Northern Illinois University (NIU) Art Museum

Balancing Traditional and Contemporary Art.

Closed university holidays and between exhibitions.

Aug 28–Oct 19: 

• Seeing Each Other: Portraits in Time and Place - This group exhibition features both experienced and emerging artists. Each entry explores the time-honored tradition of portraiture in artmaking in a unique way, often finding universal narratives and concerns within intimate and personal imagery.

• Hold Still: Portraits from the Permanent Collection - Portraiture, like “still life” or “landscape” has been a pillar of art genres since time immemorial. We combed through the permanent collection to assemble an exhibition of portraits from Japanese actor prints to Andy Warhol Polaroids. From the gritty to the idealized, there are images of individuals, groups, the self and even animals.

• Homage to Humanity: Portrait Prints by Sidney Chafetz - Jewish-American artist Sidney Chafetz (1922-2013) devoted his life to education and the arts. An avid reader, Chafetz employed his talents as a printmaker to depict his social and literary heroes. In this exhibition, we gathered many of his portraits into a cultural “hall of fame.”

Nov 20–Dec 14, 2024 – Continues Jan 15–Feb 15, 2025

Biennial Faculty Show of NIU School of Art and Design and NIU School of Theatre and Dance 

Image: Artists share insights into the work on display in the NIU Art Museum galleries.