May 4, 2004
June 2004 Visual Arts Calendar
Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston campus. The museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The museum is closed on Monday. The museum also will be closed from June 21 through July 13. Admission to the museum is free; unless noted, admission to all programs is also free. For information regarding Block Museum exhibitions, programs or location, phone (847) 491-4000 or go to the Block Museum Web site at www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu.
BLOCK SPRING EXHIBITIONS
“MFA Thesis Exhibition from the Department of Art Theory and Practice,” through June 20, Alsdorf Gallery. This exhibition presents the work of graduate art students as they finish their intensive two-year program leading to a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree. This year’s exhibition features the realist paintings of Michael Ellis and David Gracie, abstract paintings by Alexander Herzog and Philip Vanderhyden, and Katrina Pycha’s multi-media installation. The Block Museum recognizes and celebrates their achievements as they prepare for professional careers. Support for the MFA Thesis Exhibition is provided by the Myers Foundations.
“Persistence of Vision: The Evolution of the Moving Image,” July 14 through Aug. 22, Alsdorf Gallery. This exhibition will provide a look at the apparatus and artistry of pre-cinema and early cinema, examining the large and small ways the moving image has changed art and culture. With make-and-take projects for children and adults, demonstrations of early cinema technology and rare screenings of early movies, the exhibition will appeal to families and serious students of the motion picture alike. Drawn from an extensive private collection, the exhibition is organized by the Block Museum of Art.
ONGOING EXHIBITION
“Theo Leffmann: Weaving a Life into Art,” ongoing exhibition, Theo Leffmann Gallery. Theo Leffmann is recognized as a rich contributor to the American fiber art movement in the late 20th century. For more than 30 years, she liberated textiles from practical and decorative applications by using them as a means of personal expression. The Theo Leffmann Gallery highlights selections from the more than 75 fiber constructions by Leffmann in the Block Museum’s permanent collection.
BLOCK SCULPTURE GARDEN
The Sculpture Garden of the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art constitutes one of the most significant groupings of modern sculpture in the region. In 1987, Leigh Block, one of the museum’s inaugural donors and a preeminent collector of modern art, bequested a large group of outdoor bronze sculptures to the museum. These pieces formed the core of the collection, which now features monumental sculptures by some of the 20th century’s most renowned European and American sculptors. They include Jean (Hans) Arp, Barbara Hepworth, Jacques Lipchitz, Joan Miró and Henry Moore.In 1989, the Block Museum opened its Sculpture Garden with nine of the monumental bronzes donated by Block. The Sculpture Garden was designed by Chicago architect John Vinci and has grown to 22 pieces through donations and acquisitions. Profiles of the artists and their works, and a brochure detailing the sculpture collection, are available online on the Block Museum Web site at www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/exhibitions/sculpture.html. The Sculpture Garden is open year-round. Free, docent-guided tours of the Sculpture Garden will be held every Sunday at 2 p.m. from June 13 through Aug. 13. (No tour July 4). To arrange a group tour, call (847) 491-4852.
DITTMAR MEMORIAL GALLERY
Dittmar Memorial Gallery, Norris University Center, 1999 Campus Drive, Evanston campus. The gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Admission is free. The Dittmar Memorial Gallery places emphasis on ethnic cultural art, art by emerging artists, art by or about women, artwork by Northwestern undergraduate and graduate art students and traveling art shows.
For information, call the Dittmar Gallery at (847) 491-2348 or Norris University Center at (847) 491-2300, or e-mail dittmargallery@northwestern.edu or go to the Norris Center Web site at www.northwestern.edu/norris/dittmar.html.
Kevin Lyons, “Imagining Cuba,” photo exhibition, May 5 to June 6, Dittmar Memorial Gallery. In April 2002, artist Kevin Lyons made an official visit to Cuba. Nearly 50 years of a strained political relationship between the United States and Cuba has led most Americans to rely solely on their imaginations for an image of Cuban life. Intrigued by photographing people as they went about their lives and making the ordinary extraordinary, Lyons created images that transcend the mundane to both art and documentation. “Imagining Cuba” captures the essence of Cuban culture and grounds imagination into reality.
“UTRIBE,” June 10 through Aug. 12, Dittmar Memorial Gallery. This collection explores 21st century ideas, concepts and positions that demonstrate the value of recycling. These historical masks and artifacts are original assemblages of found objects such as buttons, tire treads and flatware. The concept was developed by Mitchell Melson Jr. in 1996 to reflect the complexities and dynamics of urban psychology. A 6 to 8 p.m. opening reception Thursday, June 24, hosted by the Dittmar Memorial Gallery is free and open to the public.
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