This fall, the NIU Art Museum is presenting one of the most distinctive exhibitions ever hosted on campus: The Olmec...
NIU Art Museum Archives
Head’s up! Upcoming Art Museum exhibition extends to campus
A stroll around campus can serve as a preview of a new exhibition coming soon to the galleries of the NIU Art Museum....
Burma collection and NIU Printmaking retrospective open in Art Museum galleries August 27
A pair of exhibitions will run concurrently in the galleries of the NIU Art Museum for the coming academic year....
NIU Art Museum Announces upcoming exhibitions opening March 19
While so much has seemed unknown for so many of late, the NIU Art Museum took a stab at a mysterious suite of exhibitions. “Windows to the Subconscious” is a juried exhibition exploring the meaning of dreams. It features the work of 13 artists selected from applicants...
NIU Art Museum upcoming bus excursions
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...
National parks as a unique expression of national identity and iconic Indian artist Bharti Kher are subjects of presentations at the NIU Art Museum
Lectures by faculty from the Art History division of the NIU School of Art and Design highlight the programming surrounding the current exhibition in the NIU Art Museum, the College of Visual and Performing Arts Faculty Biennial. From World's Fair to National Park:...
Upcoming lectures and presentations as part of ongoing CVPA Faculty Biennial Exhibition at NIU Art Museum
The current exhibition in the NIU Art Museum is the College of Visual and Performing Arts Faculty Biennial which runs through February 15. The exhibition features work and scholarship from faculty members in NIU's School of Art and Design, School of Music and School...
Northern Illinois University Art Museum Presents Faculty Biennial Exhibition
The Northern Illinois University Art Museum is pleased to announce the NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts 2024-2025 Faculty Biennial exhibition on display in the museum’s Altgeld Hall galleries Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, through Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. Shown...
Art From Home – David F. Driesbach Engravings
The engravings of David F. Driesbach are the subject of this edition of Art From Home: A Personal Collection, a series of videos where Peter Olson, assistant director of the NIU Art Museum shares information about works and artists in his personal collection. To see...
Art From Home – Sidney Chafetz
It's back! In 2020, Peter Olson, assistant director of the NIU Art Museum did a series of videos where he discussed pieces in his personal art collection. The popular series has returned with this look at the work of Sidney Chafetz. https://youtu.be/48l2-Vg0p0Y To see...
Portrait suite to open this fall at Northern Illinois University Art Museum
Three exhibitions featuring the theme of portraiture are set to open Wednesday, Aug. 28, with a public opening reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12. A talk with photographer Sandro Miller begins at 6:30 p.m. “Seeing Each Other: Portraits in Time and Place”...
NIU Art Museum annual “Art to Lend” selection period now open
The NIU Art Museum’s annual “Art to Lend” 2024 selection period is now open for faculty and staff on campus. This annual service allows individuals and departments to enhance their private offices and the administrative areas of our university by renting original...
Traveling Exhibition from University of Illinois Springfield on Lincoln’s Legacies Comes to NIU Art Museum
The NIU Art Museum will host “Making Our History – Artists Render Lincoln’s Legacies,” a traveling exhibition from the University of Illinois Springfield set to open Tuesday, March 26. There will be a public opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 4 with an...
NIU students join Friends of the NIU Art Museum on Chicago museum bus trip
Two dozen Northern Illinois University students from the Fine Art House dorm and Art History Department joined over 30 members of the Friends of the NIU Art Museum on a recent bus trip to Chicago. “Celebrating Women Artists” took participants to see the monumental...
Food for Thought: Customs, Issues and Concerns exhibition suite to open at NIU Art Museum
Three exhibitions featuring food-related artwork are set to open Tuesday, Nov. 14, with a public opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17 at the NIU Art Museum. “What is for Supper? What is a Meal?” explores aspects of nurturing, socialization, health and...
