Jul 18, 2022 | NIU Art Museum, xArtMuseumNews, xCVPA, xFeatured
Luigi Kasimir. “Persenbeug Castle,” 1919. Intaglio etching (29 3/8 x 35 1/8 in. in frame). NIU Art Museum Collection
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 by renting original works of art. Artwork enriches the university’s welcoming nature for students, faculty and staff as well as brightens the experience for public visitors and provides daily enjoyment in the workplace. Each work meant for public display was carefully selected by museum staff for its broad appeal and its ability to be on loan for up to eight years.
This program is funded through the nominal installation and annual rental fees which cover incurred expenses, including matting and framing to make new selections available, as well as for the direct care and conservation of the remainder of our permanent collection. The artwork must be installed in secure, locked areas when not occupied by university personnel. Certain environmental factors, including light levels, humidity and temperature, must also be met to protect the artwork and be eligible to participate.
There is an annual rental fee of $20 per piece, running on the same cycle as the university’s fiscal year. An installation fee will also be charged for new works brought to an office or for works moved/relocated to another office at any time during the year. For one to three works per department there will be a fee of $35; for four to six a fee of $60; for seven to ten a fee of $85. Any piece(s) beyond that will cost an additional $10 per piece.
This year’s choices can be accessed by clicking view the selections, or by visiting the Art Museum’s website during the selection period of July 20 through Aug. 8, 2022. As in previous years, works will be assigned by lottery based on preferred selections. The lottery drawing will be held on Monday, August 8 at 3 p.m. All online Selection Forms must be submitted before the lottery deadline to Assistant Director and Curator Peter Olson by Aug. 8 at 2:59 p.m. Email polson@niu.edu with questions or concerns. A detailed policy form (PDF) is available in the “Art to Lend” section of our website.
Mar 31, 2022 | NIU Art Museum, xArtMuseumNews, xCVPA, xFeatured
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 and the region more accurately, this auction will raise funds to purchase artwork from the Brandywine Print Workshop, a diversity-driven printmaking studio selling underrepresented artists’ work.
The auction display and bidding will run from April 5 to May 6 in the museum’s North Gallery during normal gallery hours with bidding ending at 2 p.m. Friday, May 6. Artworks for sale include paintings, photographs, prints and sculpture with work by contemporary local favorites such as David Driesbach and Jay Ryan, and historical master draftspersons such as Honoré Daumier and Françisco Goya.
The last time funding was available for making targeted acquisitions for the museum was in the early 1980s, when the Illinois Arts Council Agency briefly provided resources for growing museum collections. A wonderfully eclectic, but admittedly unfocused collection has resulted from the generous largesse of individual donors. “As the collection has grown over the years, we are able to curate not just our exhibitions but our collection…we can focus on areas of strength and alleviate weaknesses,” said museum director Jo Burke. “But to be clear, the museum is not selling or deaccessioning anything from the existing collection, but inclusively adding to it.”
In support of diversification of the collection, several artists from the NIU School of Art and Design faculty and teaching staff (Michael Barnes, Sasha Bitzer, Jessica Labatte, Nina Rizzo, John Siblik, Kryssi Staikidis, Ben Stone, Peter Van Ael and Shei Chau Wang), the staff of the NIU Art Museum (Jo Burke and Peter Olson) and anonymous members of the Friends of the NIU Art Museum have donated pieces of their own artwork or from their personal collections as objects for us to auction. If you would like to assist the NIU Art Museum in this cause, please make a financial donation or bid on an artwork to add to your own collection.
COVID-19 Visitor Information
The Art Museum will follow the latest recommendations from university, local, state and federal guidance. Feeling sick or unwell? We ask anyone feeling unwell to postpone their visit for another time. Visitors are welcome on campus, but we ask that you take the same precautions we ask of our students, faculty and staff to protect yourself and others. For more information about the university’s health protocols and guidelines regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, see www.niu.edu/protecting-the-pack/index.shtml. We encourage everyone to continue wearing a mask. However, we respect each individual’s choice. We ask that you are respectful of one another’s space as well as choice. Please continue to practice physical distancing between individuals and family groups.
About the NIU Art Museum
Serving Campus and Community by Balancing Traditional and Contemporary Art to Explore the Connections Made through Visual Culture.
Part of the College of Visual and Performing Arts‘ vibrant and active arts community on campus, the Northern Illinois University Art Museum is a resource for the NIU campus, local community and beyond. Have our event announcements and program information delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up at go.niu.edu/artmuseumsubscribe.
