Throughout 2022-23, a series of talks consider works from The Block’s collection that reckon with the history of slavery, white supremacy, symbols of nationhood, and social inequity. This online talk was held in connection with 2022–23 One Book One Northwestern (OBON) selection How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across […]
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How can funding models and grant-writing processes be more equitable and inclusive? At The Block, collaborators Kate Hadley Toftness and Lois Taylor Biggs (Cherokee Nation and White Earth Ojibwe) are challenging traditional approaches to fundraising with practices informed by Indigenous practices of collaboration, reciprocity, and sustained dialogue. In the below essay, originally published on the American […]
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As part of her 2023 Block Curatorial Internship Vitoria Monteiro de Carvalho Faria conducted original research within the museum collection. Her investigation into the visual and thematic connections between two prints resulted in an installation in the Block’s conference space. Faria shares the intriguing alignment she curated at the museum. Although separated by 150 years, […]
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Artist: Hussein Madi (Lebanese, born 1938)Title: The Arabic Alphabet portfolioDate: 1973Medium: 30 etchings on cotton paperDimensions: Each 30 x 24.4 cmCredit line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, gift of Sami Khalifé, M.D. As part of his varied practice, artist Hussein Madi has explored Arabic letters, words, and calligraphy. In The Arabic Alphabet (1973), a portfolio of thirty […]
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The Block is excited to celebrate Rowan McCloskey (Dance and Political Science ’25), a member of the Block Museum Student Associate cohort, who has been named one of the 2023 Northwestern University Student Employees of the Year. This program of the Federal Work-Study Office acknowledges the significant contributions made by students and emphasizes the importance […]
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The Block’s Eloise W. Martin Study Center (EMSC) is a classroom inside the museum that offers an intimate setting for the study and use of artwork in The Block’s collection. Katy Kim (Art History and Political Science ’23) reflects on her experience setting up a private visit to one of Northwestern’s most unique research centers. […]
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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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