The Block Museum

08/06/2026

Block Museum Receives $25,000 Frankenthaler Climate Initiative Grant

Funding will advance the museum's planning for more sustainable collection care and building operations The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University has received a $25,000 grant from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation through the…...

Funding will advance the museum’s planning for more sustainable collection care and building operations The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University has received a $25,000 grant from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation through the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative, established i...

07/31/2026

We are saddened to learn of the passing of Simone Forti, whose pioneering work transformed contemporary dance and performance.

In 2016, The Block had the privilege of welcoming Forti to Northwestern University for a workshop residency titled: Thinking with the Body, presented alongside A Feast of Astonishments: Charlotte Moorman and the Avant-Garde, 1960s-1980s. Working with students from across disciplines, Forti shared her distinctive approach to movement, language, and improvisation, culminating in a performance of her landmark 1961 work Huddle.

We are grateful to have hosted Simone Forti and to have witnessed the generosity, curiosity, and creativity she brought to our campus. We join with many the artists, dancers, and students whose work she shaped in celebrating her life and influence.

07/28/2026

Collection Spotlight: Cara Romero, Amber Morningstar (2022)

Artist: Cara Romero (Chemehuevi / American, born 1977) Title: Amber Morningstar, from the series First American Girl…...

Artist: Cara Romero (Chemehuevi / American, born 1977) Title: Amber Morningstar, from the series First American Girl Date: 2022, printed 2024 Medium: Inkjet print, pigment-based Dimensions: 43 1/2 × 39 3/4 in. (110.5 × 101 cm) Credit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern Unive...

07/20/2026

The Block Museum of Art names Ainsley M. Cameron Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs

The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University has named Ainsley M. Cameron, D.Phil....

The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University has named Ainsley M. Cameron, D.Phil. (Oxon.), as Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs, effective September 1, 2026. Cameron joins The Block from the Cincinnati Art Museum, where she most recently served as Director of Curatorial....

07/08/2026

Collection Spotlight: Jeremy Frey, Untitled (2023)

Artist: Jeremy Frey (Passamaquoddy, born 1978)Title: Untitled Date: 2023Medium: Unique relief print and embossment with handwoven Wabanaki basket on handmade Dieu Donné paper…...

Artist: Jeremy Frey (Passamaquoddy, born 1978)Title: Untitled Date: 2023Medium: Unique relief print and embossment with handwoven Wabanaki basket on handmade Dieu Donné paperCredit: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University. Purchased from Karma Gallery, 2026. 2026.8. Centered on ...

07/02/2026

Student Reflections on Block Cinema’s Exhausted America

This past winter quarter, Block Cinema invited its undergraduate student workers to take on a new kind of assignment: to respond, in their own voices, to films in the…...

This past winter quarter, Block Cinema invited its undergraduate student workers to take on a new kind of assignment: to respond, in their own voices, to films in the Exhausted America series. The series, inspired by the work of Professor Heather Hendershot, gathered films that hold a mirror to mome...

07/02/2026

Collection Spotlight: Janaina Tschäpe, Juju 2 (The Sea and the Mountain), 2004

Artist: Janaina Tschäpe (German-Brazilian, born 1973)Title: Juju 2 (The Sea and the Mountain) Date: 2004…...

Artist: Janaina Tschäpe (German-Brazilian, born 1973)Title: Juju 2 (The Sea and the Mountain) Date: 2004Medium: Dye destruction print (Cibachrome / silver dye bleach print)Dimensions: 42 × 52 × 2 in. (framed)Credit: Gift of Giuseppe Ciardi through Museums Exchange, 2026, Image copyright of the ar...

07/01/2026

Learning Through Looking: The Block at the 2026 AAMG Conference

This June, The Block Museum of Art traveled to Iowa City to take part in the annual conference of the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG), where two members of our team led sessions exploring how academic museums support teaching, research, and community engagement through art....

This June, The Block Museum of Art traveled to Iowa City to take part in the annual conference of the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG), where two members of our team led sessions exploring how academic museums support teaching, research, and community engagement through art. The....

06/30/2026

Block Museum Student Associates Select Work by Antonius-Tín Bui as 2025–2026 Student Acquisition

The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University has acquired and you, all future tense, leak through…...

The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University has acquired and you, all future tense, leak through (2023) by Chicago-based Vietnamese American artist Antonius-Tín Bui through the museum’s annual student-led acquisition program. Selected by the 2025–2026 cohort of Block Museu...

06/10/2026

Collection Spotlight: Hiratsuka Un’ichi, Stone Bridge, Katsuya, Kyoto, 1966

Artist: Hiratsuka Un’ichi 平塚運一 (Japanese, 1895–1997) Title: Stone Bridge, Katsura, Kyoto Date: 1966 Medium: Woodblock print on paper…...

Artist: Hiratsuka Un’ichi 平塚運一 (Japanese, 1895–1997) Title: Stone Bridge, Katsura, Kyoto Date: 1966 Medium: Woodblock print on paper Dimensions: 33 ½ x 25 in. Credit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Van Zelst, 1985.109 As i...