Artist Michael Coppage to give talk after closing reception of “Dialogue” Exhibition at NIU Art Museum
Cincinnati-based artist Michael Coppage will give an artist talk during the closing reception of “Dialogue” and “The Remaining, Mourn…” exhibitions at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 15 in Altgeld Hall, Room 125. The closing reception of both exhibitions begins at 1 p.m. in...
NIU Art Museum to host two upcoming bus trips
The Northern Illinois University Art Museum is facilitating two upcoming bus trips this fall through their Get-on-the-Bus program: Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, the NIU Art Museum will travel to Crab Tree Farm in Lake Bluff, Illinois and the Driehaus Museum in Chicago, and...
“Dialogue” and “The Remaining, Mourn…” to open at NIU Art Museum
Two new exhibitions will open soon at the NIU Art Museum. Having emerged from a global pandemic and re-exploring race and social issues, the NIU Art Museum felt the need for exhibitions that ground these topics visually. Two exhibitions featuring themes of what seems...
NIU Art Museum’s “Art to Lend” selection period open now through July 14
The NIU Art Museum’s annual “Art to Lend” 2023 selection period is now open for faculty and staff on campus. This annual service allows individuals and departments to enhance their private offices and the administrative areas of the university by renting original...
NIU hosts collecting and collectors symposium for Americans In Burma exhibition
The NIU Center for Burma Studies is hosting a collecting and collectors symposium, Friday, April 14 to coincide with the exhibition "Americans in Burma: The Art of Collecting" which is open now through May 13 in the NIU Art Museum. The symposium is free and open to...
“Local Visions II” and “Americans in Burma: The Art of Collecting” to open at NIU Art Museum
Two exhibitions featuring the collections of objects from local residents and from the Burma Art Collection at NIU are set to open at the Northern Illinois University Art Museum on Thursday, March 30, with a public opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, March...
“A Show of Hands: Recent Work by Ben Stone” on Display at NIU Art Museum
Ben Stone, sculptor and coordinator of 2D and 3D Foundations in NIU’s School of Art and Design, is showcasing new work in an installation in the North Gallery of the NIU Art Museum. According to Stone, “the work relates to several concurrent themes dealing with late...
Best in Show and Jurors’ Choice award recipients announced for NIU Art Museum’s “Stories From My Childhood”
Best in Show and four Jurors’ Choice Awards were announced during the Dec. 1 opening reception of “Stories From My Childhood,” at the Northern Illinois University Art Museum. "Stories From My Childhood" is a group show based on a national call for entry exploring both...
“Stories From My Childhood” exhibition to open at NIU Art Museum
A group show based on a national call for entry, “Stories From My Childhood” explores both dark childhood experiences and somewhat humorous and quirky observations of life from a child’s perspective. Artists were asked to depict a transformative event that occurred...
NIU Art Museum to host in-person lectures with award-winning illustrator and author
The Northern Illinois University Art Museum is pleased to present three in-person lectures related to their Children’s Illustrated Literature Exhibition Suite by award-winning illustrator of over 60 books, James E. Ransome. Ransome will be joined by his wife, author...
NIU Art Museum hosts virtual talks with internationally acclaimed historian Leonard S. Marcus
The Northern Illinois University Art Museum is pleased to present three virtual lectures related to their Children’s Illustrated Literature Suite by internationally acclaimed historian on children’s books, Leonard S. Marcus. Marcus served as a co-curator for the...
Get On The Bus trips return to the NIU Art Museum
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...
Children’s Illustrated Literature Exhibition suite to open at NIU Art Museum
The Northern Illinois University Art Museum is pleased to present two exhibitions of framed artwork and books – some no longer in print – organized and traveled by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature in Abilene, Texas from Tuesday, Aug. 23...
Northern Illinois University Art Museum Annual “Art to Lend” selection period now open
The Northern Illinois University Art Museum’s annual “Art to Lend” 2022 selection period will open for faculty and staff on campus. This annual service allows individuals and departments to enhance their private offices and the administrative areas of the university...
NIU Art Museum hosts silent auction to diversify its collection
The Northern Illinois University Art Museum will be hosting a silent benefit auction of small art pieces. The goal is to raise funds to make targeted purchases to diversify the collection. With the intention of reflecting the changing demographics of the university...
