Block Museum of Art

Free art museum on Northwestern University campus in Evanston — rotating exhibitions and a growing permanent collection.

The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art is the public art museum of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and has offered free admission since its founding in 1980. Established through a generous gift from Chicago art collectors Mary and Leigh B. Block, the museum was originally modeled on the German kunsthalle tradition — no permanent collection, just rotating temporary exhibitions. It has since grown a permanent collection of tens of thousands of works, ranging from late-Gothic paintings to contemporary art. The museum serves as a vibrant cultural hub for the university community and a free resource for all visitors to Evanston.