UAB's Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, AEIVA

08/27/2026

🎨 Birmingham, come celebrate the arts with us on Sept. 18 for our annual Arts Block Party!

Whether you're an artist, art lover, student, or neighbor, there's something for everyone. Join us for an evening of exhibitions, live music, local vendors, family-friendly activities, and creative community.

✨ Free and open to the public. We can't wait to celebrate with you.

🎨 FREE BLOCK PARTY IN BHAM: Two-time Grammy winner Terrance Simien headlines this free outdoor concert on Sept. 18 — plus local food trucks, art vendors, interactive crafts and gallery tours, all in one night downtown. 👇 NowPartner

08/27/2026

08/03/2026

The Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts (AEIVA) congratulates our Director, John Fields, on his appointment as Managing Director of the Jordan Schnitzer Arts Program for the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation in Portland, Oregon.

After fifteen years at UAB, John will conclude his tenure at AEIVA later this month to begin this exciting new chapter.

Since joining UAB in 2011, John has helped shape AEIVA into a nationally recognized university art museum. As the inaugural Lydia Cheney and Jim Sokol Endowed Director, he oversaw the addition of approximately 1,000 works of art to the museum's permanent collection, organized more than 100 exhibitions, strengthened partnerships with artists and institutions across the country, and championed innovative exhibitions, public programs, and educational initiatives that have connected thousands of visitors with contemporary art.

John's leadership has left a lasting mark on AEIVA, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Birmingham's cultural community. While we will greatly miss his vision, passion, and friendship, we are incredibly proud to see him take on this important national leadership role.

Please join us in thanking John for his years of service and in wishing him and Jennifer all the best as they begin this exciting new adventure in Portland.

Congratulations, John! We can't wait to see what comes next.

08/03/2026

Science Night is BACK at AEIVA!

Join us every Tuesday in August at 5:30pm for 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗵𝗮𝗺 𝗭𝗼𝗼 (Birmingham Zoo). Come learn how art and the natural sciences intersect while creating your own works of art to take home inspired by Erin Jane Nelson’s exhibition, 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Free and open to the public! All ages welcome.

𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟰: Clay and Memory with Pinchpots

𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟭𝟭: The Invisible World with Watercolors

𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟭𝟴: Recycling and Reusing Materials in Nature

𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟮𝟱: Pollinators and Seedpods

08/01/2026

Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp was just named a UNESCO World Heritage Site! 🌿

This exceptionally biodiverse freshwater ecosystem with peat beds preserving a 5,000-year climate record is one of the sites artist Erin Jane Nelson frequented while making several of the works in her current exhibition.

Erin Jane Nelson: 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 will be up at AEIVA through September 26. Stop by Tu-Sa, 12-5pm and visit our website uab.edu/aeiva/events for more information on upcoming programs, including:

🔎 Science Night
🗓️ Tuesdays in August

🐊 Film Screening: 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 (2018)
🗓️ September 17, 5:30pm

Museum entry and all programs are free and open to the public.

Photos: Beau Gustafson and Eric Gray

UAB Center for the Arts Erin Jane Nelson

07/02/2026

AEIVA will be closed July 3 & 4 for Independence Day. We will resume regular hours on Tuesday, July 7.

Enjoy the holiday!

06/17/2026

Join us Tuesday, July 7 for a pinhole photography workshop inspired by AEIVA’s current exhibition, Erin Jane Nelson: 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨! Led by UAB professor Jillian Browning (Jillian), this free, 3-hour workshop welcomes artists, curious beginners, and adults across the arts community seeking something meaningful to do. Participants will

- Learn about the art of photography
- Create their own pinhole camera
- Develop photos in real-time to take home

Whether you’re a seasoned photographer or just starting out, join us for a unique opportunity to slow down, observe, and create one-of-a-kind works of art. This program is free, but registration is required—sign up through AEIVA’s events page at the link in bio!

UAB Center for the Arts

05/27/2026

Now open at AEIVA! 🍄

𝐄𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝑳𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈
May 21–September 26

𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵: 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘈𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘌𝘐𝘝𝘈’𝘴 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯
May 21–December 12

Thanks to everyone who came out last week to celebrate the opening of these two stellar exhibitions! Special thanks to for joining us from Santa Fe.

We’re offering drop-in tours on Saturdays all summer long. Tours are led by our student guides and typically last between 20-30 minutes. No registration required.

📸: Eric Gray

05/13/2026

Opening alongside Erin Jane Nelson’s exhibition next Thursday, May 21!
𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗘𝗜𝗩𝗔’𝘀 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Featuring work by 17 artists acquired over the past three years—many of which are on view at AEIVA for the first time—this exhibition reflects AEIVA’s focus on contemporary art that cultivates a regional perspective within a broader cultural dialogue.

The assembled works are particularly attuned to the poetics of the everyday. Looking to the interplay between memory and material, reality and imagination, they offer textured reflections on the warp and weft of contemporary life.

Artists:
Gema Álava, Kathryn Andrews, Pinky/MM Bass, Katherine Bernhardt, Jennifer Coates, Sue de Beer, Susan Fitzsimmons, Paul Kremer, Mokha Laget, Futoshi Miyagi, Celestia Morgan, Robert Rauschenberg, Manjari Sharma, Nancy Shaver, Susanna Starr, Jacqueline Surdell, and Ana Pérez Ventura

Join us on Thursday, May 21 from 5-7pm to celebrate the opening of these two exhibitions! 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 will be on view at AEIVA through December 12, 2026.

Image: Katherine Bernhardt, 𝘋𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘴 + 𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴 + 𝘉𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, 2014. Acrylic and spray paint on canvas. Gift of Emily and Teddy Greenspan. Collection of the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, UAB.

05/06/2026

Opening May 21! 𝐄𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 is a major new survey exhibition of work made between 2015 and 2025, while the artist was based in a suburb of Atlanta. With a formally inventive approach to work spanning photography, textiles, and ceramics, Nelson’s practice comes out of a sustained dialogue with the ecologies and shifting landscapes of the southeastern US. Borrowing as much from vernacular craft traditions as from science fiction, Nelson’s work—reflecting a period of great social and environmental change—finds quiet persistence in the intimate labor of living and working on a changing planet.

Experience this work by a singular voice of her generation—brought together for the first time at AEIVA.

May 21-September 26, 2026
Opening: May 21, 5-7pm

AEIVA will be offering drop-in tours on Saturdays all summer long, starting on May 23. Tours are led by AEIVA’s student guides and typically last between 20-30 minutes. No registration required.

Image: Erin Jane Nelson, 𝘈 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳, 2023. Pigment prints, sequins, and bio-based resin on glazed stoneware. Courtesy of the artist; Chapter NY, New York; and Document, Chicago and Lisbon.

This project is supported in part by a grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.