Grants and Support

$50,000 and above

Marilynn Bruder Alsdorf* Diane Solomon and Craig Solomon Lisa Munster Tananbaum and Steven A. Tananbaum Susan K. Wilson and Stephen R. Wilson

$25,000-$49,999

Lisa Kadin and William Spiegel Ellen Philips Katz Zeynep Yasemin Keyman and Melih Keyman Angela Lustig and Dale Taylor Craig Ponzio Elizabeth G. Stout*

$10,000-$24,999

Mary Baglivo and James Meguerian Elizabeth Ann Epstein and Stuart Henry Bohart Dianne Dardes Loeb and Stephen B. Loeb Andra S. Press and Irwin Press Susan Gecht Rieser and Richard M. Rieser Christine Olson Robb andWilliam John Robb Mimi R. Schapiro and Morton Schapiro

$5,000-$9,999

Anu Aggarwal and Arjun Aggarwal Kim Allen-Niesen and Keith Allen-Niesen Lorinda Ash Clare Bell Christine Meleo Bernstein and Armyan Bernstein Katherine Bacon Best and Bob Best Nicole E. Rubens Druckman and James N. Druckman Kristin Peterson Edwards Matthew S. Edwards Barbara N. Fuldner Amy O. Geier and James Geier Lynn E. Hauser and Neil L. Ross Angela Himsel and Selig D. Sacks Sari Klein and James A. Klein Sandra L. Riggs Dorothy J. Speidel Priscilla A. Vail Caldwell

$1,000-$4,999

Nancy A. Abshire Kay Kujala Deaux Fabiola Delgado and Kenneth N. Thompson Janet Sally Dumas Elizabeth Ellrodt and Scott C. Schweighauser Kate Ezra Judith Rachel Freeman Carol Ginsburg and Jerome J. Ginsburg Mary Ann Grumman and David L. Grumman Denise M. Gunter Jean L. Guritz and Gary Robert Guritz Steven P. Henry Adam D. Hirsch Gail Hodges and Tom Hodges Rosalyn M. Laudati and James B. Pick Nancy Tims Magill and R. Hugh Magill Graciela Claudia Meltzer and Neal D. Meltzer Diane Baraban More Carol J. Narup Janis W. Notz and John K. Notz Katherine Laun Olson Jane H. Peterson and Lloyd J. Peterson Sarah M. Pritchard and Neal E. Blair Karen Richards Sachs and David Allan Sachs Jean E. Shedd Martha P. Tedeschi and Michael Lukasiewicz Kay Torshen Arete Swartz Warren

$500-$999

P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale Mary Lynn Gibbons and James F. Gibbons Robert A. Hastings Susan Wascher-Kumar and Prem Kumar Ilene B. Marquardt and Karl L. Marquardt Debra K. Mellinger and Edward M. Mellinger Jr. Nancy Nelson Staniar Inci D. Ulgur

$250-$499

Suzette Bross Bulley and Allan E. Bulley Sally S. Dobroski and Bernard J. Dobroski Bryna Goldman Gamson and Edward P. Gamson Christopher P. Huisinga Margaret Lynn Hughitt Matthew Alan Kluk William R. Levin Joseph S. Martinich Marilyn McCoy Vicki L. Sauter James R. Shaeffer Charles R. Thomas Donald Tritschler

Northwestern University

Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities Black Arts Initiative British Cluster Department of English Gender & Sexuality Studies Program The Graduate School Performance Studies; School of Communication Radio, Television, and Film; School of Communication Undergraduate Research Assistant Program

$100,000 AND ABOVE

Terra Foundation for American Art

Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

$25,000 – $99,000

National Endowment for the Arts

Myers Foundations

Illinois Arts Council Agency

The Alumnae of Northwestern University

$5,000 – $9,000

Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation

Up to $4,999

Furthermore: A program of the J.M. Kaplan

Fund

Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities Lisa Corrin and Peter B. Erickson Beauvais Lyons Tonika Lewis Johnson Steven P. Henry Deborah Hirshfield Sari Klein and James A. Klein Alice Zoloto Kosmin and Cookie Kosmin JoAnn Kruger and Bernard Kruger Kim Allen-Niesen and Keith Allen-Niesen Diane M. Saltzman and Robert P. Saltzman Gary Sokol Martha P. Tedeschi and Michael Lukasiewicz

INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT

The Block’s grants continued a very positive trajectory this year with recognition of the museum’s work in the form of major awards from national funders.

Especially notable, The Terra Foundation for American Art awarded the largest research and development grant in The Block’s history to support our development of an exhibition project that looks at the art history of the Chicago region from an Indigenous perspective. Co-curators Kathleen Bickford Berzock and Janet Dees have begun a research and development process that takes an Indigenous, reciprocal curatorial approach. In addition to supporting research travel and related scholarly convenings, the Terra grant supports a Guest Co-curator and a Terra Curatorial Research Fellow as additional members of the curatorial team. The project will be a critical contribution to Terra’s city-wide Art Design Chicago 2024 initiative and a landmark exhibition for understanding the art and visual culture of our region. Through projects like Caravans of Gold, The Block has become known for producing original scholarship through a process that exemplifies long-term, collaborative, and reciprocal relationships. This project brings this intensive process even closer to home, where we hope it will resonate with numerous organizations throughout Chicago’s art communities and beyond.

Grant fundraising for A Site of Struggle concluded with another milestone year, including a top grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and second round of support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Particularly noted by the NEA’s reviewers was The Block’s attentiveness to best practices and community input, the project’s high level of scholarship, and our commitment to broad audiences, including outside of Chicago. The Montgomery Museum of Fine Art will be an important partner venue within the context of this federal grant. For the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, this most recent grant follows on a 2019 Curatorial Research Fellowship, which provided the foundation for this project’s groundbreaking research led by Janet Dees. This second award will enable the implementation of the exhibition at its fullest realization. The related publication received dedicated support from Furthermore, a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund. Meaningful support for A Site of Struggle was also awarded by local and community organizations, the Alumnae of Northwestern University and the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation.

Outside of exhibition grants, we have taken the opportunity this year to collaborate on grant initiatives in community education and engagement. An exciting success in framing new programs came through a recent award from the Academic Enrichment Committee of the Alumnae of Northwestern University. While modest, this grant will significantly bolster the ongoing impact of our commitment to student-led acquisitions by bringing artists to campus whose work was brought into the collection via these undergraduate-focused programs. It will reinforce the students’ work and foreground this part of The Block’s mission for the broader public. The grant will support our ability to include exhibition artists in The Block’s 2021-2022 public programming alongside Who Says, Who Shows, What Counts: Thinking about History with The Block’s Collection as well as A Site of Struggle: American Art Against Anti-Black Violence.

– Kate Hadley Tofness,

Senior Advancement Manager, Grants and Collection Council

A year-end celebration with staff and student docents