Northern Illinois University Art Museum presents Biennial School of Art and Design Faculty Exhibition
The Northern Illinois University Art Museum is pleased to announce the NIU School of Art and Design 2022 Faculty Biennial exhibition on display in the museum’s Altgeld Hall galleries Tuesday, Jan. 18 running through Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022. The biennial exhibition...
NIU Art Museum opens exhibitions that examine refugees and global humanitarian crises
The Northern Illinois University Art Museum’s exhibition Refuge and Refugee as well as The Art of Surviving: The Journey of the Karen Refugees in Illinois organized by the Center for Burma Studies at NIU opens in the Art Museum’s Altgeld Hall galleries Tuesday, August...
NIU Art Museum presents “Very Well, Thank You: The Arts as a Means to Well-being” through May 15
The Northern Illinois University Art Museum’s “Very Well, Thank You”: The Arts as a Means to Well-being exhibition opens Friday, March 26 and runs through May 15. The exhibition investigates the unique role and way the visual and performing arts assist in maintaining...
NIU Art Museum Gallery Talk on the works of Ellen Roth Deutsch
The work of artist Ellen Roth Deutsch was the subject of an online gallery talk given by Jo Burke, director of the NIU Art Museum. In the presentation, "From the Mind of Ellen Roth Deutsch" Burke discussed the current exhibition in the NIU Art Museum and showed some...
NIU Art Museum Artist Lecture – Landis Blair
Artist Landis Blair gave an online artist lecture for the Northern Illinois University Art Museum titled: "Mirth and Mayhem: Landis Blair Selection of Drawings and Books." To view more of Blair's work visit his website at landisblair.com. Bio of Landis Blair: Author...
Johns Fund provides annual support to NIU Art Museum
The DeKalb County Community Foundation and the NIU Art Museum are thrilled to announce the Friends of NIU Art Museum Endowment Fund. This new Designated Fund provides annual financial support to the NIU Art Museum to further their mission of serving campus and...
Narrative art exhibition suite opens at NIU Art Museum Jan. 12
The Northern Illinois University Art Museum opens three exhibitions that consider narrative artwork and imagery Tuesday, January 12. The exhibitions examine artworks’ ability to chronicle or present narrative themes that relay a series of events, subjects, or use...
Watch the premiere of Michael Barnes’ artist talk on lithography, Dec. 10
Join Michael Barnes, Northern Illinois University School of Art and Design Professor of Art, Head of Printmaking and 2020 Presidential Research, Scholarship and Artistry Professor as he discusses lithography history and historic prints for the NIU Art Museum. The...
Researching the Reverse Glass Painting Tradition Across Buddhist Southeast Asia with Dr. Catherine Raymond
Catherine Raymond, Director of the Center for Burma Studies at NIU and Professor of Art History in the School of Art and Design presented an online lecture for the NIU Art Museum, November 19 titled, Researching the Reverse Glass Painting Tradition Across Buddhist...
Mike Rea and friends present, “I Yell Because I Care, He Needs Me” on instruments real, and imagined
One of the most talked about pieces in the NIU Art Museum's current installation, the NIU School of Art and Design Faculty Continuum is a sculpture of a piano, "Tight Notes and Black Holes, CTINH (Conceptualize there is no Heaven" created by Mike Rea, associate...
Art and Design’s Mike Rea presents “I Yell Because I Care, He Needs Me” music video, November 14
Artist and Associate Professor of Sculpture Mike Rea puts together "a band" to produce a music video featuring his sculpture Tight Notes and Black Holes, CTINH (Conceptualize there is no Heaven), 2019. I Yell Because I Care, He Needs Me, is a site-specific...
Art From Home: Raphael (studies)
In this ongoing series, Peter Olson, assistant director of the NIU Art Museum will discuss pieces in his personal art collection. See all of the Art From Home videos.
