interview – Stories From The Block

Meet Isabella Ko, Engagement Coordinator

Early in 2022 The Block welcomed Isabella Ko (WCAS BA ’20) back to The Block as our Engagement Coordinator. We were thrilled to work with Isabella in a new professional capacity, after her contributions to the museum as an intern and a docent during her time as a Northwestern undergraduate. We sat down with her […]

Block Cinema

The Joy and Chaos of Collectivity: Penny Allen in Conversation [Video]

In November 2021, Block Cinema screened Property (1978) by filmmaker Penny Allen. In Property, Penny Allen turns her lens to the eccentric residents of a bohemian neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. The film, a critically under-seen gem of 1970s independent filmmaking, delivers an economic critique of urban renewal to warm, satirical effect. Property revels in the joy and […]

Art, Access, and Agency: Melanie Garcia Sympson talks with Gallery Systems about The Block’s online collection

Interview reprinted with permission from Gallery Systems – View original. Northwestern University’s The Block Museum of Art is placing a stronger focus on its digital initiatives in a resounding response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a teaching and learning museum, the institution is upholding its mission statement of “presenting art across time, cultures, and media” by pursuing […]

Block Cinema

“A workshop focused on issues that mattered”: A Conversation with Retake Film and Video Collective co-founder Ahmed Alauddin Jamal [Video]

This groundbreaking drama Majdhar (1984) was among the first to bring the inner lives and struggles of South Asian communities to popular audiences in the UK. On January 28, 2021 Block Cinema was proud to host a screening of the film followed by a discussion with Ahmed Alauddin Jamal, the co-founder of the legendary Retake […]

Block Cinema

“Art is between us”: Mania Akbari on capturing poetry, collaboration, and transformation on film [Audio]

At age 30, Iranian filmmaker Mania Akbari was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy. A Moon For My Father (2019), an essay film made in collaboration with her partner, the British sculptor Douglas White, positions Akbari’s illness within layers of personal and national history. Rich in texture and astonishingly intimate, Akbari’s film […]

Partnerships, Programs & Events

Wattz Up! Yollocalli’s Pop Up Youth Radio broadcasts from The Block Museum

On September 28, 2019 members of Pop Up Youth Radio, a project of Yollocalli Arts Reach, transformed The Block Museum lobby into an on-air studio, broadcasting live from the Pop America 1965-1975 exhibition opening. Wattz Up! is a weekly radio show on WLPN 105.5 FM Lumpen Radio. Broadcast live from Studio Y in Little Village, Chicago on Saturdays from […]

Exhibition Stories, Global Perspectives

Inside Pop América: Corinne Granof on what makes the exhibition “pop”

The exhibition Pop América, 1965–1975 brings together artists from across the Americas to reframe our understanding of Pop Art. Pop América is the first exhibition to unify Latin American and Latinx expressions of Pop and explore how its bold, colorful imagery and political potential was embraced by artists working across the hemisphere. Corinne Granof, Block Museum Academic […]

Artist Collaborations

Art + Engineering: Dario Robleto on the shared quest of art and science [Video]

Dario Robleto is a transdisciplinary artist, storyteller, and “citizen-scientist” whose research-driven practice results in intricately handcrafted objects that reflect his exploration of music, popular culture, science, war, and American history. Since 1997, Robleto has exhibited his work in museums and galleries across the United States, including at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of […]