EXHIBITION PUBLICATION

A Site Of Struggle

American Art against Anti-Black Violence

Hardcover

ISBN: 9780691209272

Published: Jan 25, 2022

160 Pages, 11 x 9 in. / Illus: 60 color illus. Princeton University Press

The book’s essays offer new perspectives from established and emerging scholars working in the fields of African American studies, art history, communications, and history. Contributors include Sampada Aranke, Courtney Baker, Huey Copeland, Janet Dees, Leslie Harris, and LaCharles Ward. Investigating the conceptual and aesthetic strategies artists have used to engage with the issue of anti-Black violence, A Site of Struggle highlights diverse works of art and ephemera from the post-Reconstruction period of the late nineteenth century to the founding of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Published by Princeton University Press in association with the Mary

Exhibition Resources Care Guide

This pamphlet brought together selected works from the exhibition that are paired with artworks from The Block’s collection, poetry, and a guided meditation created specifically for this exhibition. The call-and-response structure was meant to create a dialogue between the emotional weight of selected works from A Site of Struggle and images from the museum’s collection that emphasize themes of community joy, motherhood, selfdetermination, agency, and Black womanhood.

EXHIBITION RESOURCES VISITOR'S GUIDE

This guide was made available to all exhibition visitors in person and online, offering context to the complex exhibition experience. The guide included a curator's introduction, an exploration of themes and programming, reflection questions offered by our community advisors, frequently asked questions, and select resources for further learning. The guide also contained visitor recommendations for creating a space of mutual respect and mindful presence within the gallery.

OF

12,970 VISITORS AT BLOCK

440 COMMENT CARDS

912 PROGRAM ATTENDEES OF 13 PROGRAMS

800 CINEMA ATTENDEES OF 8 EVENTS

NUMBERS

8,558 VISITORS AT MONTGOMERY MUSEUM

108 GROUP VISITS

Exhibition Comments Visitors Respond

The Block Museum staff recognized the challenging nature of the material in this exhibition, the range of responses it might elicit, and the impact it carried for visitors whose identities and lived experiences intersect with the histories presented.

Over 400 guests shared their reflections through comment cards. All cards were archived as part of the legacy of the exhibition, and many visitors chose to allow their responses to be made public. In gratitude we share a selection of comment card responses on the website ASiteofStruggle.org. a messages

READ THE RESPONSES HERE

THE HYPE MAGAZINE: Meet Janet Dees Curator of ‘A Site of Struggle: American Art Against Anti-Black Violence’ Art Exhibit

"Usually all my exhibitions start with an artwork or two or three that kind of haunts me that i can't get out of my mind" Watch Interview here.

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN: The Block Museum’s “A Site of Struggle” displays art against anti-Black violence

CHICAGO READER: Temp check

FOX NEWS CHICAGO: 'A Site of Struggle' exhibit on display at Northwestern University

EVANSTON ROUNDTABLE: Local events to finish off your Black History Month - Evanston RoundTable

ABC NEWS SAN DIEGO: Exhibit spotlights anti-Black violence through history

POLITICO: The Shows: Sunday listings for Feb. 20, 2022

ABC7 CHICAGO: Northwestern University exhibit depicts history of anti-Black violence: 'Impossible to erase'

SCENE+HEARD: Why you really, really need to see The Block’s new art exhibition on anti-Black violence

With approximately 65 pieces of art, “A Site of Struggle'' mirrors the many manifestations of racism, whether physical, psychological, or otherwise. The exhibition includes a sculpture of a Black man’s head behind t-shaped crosshairs; a garment memorializing a Black transgender woman; and lynching photographs in which victims were digitally removed to spotlight onlookers.

LA TIMES: Sunday Talk Show Guests

NBC NEWS: New exhibit highlights art against anti-Black violence

MSNBC: New Exhibit Highlights Art Against Anti-Black Violence WATCH INTERVIEW

WIDEWALLS: The Block Museum Explores How American Art Responded to Anti-Black Violence | Widewalls

THE HYPE MAGAZINE: A Site of Struggle: American Art against Anti-Black Violence debuts at the Block Museum of Art

“The Block Museum of Art is committed to developing bold, meaningful and challenging projects that ask audiences to reconsider accepted narratives and search for new modes of understanding and active reflection,” said Lisa Corrin, The Block Museum Ellen Philips Katz director. “In its breadth of scholarly and community collaborations and support of the museum’s ongoing social justice initiatives, A Site of Struggle is one of the most important exhibitions the institution has ever undertaken.”

