In Spring 2023 The Block opened The Living Image of Sound: Notes on Jazz and Protest at Northwestern a concise exhibition exploring the intersections of visual art, music, and student-led social justice movements during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The exhibition features artwork and ephemera related to the trailblazing poet and musician Sun Ra and […]
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In February 2023 Princeton University Press reached out to a few of its authors with a question. What do you find is commonly misunderstood about Blackness in America? Janet Dees, The Block’s Steven and Lisa Munster Tananbaum Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, and editor of A Site of Struggle: American Art against Anti-Black Violence, […]
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From her work in the 1970s as the Creative Director for NASA’s Voyager Interstellar Messaging Project to her current role as writer and producer of the beloved television series Cosmos, Ann Druyan has devoted her life to expanding the horizons of human empathy and communication. In insisting that the thresholds of cosmic exploration must be approached […]
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In Spring 2023, The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University is excited to announce an ongoing digital partnership with Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app. The museum’s free mobile guide offers digital access to The Block’s work, including voices from artists, curators, and students. Through the Block Museum digital guide users can […]
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Through our desire to connect and pride in celebrating who we are, we also develop the skills to face the world, We are better humans when we celebrate one another’s specificities… – Leonard Suryajaya, Block Museum of Art (October 2021) Throughout the Fall of 2022, a special artwork hung in The Block’s collection gallery. The […]
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On Saturday, February 25, Block Museum Student Associates were invited to take part in the Art Institute’s annual University Partner Fest, a daylong even where students from the museum’s partner institutions are invited to explore the galleries, meet their peers, and learn from faculty and museum professionals across institutions. As part of the Fest student […]
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Damien Chazelle’s meticulously-realized film First Man (2018) follows astronaut Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) and wife Janet (Claire Foy) on the long and difficult path that led from the death of their daughter Karen in 1962 to his 1969 moon landing. While FIRST MAN has no shortage of thrilling astronautical sequences, Chazelle is less interested in […]
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In late 2022 The Block was thrilled to welcome Liz Rudnick as Assistant Registrar. In the role, Liz assists Exhibitions and Collections department on all registration aspects of the permanent collection and exhibitions including transportation, packing, and general care for works of art. She is happy to connect with student and faculty researchers on subjects […]
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The breathtaking images produced by the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes are no ordinary snapshots. To produce these sublime cosmic vistas, astronomers filter raw data into colors and configurations that guide the viewer’s understanding, making creative decisions in the service of scientific communication. In this dialogue on “interstellar aesthetics,” artist Dario Robleto was joined by […]
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Throughout 2022-23 a series of talks considers works from the Block’s collection that reckon with the history of slavery, white supremacy, symbols of nationhood, and social inequity. This series is held in connection with 2022–23 One Book One Northwestern selection “How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America” by Clint Smith. In […]
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