History: Museum & Building

In 1980, the distinguished Chicago art collectors Mary and Leigh B. Block donated funds to Northwestern University for the construction of an art exhibition facility to be enjoyed by the Northwestern community and its visitors. While the original building resembled a Kunsthalle — a space devoted to temporary exhibitions — the Mary and Leigh Block Gallery, as it was first called, began collecting artworks soon after its doors opened, as the University transferred to the Block works of art that it had received over the years. The initial collection has grown through donations and purchases to approximately 4,000 works of art, primarily prints and photographs.

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 the following year and, in September of 2000, the Museum reopened in a new building. Designed by acclaimed Chicago architect Dirk Lohan and substantially funded by a generous gift from the late Paul Leffmann, the glass and limestone structure tripled the size of the original facility. Nearly a third of the building is devoted to temporary exhibition spaces — the Main Gallery; Alsdorf Gallery; Print, Drawing, and Photography Study Center; and Ellen Philips Katz and Howard C. Katz Gallery and Classroom — while the Theo Leffmann Gallery displays the textile work of artist Theo Leffmann. In addition to storage space for the Museum’s collection, the building also includes the state-of-the-art 150-seat Pick-Laudati Auditorium, which accommodate film screenings, lectures, symposia, and classes.