The Block Museum is excited to announce the purchase of three works for its permanent collection, acquired through its newly formed Collection Council. These acquisitions—which include two works by photographer LaToya Ruby Frazier and one work by photographer An-My Lê—represent the museum’s commitment to acquiring works that activate teaching, learning, and research using The Block’s collection at Northwestern University.

“We are looking forward to sharing these works with faculty and students,” says Lisa Corrin, the Ellen Philips Katz Executive Director of The Block Museum. “They have the capacity to be integrated in curricula across the University, and to encourage reflection about what is at stake in our lives and in our relationships to one another.”

The two new works by Frazier are:
Zion holding a picture of Shea sipping water from her fresh water spring at age thirteen (1997), Jasper County, Newton Mississippi, 2017

and

Shea Cobb, Amber Hasan, and Her Children, Nieces, and Nephews (Zari, DJ, Jayden, Justin, Justace, Jaylen) and Their Friends Playing in the Water Moses West is Spraying From His Atmospheric Water Generator on North Saginaw Street Between East Marengo Avenue and East Pulaski Avenue, Flint, Michigan

These join the artists’ photograph A Message in Nestle Water Bottles from Shea Cobb, Amber Hasan, Macana Roxie and LaToya Ruby Frazier at Sussex Drive and West Pierson Road, Flint MI in The Block’s collection to complete a representation of the artist’s three-act series Flint is Family. The series is part of the artist’s focus on the ongoing environmental crisis in Flint, Michigan, documenting the lives of the city’s inhabitants.

LaToya Ruby Frazier, A Message in Nestle Water Bottles from Shea Cobb, Amber Hasan, Macana Roxie and LaToya Ruby Frazier at Sussex Drive and West Pierson Road, Flint, Michigan, from the series Flint Is Family, 2017. Gelatin silver print. Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, gift of Lynne Jacobs, 2018.5.

Also acquired by recommendation and donation from The Block’s Collection Council is An-My Lê’s large-form photograph Fragment IV: Family under the Presidio-Ojinaga-International Bridge, Texas/Mexico Border. A second work by An-My Lê—Marine Corps Weapons Company (I), Earthquake Relief, Grand Goave, Haiti—was also purchased with funding from The Block.

The Block’s Collection Council offers a collaborative opportunity to supporters of the museum, allowing donors to actively participate not only in the process of recommending new works for acquisition but also in the discussion and learning that informs it. Collection Council participants meet virtually to discuss acquisition recommendations under a guiding theme and participate in studio visits, gallery talks, and readings to enrich their decision-making. Their work is modeled after the annual Block Museum Student Associates’ acquisition process.

“The Collection Council is something that The Block has been wanting to do for a while—to have a way for our supporters who are really interested in growing our collection to have a specific initiative focused on this work,” Toftness says.

From an initial list of 43 artists, the Collection Council’s nine members attended three virtual studio visits with artists they were interested in, leading to the acquisition of works by LaToya Ruby Frazier and An-My Lê. Toftness added that the council’s virtual studio visits were enriching and essential in motivating the group to acquire not just one work by one artist, as planned, but three works by two artists. The group worked closely with The Block’s curatorial team in a way that emphasized the museum’s educational mission.  

“An interesting part of the group being virtual is that members are spread out across the country and even internationally,” Toftness says. “They’re able to see art that isn’t right at our fingertips, so they also introduced the work of artists  from wherever they are in the world.”

“Our pilot year for the Collection Council proved that the Block’s mission-oriented approach to collecting is resonating with our supporters,” Toftness says. “They saw the benefit to building on works already frequently used in teaching. In speaking with Frazier, we learned that her presence in our teaching collection was deeply meaningful for her too, especially in relationship to issues around water and environmental justice in our Great Lakes region.”

In her virtual studio visit with council members, Frazier emphasized the importance of her work being studied and considered in an academic setting, as well as its vitality within the Great Lakes region. Her photo A Message in Nestle Water Bottles from Shea Cobb, Amber Hasan, Macana Roxie and LaToya Ruby Frazier at Sussex Drive and West Pierson Road, Flint MI has been a frequent and powerful object of study for teaching within The Block that offers a prismatic lens through which to consider pressing issues of our time.

Similarly, The Block’s newly acquired works by An-My Lê speak to significant global issues combining formal beauty through large-format camera compositions with a deep consideration of the omnipresent impact of borders, imperialism, and colonialism.

“It was exciting to see the Collection Council build consensus around this particular work, which offers so many layers and ways to think about land and waterways, immigration, border politics, and more,” Toftness says. “Lê brings the weight of art history to her immersive compositions, and this is an impactful example for students to contend with.”

The new acquisitions enabled by the Collection Council offer the museum powerful educational resources, Corrin says. “The council has been motivated by an incredible commitment to Northwestern student learning and an understanding of the way contemporary artworks can become invaluable springboards for dialogue across fields of study. It has been an honor to work with the Council this year as they identified works and enabled acquisitions that will immediately be activated within Northwestern teaching and coursework.”