One Book One Northwestern (OBON) is a university‐wide reading program that aims to engage the campus in a common conversation centered on a carefully chosen, thought-provoking book. The Block is proud to partner annually with One Book to explore the themes of this shared text, selecting artworks from the museum collection that can broaden discussions. The […]
Read moreCollection Talk: untitled photograph of the Lincoln Memorial, ca.1960s [Video]
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 […]
Read moreParting Gift: Artist Leonard Suryajaya unveils photographic collaboration with Block Museum students
per·en·ni·al /pəˈrenēəl/: Enduring or continually recurring On June 13, 2022 – Northwestern’s 164th Commencement Day – The Block Museum of Art is thrilled to unveil an original artwork created for the museum’s collection by Chicago-based contemporary artist Leonard Suryajaya in collaboration with the 2021-2022 Block Museum of Art Student Associates. The large-scale photograph Perennial Blossom, […]
Read moreCollection Talk: Will Wilson “Shiprock Disposal Cell, Shiprock, New Mexico, Navajo Nation” (2020) [Video]
Throughout 2020-21 The Block Museum is reflecting on artworks from the collection that explore ideas of excess, consumption, and the environment, and offer an interdisciplinary perspective on the climate crisis. Our project is inspired by The Story of More by Hope Jahren, Northwestern University’s 2021-2022 One Book One Northwestern (OBON) selection. In this online talk, Lois Taylor Biggs, […]
Read moreCollection Talk: Henry Simon “Industrial Frankenstein” (1932) [Video]
Throughout 2020-21 The Block Museum is reflecting on artworks from the collection that explore ideas of excess, consumption, and the environment, and offer an interdisciplinary perspective on the climate crisis. Our project is inspired by The Story of More by Hope Jahren, Northwestern University’s 2021-2022 One Book One Northwestern (OBON) selection. This online talk by Melanie Garcia Sympson, […]
Read moreWho Says? Student Associates respond to the Block Collection
What stands out to you? What do you wonder? The Block Museum Student Associates spent Fall 2021 considering works in the museum’s collection that were on view as part of the exhibition Who Says, Who Shows, What Counts: Thinking about History with The Block’s Collection. While their own work this season involved tours, research, and […]
Read moreCollection Talk: W. Eugene Smith “Robert Slocombe, Monsanto Chemical Co” (1953) [Video]
Throughout 2020-21 The Block Museum is reflecting on artworks from the collection that explore ideas of excess, consumption, and the environment, and offer an interdisciplinary perspective on the climate crisis. Our project is inspired by The Story of More by Hope Jahren, Northwestern University’s 2021-2022 One Book One Northwestern (OBON) selection. This online talk by […]
Read moreCollection Spotlight: Mexican Street Scene, Miguel Covarrubias
Artist: Miguel Covarrubias (Mexican, 1904–1957)Title: Mexican Street SceneDate: ca. 1940Medium: Lithograph on paperDimensions: 12.7 x 10 inCredit line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Gift of Anthony and Carolyn Donato, 1997.16 Artist Miguel Covarrubias, who worked also as a writer, curator, and anthropologist, was born and raised in Mexico City. He first moved […]
Read moreDocent team selects Leonard Suryajaya’s Quarantine Blues as 2021 Block Museum Student Acquisition
The Block is proud to announce that its undergraduate Student Docent team has made the formal recommendation to Block Museum director Lisa Corrin for the acquisition of Quarantine Blues (2020), a photograph by Chicago-based artist Leonard Suryajaya from his series of the same name. The recommendation comes after an intensive 7-week selection process by the […]
Read more“One must make decisions”: Rory Tsapayi on Romare Bearden, Laura Letinsky and artistic intention
How do artworks talk to us… and to one another? And how can we learn to talk back? Northwestern undergraduates in The Block Museum Student Docent Program considered these questions in a unique lunchtime Art Talks! series, pairing two works from the museum collection that have something to say to one another (and to us.) In Winter 2021 , […]
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