The NAACP’s 1935 exhibition, “An Art Commentary on Lynching,” and its use in anti-lynching activism represents a critical but often overlooked moment in American art history. In March 2022, The Block Museum hosted a special conversation about this historical exhibition, the intersection of art and activism, and connections to A Site of Struggle and our community today. […]
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On May 26th, 2021 The Block Museum held a special conversation, “Considering Care and Community Through Art,” with Rikki Byrd, 2020-2021 Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellow and curator of the outdoor exhibition Behold, Be Held. In a year that has altered how we approach community, care and art, Byrd shared the challenges and creativity that shaped her curatorial process. […]
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Throughout this year The Block Museum of Art has welcomed the opportunity to meet virtually with groups and partners for conversations that explore objects from the Block’s collection. This Spring we have had the pleasure of hosting multiple close-looking and art discussions with the artists and educators of Arts of Life. Founded in 2000, Arts […]
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In Fall 2020, the Block’s Engagement Department was proud to continue its years-long history of collaboration with Evanston’s Y.O.U. (Youth & Opportunity United), a youth development agency that provides services and leadership to meet the emerging needs of young people and their families in our community. We partnered with the organization’s high school program The […]
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Earlier this month Block Museum staff had the pleasure of connecting with the Book Club of the Center for Aphasia Research & Treatment at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. Like us, this group has been reading the One Book One Northwestern selection Just Mercy. The club talked with Block staff about works in the museum collection that resonate with the text. […]
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On June 18, 2020, Sepehr Vakil, Assistant Professor of Learning Sciences, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University welcomed an online audience to an unique Block Cinema program shaped by a partnership between Northwestern and Evanston Township High School. “To say that these films are deeply and acutely relevant is to state the obvious…For […]
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In the heart of the South Side of Chicago, an 85-acre area abutting a railyard means different things to different people. For more than 400 African American families, it is home. For Norfolk Southern railroad company, it is space to expand its train-to-truck intermodal depot. The 2018 documentary The Area tells a story that’s well known […]
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William Blake recognized artmaking as a powerful tool to address the pressing social issues of his time. In this spirit, the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University invited guests to experience the exhibition “William Blake and the Age of Aquarius” and join Melissa Blount, Evanston-based artist and activist and creator of the Black Lives […]
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Evanston artist Melissa Blount was long drawn to the work of Gee’s Bend Quiltmakers, African-American women who, dating back to the early 20th century, have been making quilt masterpieces in a small, remote black community in Alabama, where most residents are descendants of slaves. With the Gee’s Bend quilters in mind, Blount decided to join an […]
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In May 2016 the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) released its field-wide survey of innovative art museum partnership practices Next Practices in Partnerships. The report is a compendium of 95 projects from AAMD’s membership demonstrating the many ways art museums work with different organizations and people to further their missions and benefit their communities. This is […]
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