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Specialties
The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art is the fine arts museum of Northwestern University and Evanston. It serves the academic and cultural needs of the University and community through thought-provoking exhibitions, a rich and diverse permanent collection, original scholarship, dynamic educational and cultural programs, and classical and contemporary film screenings at Block Cinema.
History
Established in 1980.
In 1980, distinguished art collectors and benefactors Mary and Leigh Block donated funds to Northwestern University for the construction of an art exhibition venue. In recognition of their gift, the University named the changing exhibition space the Mary and Leigh Block Gallery. As other Northwestern departments transferred artworks to its care, the Gallery also started an art collection that has since grown to 5,000 pieces through donations and purchases.
In recognition of its growing collection and its expanding programming, the Gallery became the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art in 1998. The Block embarked on a major reconstruction project in 1999 and reopened in a new facility in September of 2000. Designed by acclaimed Chicago architect Dirk Lohan (the grandson of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe), and substantially funded by a generous gift from businessman, lawyer, and philanthropist Paul Leffmann, the glass, steel and limestone structure tripled the size of the original facility.