The NIU Art Museum is located on the first floor, west end of Altgeld Hall, at the corner of College Avenue and Castle Drive on the main campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. Those using GPS can find us at 595 College Avenue, DeKalb.
Parking is available in the visitor pay lot located at 200 Carroll Avenue. Limited metered and accessible parking spaces are available in front of Lowden Hall with accessible aisles and route to Altgeld Hall. Campus parking is free on weekends and after 5 p.m. weeknights in nearby lots 3 and 14.
To request disability-related accommodations for museum programs: please contact the museum at least one week in advance. Northern Illinois University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution.
The exhibitions and programs of the NIU Art Museum are sponsored in part by the Illinois Arts Council Agency; the Friends of the NIU Art Museum; the NIU Arts and Culture Fee, and the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Season Presenting Sponsor Shaw Media.
Gallery Hours
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday
Noon to 6 p.m. Thursday, Friday
Noon to 3 p.m. Saturday and by limited appointment for group tours
Closed university holidays and between exhibitions.
Aug 24, 2021 | NIU Art Museum, xArtMuseumNews, xCVPA, xFeatured
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 24 and runs through November 12. The exhibitions examine refugee experiences through recreations of home, glimpses of refugee camps, artifacts, textiles, oral histories and photographs as well as contemporary art media grappling with international refugee and immigration crises.
Refuge and Refugee
The work of ten artists including one from the Museum’s permanent collection are presented in an examination of the global humanitarian crises as displaced persons forced to flee their native countries attempt to find refuge elsewhere. The artists, moved by current events and news reports, express their shock, horror, and critique of government polices as well as compassion for those impacted by these measures. Several of the artists with immigrant backgrounds relate their own struggles with identity to the inner struggle of missing home and attempting to adapt to a new land. Artists were selected from a national call for entry by the exhibition advisory committee and include: Luciana Abait, Karen Albanese Campbell, Yolanda del Amo, Tere Garcia, Judith Joseph, Rebecca Keller, Eddy A. López, Stephen Walt and Kathy Weaver.
The Art of Surviving: The Journey of the Karen Refugees in Illinois
This exhibition is based on work done by NIU PhD and MA students who either lived within the refugee camps along the Burma-Thai border or who worked with Illinois Karen Refugee communities for the last 15 years. The exhibit looks at life in Burma, life in the refugee camp and life in the United States. The Karen, an ethnic group in southern Burma/Myanmar, has been in conflict with the government since 1949 first calling for an independent state and now representation in national government. During the decades-long conflict and violent military persecution many Karen escaped to refugee camps and/or resettled to a third country. The exhibition ties the minority Karen refugee experience to a global perspective, engaging visitors in a critical dialogue on forced migration and displacement and what visitors can do to advocate for local refugee communities.
A full calendar of events including in-person, hybrid, Zoom virtual program URLs, as well as current COVID-19 visitor guidance may be found by visiting niu.edu/artmuseum.
Calendar of Events
Thursday, September 2 – Hybrid Event
Curator’s Talk: The Making of the Exhibition
Curator Catherine Raymond, Ph.D. NIU professor of Art History, director of the Center for Burma Studies, and curator of the Burma Art collection will introduce two NIU alumni whose work inspired this exhibit. Thomas Rhoden, Ph.D. Political Science 2017, who lived for five years within the refugee camps along the Thai Burmese border. Karla Findley, MA Anthropology 2017, who has worked with Illinois Karen Refugee communities for the last 15 years. They will share their experience and the process of making this exhibition happen with the participation of the Aurora Karen community.
6 – 7 p.m. CDT; In-person with limited seating: Altgeld Hall 125
Join Zoom Meeting: https://niu-edu.zoom.us/j/84996201108?pwd=dm0wc2doY3Y0ZXowcks2STdSVWRWQT09
Friday, September 10 – Virtual Event
Albany Park: The Generational Impact of Refugees and Migrant Communities
Chicago’s Albany Park, home to various refugee and migrant groups throughout its long history, has been shaped by the achievements and contributions of the many groups who called it home. Saidouri Zomaya, MA candidate in Anthropology at NIU, will discuss the impact of generations of refugees and migrants who have left a lasting mark on this community, ranging from the hospital and university to the various community centers that serve families from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
5 – 6 p.m. CDT
Join Zoom Meeting: https://niu-edu.zoom.us/j/89828072714?pwd=ZG9JRDJZelpjY25OTFFnNW1Cd2F6UT09
Thursday, September 23 – Hybrid Event
New Humanitarianism: Wars, State-Building, and Globalism
NIU Department of Sociology Professor Abu Bah addresses issues of human security, human rights, and democracy in the context of new wars and terrorism warfare through a global and regional lens. Drawing upon research and publications covering two decades of work on African and international security and governance issues, key questions to be addressed are: what are the roots of civil wars and terrorism warfare? What are the interconnections between state security and human security? How do countries and world powers respond to security challenges and the responsibility to protect vulnerable populations? How does the politics of nativism challenge global society?