River Weaving walking tour rescheduled for Oct. 3 and 11
UPDATE: The River Weaving walking tour has been rescheduled for two dates, Saturday, October 3 and Sunday, October 11. Both will be held at 2 p.m. and attendees can pre-register for free at go.niu.edu/riverweaving. The walking tour and discussion will begin at the...
Art From Home – William Lewin
In this ongoing series, Peter Olson, assistant director of the NIU Art Museum will discuss pieces in his personal art collection. See all of the Art From Home videos.
Northern Illinois University Art Museum plans to reopen to the public September 8
The NIU Art Museum welcomes the campus and community back to the galleries on Tuesday, September 8 with the extended exhibition of the NIU School of Art and Design Faculty Biennial Continuum. We are excited to reopen cautiously providing a space for reprieve,...
Art From Home: Edward Gorey
In this ongoing series, Peter Olson, assistant director of the NIU Art Museum will discuss pieces in his personal art collection. See all of the Art From Home videos.
Art From Home: Wolf and Jackal
In this ongoing series, Peter Olson, assistant director of the NIU Art Museum will discuss pieces in his personal art collection. See all of the Art From Home videos.
Art From Home – Warrington Colescott
In this ongoing series, Peter Olson, assistant director of the NIU Art Museum will discuss pieces in his personal art collection. See all of the Art From Home videos.
Art From Home – Francisco Goya
In this ongoing series, Peter Olson, assistant director of the NIU Art Museum will discuss pieces in his personal art collection. See all of the Art From Home videos.
Art From Home – Edouard Travies
In this ongoing series, Peter Olson, assistant director of the NIU Art Museum will discuss pieces in his personal art collection. See all of the Art From Home videos.
Art From Home – Jay Ryan
In this ongoing series, Peter Olson, assistant director of the NIU Art Museum will discuss pieces in his personal art collection. This video includes Jay Ryan's art, a bonus artwork by his daughter and a song from his band Dianogah. See all of the Art From Home...
Art From Home – Indian Miniature
In this ongoing series, Peter Olson, assistant director of the NIU Art Museum will discuss pieces in his personal art collection. See all of the Art From Home videos.
Art From Home – William Walmsley
In this ongoing series, Peter Olson, assistant director of the NIU Art Museum will discuss pieces in his personal art collection. See all of the Art From Home videos.
Art From Home – Barry E. Wilson
In this ongoing series, Peter Olson, assistant director of the NIU Art Museum will discuss pieces in his personal art collection. See all of the Art From Home videos.
Art From Home: Chizuko Yoshida
In this ongoing series, Peter Olson, assistant director of the NIU Art Museum will discuss pieces in his personal art collection. See all of the Art From Home videos.
Art From Home: Karl Blossfeldt
In this ongoing series, Peter Olson, assistant director of the NIU Art Museum will discuss pieces in his personal art collection. This installment is on work from Karl Blossfeldt. See all of the Art From Home videos.
Art From Home: Ayomi Yoshida
In this ongoing series, Peter Olson, assistant director of the NIU Art Museum will discuss pieces in his personal art collection. This installment is on work of Ayomi Yoshida.
Art From Home: Gabor Peterdi
In this ongoing series, Peter Olson, assistant director of the NIU Art Museum will discuss pieces in his personal art collection. In this edition he discusses Gabor Peterdi's "Wistaria."
NIU Art Museum puts School of Art and Design Faculty Biennial exhibition online
The NIU Art Museum has put a virtual exhibition of artwork in the recent School of Art and Design Faculty Biennial Exhibition online. The exhibition was scheduled to run from January 14 - March 18, but closed a few days early because of the coronavirus Covid-19 public...
NIU Art Museum opens School of Art and Design Faculty Biennial exhibition Jan. 14
The NIU Art Museum’s School of Art and Design Faculty Biennial exhibition opens Tuesday, January 14 with a public reception on Thursday, January 23 from 5-7 p.m. Shown every two years, this invitational exhibit features recent artwork and scholarship by current...
