Originating at Northwestern University’s Block Museum of Art, A Site of Struggle: American Art against Anti-Black Violence explores how artists have engaged with the reality of anti-Black violence and its accompanying challenges of representation in the United States over a 100 + year period. In conjunction with this exhibition, a national group of curators, educators, and scholars convened […]
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The Getty Research Institute (GRI) has announced Block Museum Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs, Kathleen Bickford Berzock among 43 scholars who were awarded residencies through the annual Scholars Program. “These scholars, chosen from a highly competitive pool of applicants, bring a range of expertise and interesting topics – from 7th-century Japanese Buddhist calligraphy to contemporary […]
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In Summer 2020, The Block Museum of Art is thrilled to be among Chicago arts and cultural organizations partnering with the Northwestern Chicago Humanities Initiative (CHI). The CHI program prepares the next generation of humanities scholars to develop community partnerships, reach diverse audiences, and become powerful civic leaders. Through an eight-week internship with an arts, […]
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In April 2020 the Association of Art Museum Curators announced the Block Museum exhibition publication Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa as a recipient of the 2020 Award for Excellence. The annual, peer-juried award recognizes curators from around the country for groundbreaking projects that have advanced new […]
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Northwestern students share their “Progressive” vision for museum exhibition On February 14th, 2020, Northwestern University students Meghan Clare Considine, Emily Rose Andrey, Nicholas Liou, and Brianna Heath presented their ongoing research in a poster session at 108th College Art Association Annual Conference. Their poster “Caravans of Gold: Making a Progressive Web App Exhibition on Medieval […]
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Title: Peasant Couple DancingArtist: Sebald Beham (German, 1500–50)Year: 1522Medium: Engraving on paperDimensions: 3 1/4 in x 2 inCredit: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, The Norman H. and Marie Louise Pritchard Collection,1985.2.99 In an image that is only the size of a couple of postage stamps, the sixteenth-century artist Sebald Beham creates […]
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On October 10, 2019 Block Cinema joined with Northwestern’s MA in Sound Arts and Industries to welcome Academy-Award-Winning Sound Designer Gary Rydstrom for a discussion of David ‘s Lynch’s 1980 classic The Elephant Man. Although noted for its evocative black and white cinematography and for John Hurt’s sensitive and powerful performance as Merrick, the film’s […]
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In September 2019 the Block Museum welcomed Simran Bhalla as a 2019-2020 graduate fellow. Block Museum Graduate Fellowships are offered to two graduate students annually, one from Art History and one from any department within the Graduate School. Graduate Fellows are integral members of the museum staff and support projects through exhibition and collection research, curating, writing […]
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The ground-breaking exhibition Pop América draws attention to Latin American and US Latino/a artists who turned the “Pop” of Pop art into a verb by using familiar images of modern life—including mass media, fashion, food, and advertising—to make forceful interventions into art and society. On October 2, 2019 The Block Museum welcomed Esther Gabara, curator of Pop América, […]
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Gold is one of the rarest and most malleable minerals, qualities that have contributed to its enduring value across time and place. Gold has been shaped by artists; its extraction has altered landscapes, and its discovery has raised nations. The allure of gold is entwined with culture and economies, politics and religion, power and value. […]
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