8. Centered on a cream-colored sheet of handmade paper is the blue-gray impression of a woven rectangle. The […]
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