NIU dance students present “Your Excellency” in the NIU Art Museum galleries
In conjunction with the NIU Art Museum exhibition, Exploring Aspects of War In and Through the Visual Arts, NIU School of Theatre and Dance students perform Your Excellency, at the NIU Art Museum, Sunday, November 10 at 1 p.m., Tuesday, November 12 at 12:30 p.m. and...
Exploring Aspects of War In and Through the Visual Arts at the NIU Art Museum open through November 13
Visitors can now enjoy an extended opportunity to view the NIU Art Museum’s exhibition Exploring Aspects of War In and Through the Visual Arts through November 13. Artworks on display were created by both military veteran and civilian artists during and after...
‘Exploring Aspects of War In and Through the Visual Arts’ opens August 27 at NIU Art Museum
The Northern Illinois University Art Museum’s exhibition Exploring Aspects of War In and Through the Visual Arts tackles the complex relationship of art in the depiction of war. The exhibition opens Tuesday, August 27 and continues on view through October 18, 2019....
DATA Exhibition Suite opens at NIU Art Museum, March 28
The Northern Illinois University Art Museum’s spring DATA Exhibition Suite delves into the array of manner in which data surrounds us, impacts us and is interpreted. Four exhibitions open on March 28 with a public opening reception from 5 – 8 p.m. with informal artist...
Interpretive Dance in the NIU Art Museum, Feb. 7, 8 and 10
Advanced dance students from the NIU School of Theatre and Dance will perform kinetic interpretations of select works of visual art in the galleries of the NIU Art Museum (first floor, Altgeld Hall). Students chose and choreographed their individual short responses to...
Upcoming events at the NIU Art Museum
Upcoming on campus lectures and presentations through the NIU Art Museum. January 25 “Visions from Another World: Forgotten Treasures in the Burma Art Collection at NIU” Noon-1 p.m., Altgeld Hall 125 CSEAS Friday Lecture with Dr. Catherine Raymond, Northern Illinois...
NIU Art Museum celebrates alumni and former faculty with exhibitions
The Northern Illinois University Art Museum opens two exhibitions that coincide with the NIU School of Art and Design’s 50th Anniversary Celebration of Jack Arends Hall. The Art Museum mounted SWEET, Golden and Delicious…"Faculty-select and Museum-certified" NIU...
NIU Art Museum offers ‘flash tours’
Learn more at: niu.edu/artmuseum
Richard M. Cooler to present “Religion Made Visible: The Traditional Sacred Art of India”
The Northern Illinois University Art Museum and the Interdisciplinary Certification of Graduate Study in Museum Studies program will host a public lecture by Dr. Richard M. Cooler. Cooler, Professor Emeritus and former Director and Curator of the Center for Burma...
All We are Breaking are Stones opens April 6 at the NIU Art Museum
The Northern Illinois University Art Museum opens All We are Breaking are Stones, an exhibition of work by Chicago artist Shaurya Kumar who reflects on loss, destruction, iconoclasm and marginalization. The raw materiality of his installations combined with the...
Reclaimed Baggage at the NIU Art Museum Navigates Cultural Identity and Migration — On View March 27
The Northern Illinois University Art Museum opens Reclaimed Baggage, a group exhibition of seven South Asian American women artists that reveals layered, complex and powerful expressions of the self and their world. Their work addresses displacement, identity and...
NIU Art Museum’s biennial NIU School of Art and Design Faculty Exhibition opens Nov. 16
The Northern Illinois University Art Museum opens the biennial School of Art and Design Faculty Exhibition on Thursday, November 16, 2017 with a public reception from 5 – 7 p.m. Presented every two years, this invitational show features recent artwork and scholarship...
Visiting Artist Lecture – Letha Wilson, August 28
NIU Photography and the NIU Art Museum, are presenting the exhibition Objectifying the Photograph, August 29 through October 20 at the Art Museum in Altgeld Hall. A visiting artist lecture with Letha Wilson will be held Monday, August 28 in Altgeld Hall 102 at 5:00...