Northwestern University

Museum Hours: Free and open to all.
Support The Block

The Block Museum of Art

Menu Search

The Block Museum entrance

Scroll to main content

Home Page

Join us this fall!

Block Cinema

Block Cinema at 25: Projecting the Future

Throughout the 2026–27 academic year, The Block Museum of Art will celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Block Cinema through a series of screenings, performances, research initiatives, and student-led programs that explore the evolving possibilities of the moving image.

Block Cinema at 25: Projecting the Future

dyani White hawk

Art Talks!

Student-led looking at the Block. Join our students most Saturdays for a closer look at what's on view.

Art Talks!

cards

How does art help you understand yourself—or the world—differently?

Explore reflections from our community and join the conversation on how art opens new ways of seeing at The Block.

How does art help you understand yourself—or the world—differently?

The living room

The living room

The Living Room X Northwestern Athletics

This fall, The Living Room at The Block hosts a special collaboration with Northwestern Athletics and Recreation—where student-athletes, coaches, and staff share reflections on a single artwork each month, inviting you to slow down and look closely.

The Living Room X Northwestern Athletics

September 9-December 6, 2026

Picturing the Modern Metropolis: Prints and Photographs from The Block's Collection

Picturing the Modern Metropolis: Prints and Photographs from The Block's Collection

September 9 - December 6, 2026Picturing the Modern Metropolis: Prints and Photographs from The Block's Collection

Upcoming Programs

Free and Open to All

Museums

Exhibition Keynote: "The Modern Metropolis" & Images of the City

How are cities fundamentally about the act of seeing and being seen? In this talk, Greg Foster-Rice, co-curator of The City Lost and Found: Capturing New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, 1960-1980 (Art Institute of Chicago, 2015) will explore key images and themes from the Block Museum of Art’s current exhibition.

The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University is an engine that drives questioning, experimentation, and collaboration across fields of study, with visual arts at the center....

OUR MISSION AND VISION

Stories From The Block

image split down the middle, with left side depicting makeshift mining settlement of tents and right depicting lush resort

Collection Spotlight: Sammy Baloji, Raccord #1: Cité de Kawama, 2012

black and white photo of people standing in front of theater

Collection Spotlight: Vivian Maier, At the Balaban & Katz United Artists Theater, Chicago, IL, 1961

Black and white photo of crowds passing under el station in downtown Chicago

The Block Museum of Art Explores How Artists Shaped the Image of the Modern City

people walk down stairs in Block Museum atrium

Block Museum Receives $25,000 Frankenthaler Climate Initiative Grant

Photo of woman staged like doll in box, with accessories placed around her

Collection Spotlight: Cara Romero, Amber Morningstar (2022)

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

printed pattern of woven bands in dark blue ink

Collection Spotlight: Jeremy Frey, Untitled (2023)

photo of American flag displayed onscreen at Block Cinema

Student Reflections on Block Cinema’s Exhausted America

Figure costumed in bulbous sculptural form stands alone in wilderness setting

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

Erin Northington poses with industry peers at AAMG conference

Learning Through Looking: The Block at the 2026 AAMG Conference