5 – 6 p.m. CDT; In-person with limited seating: Altgeld Hall 125
Join Zoom Meeting: https://niu-edu.zoom.us/j/83050979737?pwd=b3NucEloaWkzeHVaREpwTXhUeGxmZz09
Wednesday, September 29 – Virtual Event
Representing Refugee Experience: What’s at Stake
A panel discussion with artists Yolanda del Amo and Eddie A. López. Heide Fehrenbach, Board of Trustees Professor, NIU History Department will moderate a discussion with artist and professor Yolanda del Amo (Ramapo College, Mahwah, NJ) and artist and professor Eddy A. López (Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA) regarding refugee identity and image.
5 – 6 p.m. CDT
Join Zoom Meeting: https://niu-edu.zoom.us/j/84112246433?pwd=eWRIRFhxdDBzVW45Tkd1S2dqK1cvUT09
Thursday, September 30 – Hybrid Event
Living in Confinement
Keynote speakers facilitated by Karla Findley, NIU MA Anthropology 2017, with members of the Burmese Karen refugee community of Aurora who will share their experiences of living in refugee camps before coming to the U.S.
5 – 6 p.m. CDT; In-person with limited seating: Altgeld Hall 125
Join Zoom Meeting: https://niu-edu.zoom.us/j/86967383709?pwd=MkxrUFBsMk80eitwSExMUG9zQWFUUT09
Thursday, October 7 – Hybrid Event
The Declining Situation of Refugees in the World
Laura Heideman, Associate Professor, NIU Departments of Sociology and Nonprofit and NGO Studies whose research interest includes the role non-governmental organizations play in peace building will consider the current refugee situation in the world today: what it means to be a refugee; who cares for (or fails to care for) refugees; and why the situation in the past few years has been particularly uncertain.
5 – 6 p.m. CDT; In-person with limited seating: Altgeld Hall 125
Join Zoom Meeting: https://niu-edu.zoom.us/j/84400200689?pwd=Yi80NjdCMkk1cDVXeHhUQkYwZ0tRUT09
Exhibition Support
Artwork for Refuge and Refugee is on loan from the exhibiting artists and selected from the NIU Art Museum permanent collection. The Art of Surviving: The Journey of the Karen Refugees in Illinois, organized by the Center for Burma Studies at NIU, was made possible through financial support provided by a Henry Luce Foundation grant and includes artifacts from the Burma Art Collection at NIU and on loan from NIU MA 2017 Anthropology alumna Karla Findley and members of the area Karen community.
COVID-19 Visitor Information
The Art Museum will follow the latest recommendations from university, local, state and federal guidance. Please review our current directions for visitors before planning your visit niu.edu/artmuseum/about/visit.shtml. Programming and gallery hours are subject to changes, additions or cancelations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeling sick or unwell? We ask anyone feeling unwell to postpone their visit for another time. Visitors are welcome on campus, but we ask that you take the same precautions we ask our students, faculty and staff to protect yourself and others. Current practice is for all persons over two to be masked indoors.
Feb 19, 2021 | NIU Art Museum, xArtMuseumNews, xCVPA, xFeatured
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 and illustrator of The Envious Siblings: and Other Morbid Nursery Rhymes.
Illustrator of the graphic novel The Hunting Accident: A True Story of Crime and Poetry, written by David Carlson.
Illustrator of From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death, written by Caitlin Doughty.
Writer and illustrator of a number of short stories including Anemone Anomaly, The Progressive Problem, Whetting Engines, A Toasted Passion, The Regressive Solution, and Moonboy.
Illustrator of numerous periodicals and other things.
Active member of The Order of the Good Death.
Wanderer loosely based out of Chicago, Illinois.
