The Northern Illinois University Art Museum is pleased to announce its roster of bus excursions for fall 2022. The Get-On-The-Bus trips of the NIU Art Museum are great ways to meet other art lovers, keep up with what’s happening in the art world, see innovative historical exhibits and travel without the hassle of traffic, tolls and parking! Bus trips are planned to take advantage of the best visual art offerings in the region, in correlation with the museum’s own exhibitions and by suggestion of the members of the NIU Art Museum.
Coach USA/Van Galder buses include large, comfortable reclining seats, Wi-Fi and restroom, and they undergo intensive cleaning and sanitation after each trip, featuring filtration of the onboard air every two minutes and a complete replacement with fresh outside air every 10 minutes. Van Galder bus drivers participate in a Greenroad program gaining points for conscientious environmental driving practices. Masks are not required on the bus but certainly recommended and should be brought in case one is needed at a venue.
Calendar of Events
Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022: Chicago MCA and Art Institute
Nick Cave, “Soundsuit,” 2011, mixed media
Two great shows we should not miss: the sensational “Nick Cave: Forothermore” at the Museum of Contemporary Art and the impressive “Cézanne” at the AIC. We will make a full day of it. 9 a.m. departure; 8 p.m. estimated return arrival. We will have several hours in the morning and early afternoon to visit the MCA or go over to Water Tower Place. Plan to have your lunch in this north Michigan Avenue area. We will depart from the MCA at 2 p.m. to head to the Art Institute of Chicago. Plan to purchase tickets ahead of time for the Cézanne exhibition for entry at some point between 3 and 5 p.m. We will depart the AIC at 6 p.m.
Paul Cezanne, “Madame Cezanne in a Yellow Chair,” 1888-90. The Art Institute of Chicago, Wilson L. Mead Fund.
The “Cézanne” exhibit costs an extra $7 on top of general admission. Non-Chicago Illinois residents’ admission fee is $22 for adults, $16 for those 65+ and $16 for university students. Members of the Art Institute may enter the museum and the Cézanne show for free and do not need tickets. The Art Institute now uses a virtual waiting line accessed on their app. It is recommended to download it to your phone before the trip. Learn more about it under “Visit” on their website. Entry at the MCA is $8 for students, seniors (65+) and grade school and high school teachers; $15 for other adults; 18 and under free.
“Nick Cave: Forothermore” is the first career-spanning survey of internationally renowned Chicagoan Nick Cave. Some may recall that the NIU Art Museum exhibited Cave’s found object assemblage sculpture Soundsuits and held a weeklong workshop and performance with the Soundsuits back in 1998. “Forothermore” includes his mixed media sculptures, Soundsuits, video pieces and environmental installations.
The “Cézanne” show is the first retrospective of his work in America in over 25 years. It was organized by the Art Institute and Tate Modern London and includes 80 oil paintings, 40 watercolors and drawings, and two sketchbooks. Co-curated by AIC’s Gloria Groom and the Tate’s Natalia Sidlina, the show attempts to demonstrate why the French artist Paul Cézanne is considered so important in modern art history. Please be aware that café’s, restaurants and member’s lounge at the Art Institute remain closed. The Marisol Restaurant and Bar at the MCA has reopened.
Round-trip Transportation Cost: General public: $45; students: $40; NIU Art Museum members: $35. Museum entries on your own. Lunch on your own. Trip registration and payment deadline: Thursday, Aug. 18. Payment may be made with check, cash or credit card, 815-753-1936.
Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022: Stanley Museum of Art, Iowa City, Iowa
New Stanley Museum of Art Building at the University of Iowa.
Join us on this trip to Iowa City to visit the newly reopened University of Iowa’s Stanley Museum of Art in its new building. The museum facility closed back in 2008 due to extensive flooding of the Iowa River, and their collection underwent massive restoration and temporary rehousing at the Figge Museum of Art in Davenport. Now the museum has been relocated and renamed, and will have opened its new building with displays highlighting its marvelous collections.
The Stanley quotes from their website: “Homecoming” will reintroduce our extraordinary collection to the public. “Homecoming” comprises a series of related installations: “Generations,” which will foreground the University of Iowa’s history of innovative arts education and scholarship; “Fragments of the Canon,” featuring African art collected by a Black Iowan, Meredith Saunders; and “History Is Always Now,” in which the Stanley’s celebrated collection of African art will be displayed in a new way that emphasizes movement and cultural exchange through time and across space. Developed collaboratively by curators, educators and faculty under the museum director’s guidance, “Homecoming” will illustrate the importance of our world-class collection and allow us to envision new futures in art.”
9 a.m. departure with estimated 8 p.m. return arrival. We will have the option to take a guided one hour tour focusing on the collectors and collections of the museum as well as have free time to explore the museum, campus and downtown during our noon – 5 p.m. Iowa City visit.
Round-trip Transportation Cost: General public: $55; students: $50; NIU Art Museum members: $45. Stanley Museum of Art is free. Meals (many options in area) on your own. Trip registration and payment deadline: Friday, Sept. 23. Payment may be made with check, cash or credit card, 815-753-1936. Payment must be made in advance to guarantee your seat on the bus. NIU Art Museum members receive discounts on our bus trips as well as access to Members’ Only Trips.
Please note, dates and prices of bus trips are subject to change and trips are frequently added throughout the year, so please our website for the most updated information.
The NIU Art Museum office is currently open Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. To register for these trips, please stop by the NIU Art Museum, first floor, west end of Altgeld Hall, telephone (815-753-1936) or email artmuseum@niu.edu. More information about the museum and its programming can be found online at niu.edu/artmuseum. Payment may be made with cash, a check made out to NIU or a major credit card. Payment must be made in advance to guarantee your seat on the bus. NIU Art Museum members receive discounts on our bus trips as well as access to Members’ Only trips.
Interested in becoming an NIU Art Museum member? Membership entitles you to priority registration and discounted fees on Get-On-The-Bus Trips, exhibition announcements, special member-only previews, receptions and special events, a subscription to Museum Notes newsletter, and a 20% discount on NIU Art Museum catalogues. Friend, or basic, annual membership rates are Individual: $25, Dual: $45; Student: $10, Senior: $15, and Dual Senior: $25.
Sponsor and Patron level annual memberships, at $100 and $250 respectively, include an artist print as a premium and a free NIU Art Museum catalogue. Benefactor level annual membership is $500 with the option of a private tour (several options to choose from). Payment may be made by credit card, cash or check. Students must attach a current student ID to their membership application.
The NIU Art Museum can process your membership over the phone (815-753-1936). You can also apply for membership at the museum or print the online form available at niu.edu/artmuseum/join and mail with your payment to the NIU Art Museum, 1425 W. Lincoln Highway, DeKalb, IL, 60115.
Banner photo: The Sea at L’Estaque behind Trees, 1878-79, Paul Cezanne, Musée Picasso, Paris