EURO NEWS: L'art américain dénonce les violences antiafro-descendants

USA TODAY: Timely or timeless? Art combats anti-Black violence

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: Top 10 - Fall 2021: Art, Architecture & Photography

INDIA EDUCATION DIARY: Art as a way to protest, process, mourn and memorialize anti-Black violence in America

BFC Presidential Associate Professor of Art History, University of Pennsylvania

Spotlight A Site Of Struggle Media Coverage

The exhibition caught the attention of local and national broadcast media including Chicago PBS, ABC, FOX and NBC affiliates and national spots on USA Today and MSNBC.

NBC CHICAGO: New Exhibit Examines How Artists Have Dealt With Anti-Black Violence

AFRICANEWS: Art exhibition explores history of pervasive anti-Black violence in US

MIRAGE NEWS: ‘A Site of Struggle: American Art against Anti-Black Violence’ debuts at Block Museum of Art Jan. 26

NORTHWESTERN NEWS: ‘A Site of Struggle: American Art against Anti-Black Violence’ coming to the Block Museum

ART AND OBJECT: Northwestern University to Host "A Site of Struggle"

CULTURE TYPE: On the Rise: Curators who took new appointments

SEE GREAT ART: Artists take on anti-Black violence in A Site of Struggle exhibit

NEWS BREAK DALLAS, TX: ‘A Site of Struggle: American Art against Anti-Black Violence’ to debut Jan. 26 at Block Museum

ART AND EDUCATION: A Site of Struggle: American Art against Anti-Black Violence

REDEYE CHICAGO: Top 10 Visual Art in Chicago: Big Shows, Big Messages

F-STOP MAGAZINE: A Site of Struggle: American Art against Anti-Black Violence @ The Block Museum of Art

TIME OUT CHICAGO: A Site of Struggle: American Art against Anti-Black Violence

Interesting race, violence, and art by investigating the varied strategies American artists have used to grapple with anti-Black violence, the artwork ranges from literal to metaphorical. And while it may be showcasing works created between the 1890s and 2013 — it speaks to contemporary artistic practice within a longer history of American art and visual culture.

BLACK NEWS: The Block Museum of Art unveils its latest exhibition, “A Site of Struggle: American Art against AntiBlack Violence”

CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS: Arts and Culture Intel

COLOSSAL: 'A Site of Struggle: American Art against AntiBlack Violence' @ The Block Museum of Art

ARTFIXDAILY: 'A Site of Struggle: American Art against Anti-Black Violence' Opens at The Block Museum of Art

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: Exhibition rounds up more than a century of art showing and condemning racial violence

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN: “A Site of Struggle” brings historical context to anti-Black violence

WTTW NEWS: New Exhibit Explores Intersection of AntiBlack Violence and Art

“From a very early time, artists were engaged in the politics of making it known there was an injustice happening [...] That was at a time when you had lower literacy rates. So people had to rely on visuals to reach larger audiences, because not everyone was reading the paper or picking up books.”

EVANSTON ROUNDTABLE: ‘An archive of Black creative genius’: A Site of Struggle exhibit explores resistance to anti-Black violence

“This social event informs, it moves, it creates action, and Evanston’s community is not foreign to that. Specifically, in the Black community in Evanston, which dates back to 1850, there’s always been a movement of action and addressing social issues.”

NEWCITY ART: Art Top 5: May 2022

SPOTIFY: American Art against Anti-Black Violence | Janet Dees | NU People Podcast E4

THE JOURNAL OF BLACKS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: Recent Books of Interest to African American Scholars

Exhibition Advisors Community Advisors

Advised by Northwestern’s Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, The Block embarked on a multi-year series of dialogues which solicited input on A Site of Struggle from diverse community stakeholders to shape visitor experience; co-develop collaborative programming on issues of racial injustice; and build trust for continued engagement.

Dino Robinson Founder, Shorefront Legacy Center, Facilitator

Tiffany McDowell

YWCA Evanston/Northshore’s Equity Institute, Facilitator

LeAnn Jenkins

YWCA Evanston/Northshore’s Equity Institute, Facilitator

Melissa Blount artist/activist/ psychotherapist- Black Lives Matter Witness Quilt project/

Fran Joy artist

Rev. Dr. Michael Nabors President Evanston N.A.A.C.P/ Pastor Second Baptist Church

Nathan Norman Youth and Young Adult Program Supervisor, City of Evanston

Rebeca Mendoza District 65 School Board, Evanston Latinos