The nation’s only sustained partnership between an academic art museum and an athletics program foregrounds student-athletes’ perspectives.
Northwestern opened the new Ryan Field on October 2, putting its athletics program in the national spotlight. As attention turns to the stadium and the competition ahead, student-athletes, coaches, and staff are engaging the collection of The Block Museum of Art to connect and reflect as a community.
This program, Reframe, an ongoing collaboration between The Block and Northwestern’s Department of Athletics and Recreation, is now entering its fourth academic year. The nation’s only sustained partnership between an academic art museum and a university athletics department, Reframe brings student-athletes, coaches, and staff together around works from The Block’s collection. Looking at art together gives them a way to discuss the expectations of their sport, how others see them, the identities they carry beyond the athletics, and shared experiences of leadership, teamwork, and vulnerability.
“Student-athletes must balance their commitments to academics and their teams. With the opening of the new stadium, there is the pressure of extra visibility and a desire to live up to an expectation of excellence,” said Lisa Corrin, The Block’s Ellen Philips Katz Executive Director. “We wanted to create space for them to talk about their experiences.”
Launched in the 2022–23 academic year, Reframe was developed with artist and former Northwestern football student-athlete Dwight White II ’16. Since then, The Block and Athletics have brought teams, coaches, and staff together around works from the museum’s collection. The partnership treats the museum as a resource for student development and gives art a role in conversations that can be difficult to begin in the usual settings of college athletics.
“For me, Reframe is an important pause. We are better athletes, we are better humans, we’re better people when we allow all parts of ourselves in at all times.”
Maria E. Sanchez, senior associate athletic director for strategic impact, leadership, and student engagement
This fall, the partnership has taken a public form in The Living Room at The Block. The Living Room is a drop-in space centered on one work of art at a time, where visitors can look closely and respond to questions alongside the artwork. More than 100 student-athletes, coaches, administrators, and campus partners helped shape the fall presentation, selecting four works from The Block’s collection, that speak to the lives of student-athletes. A group of 25 helped develop questions that bring their perspectives into conversation with those of other visitors.
- September 9–October 4: Omar Victor Diop, Juan de Pareja (2014). Diop portrays himself as Juan de Pareja, an artist who was enslaved in painter Diego Velázquez’s household, while holding a pair of soccer cleats. Athletics participants selected the photograph for its connections to excellence and vulnerability, the pressure of performance, and racism experienced by athletes.
- October 7–25: Cara Romero, Amber Morningstar (2022, printed 2024). Romero portrays artist and activist Amber Morningstar (Choctaw Nation/Chickasaw) inside a life-sized doll box, surrounded by objects Morningstar chose to express her identity. Athletics participants connected the photograph to the experiences of women and girls in sports and media, positive self-image, and the power to choose how one is represented.
- October 28–November 15: Kachelle Knowles, Old People Drink At The Bar, Young People Drink in The Streets (2024). Two young Black men sit together at ease in this work by the Bahamian artist. Athletics participants selected it for its expansive portrayal of masculinity and its attention to friendship and rest.
- November 18–December 13: Leonard Suryajaya, Perennial Blossom (2022). Thirteen Northwestern students appear in a group portrait, each choosing what to wear and hold to make aspects of their identity visible. Athletics participants saw a reflection of the student-athlete experience: belonging to a team while being more than one’s role within it.
“When students look closely at a work of art together, they can find words for experiences they might not otherwise share,” said Erin Northington, The Block’s Susan and Stephen Wilson Associate Director of Campus and Community Education and Engagement. “They also hear how someone else sees the work, which can change how they understand one another.”
The Living Room extends a conversation that began among Athletics participants to their peers and the wider community for shared dialogue. It makes visible a central idea of Reframe: a student-athlete can be known for what they do in competition and still have more to show, say, and discover.
Living Room collaborators
More than 100 members of the Northwestern community helped shape this fall’s presentation. The following 25 contributors are recognized in The Living Room.
Student-athletes
- Kenneth “Tre” Barrett ’28, human development in context, men’s soccer
- Anna Delgado ’27, radio/television/film, cross country and track
- Ava Earl ’25, political science, cross country and track; B1G Fellow, Northwestern Athletics and Recreation
- Andrew Johnson ’29, undeclared, men’s soccer
- Cyrus Mahjoob ’27, economics, men’s tennis
- Braden Turner ’26, sports administration, football
- Lily Wagner ’27, secondary teaching, volleyball
- Sammy White ’25, communications, women’s basketball and lacrosse
- Tona Zinn ’26, social policy, men’s swimming and diving
Coaches
- JR DeRose, assistant coach and director of player development, men’s soccer
- B.J. Futrell, assistant coach, wrestling
- Ellyse Hamlin, assistant coach, women’s tennis
- Maryn Lowry, assistant coach, cross country and track
- Joe Moulden, assistant coach, men’s soccer
Northwestern Athletics and Recreation staff
- Maggie Baumstark, B1G Fellow
- Janna Blais, chief administrative officer and senior woman administrator
- Philip Carpio, director of student-athlete development, King NU P.R.I.D.E.
- Shanna Esters, assistant director of career enhancement and employer relations, David G. Kabiller NU for Life Program
- Demetrius Fields, director of player engagement, football
- Maria E. Sanchez, senior associate athletic director for strategic impact, leadership, and student engagement
- Rebekah Sigman, assistant director of community relations
- Kate Smith, assistant athletic director for career enhancement and employer relations, David G. Kabiller NU for Life Program
- Rachel Velez, associate athletic director for human resources
Campus and alumni partners
- Michelle Manno, associate provost for community enrichment, Northwestern University
- Dwight White II ’16, artist and former Northwestern football student-athlete
The Living Room is free and open to the public at The Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston. Learn more about the fall presentation.
