Northern Illinois University
Art Museum
College of Visual and Performing Arts

Current Exhibitions

A pair of exhibitions will run concurrently in the galleries of the NIU Art Museum for the coming academic year. Legacies on Display: The forbidden and venerated arts of Burma and Sixty years of printmaking at NIU: A Legacy of Excellence will both run from August 27, 2025 to May 9, 2026.

“Legacies on Display: The forbidden and venerated arts of Burma”

Through a display of 19th to 21st century Burmese ivory, silver, textiles, and paintings, Legacies on Display reveals the complicated history of cultural and artistic objects and the lasting impact, intended or unintended, they leave behind as they travel from their point of origin to their final home in a museum, where a new history of public display and interpretation begins. Using the Burma Art Collection at NIU to explore these issues, this exhibition examines and questions the changing narratives that objects undergo as their life extends beyond a generation. From the once venerated elephant ivory carvings to the once forbidden modern protest paintings, Legacies on Display interrogates how meanings and interpretations are created, changed, and left behind as part of our human record.

Legacies on Display invites viewers to reflect on the role of museums in the collecting, displaying, interpreting, and preserving of the past. How can we, as contemporary viewers, reconcile with artistic practices that are now understood to have had devastating effects on our past and present? How should we interpret artistic works that continue to hold true today in a world of continued political instability? And how can museums use these legacies as a catalyst for positive change? Through a diverse multimedia display, this exhibition demonstrates how our interpretation of art can simultaneously create and dismantle the legacies of the past.

“Legacies of Trade Networks” in the North Gallery. On public view for the first time, silver from a private collection joins new and permanent donations from the Burma Art Collection to explore how silverwork in Burma reflects belief, power and value. These objects reveal deep ties to colonial histories, global trade, religious devotion and often-overlooked environmental impacts.

“Legacies of Human Dominance” in the Rotunda Gallery. Delicately carved ivory, once used in homes and religious settings, speak to a guarded art form passed down through family lineages. The ivory on display addresses the tension between cultural heritage, colonial legacy, and ecological harm driven by the belief in human superiority over the natural world, while also raising questions about the ethics of museum display.

“Legacies of Social Mobilization” also in the Rotunda Gallery. Spanning the 1960s to the mid-2010s these bold paintings show how art in Burma became a tool of protest. Highlights include a never-before-shown work by modernist Paw Oo Thet and references to symbolic acts and gendered forms of protest after the 2021 coup d’etat. Once forbidden, these images now stand as tributes to creative resistance, reflecting a broader history of social mobilization in Burma.

“Legacies of Knowledge” Hallway Cases. This display features objects from the Burma Art Collection that have appeared on covers of the NIU-based Journal of Burma Studies in the last decade. It reflects on how the field has grown over time, honors foundational editors and contributors, and highlights new directions in research and scholar representation.

These shows have been curated by Carmin Berchiolly, Curator of the Burma Art Collection, Center for Burma Studies. Installation assistance: Danni Hernandez, Ari Norris, Catherine Raymond and Khaing Wai Wai Zaw. Graphic design: Sophia Varcados.

Sixty Years of Printmaking at NIU: A Legacy of Excellence

South Galleries. The artistic achievements of current and former faculty, alumni and visiting artists will be highlighted in this retrospective exhibition of the Printmaking division of NIU’s School of Art and Design. In this broad ranging display, various printmaking media such as intaglio, lithography, woodcut, silk screen and monoprint are represented.

The excellent reputation of the department has been built by its faculty, which has included two Presidential Research Professors: David Driesbach (1964-1992), who founded the printmaking program in 1964, and Michael Barnes (1998-present). Other important faculty members over the decades have included Dorothea Bilder (1968-2003), Robert Bornhuetter (1969-1996) and Ashley Nason (2008-2015).

These faculty have augmented the studio experience for their students with visits from professional artists from around the world, working collaboratively with the NIU students to produce original print editions. Examples will be on display from artists Phyllis Bramson, Cannonball Press, Sue Coe, Bill Fick, Sam Gilliam, Wayne Kimball, Robert Nelson, Jay Ryan, Jenny Schmid, Sarah Smelser, Sean Starwars, Fred Stonehouse, Diane Victor and Melanie Yazzie.

Sixty years of printmaking alumni, many of whom have gone on to accomplished careers as artists and instructors nationwide include: David Ader, David Asher, Weston Beeler, Sasha Bitzer, John Boyd Brandon, Joel Bujnowski, Chris Cannon, Peter Cohan, Aaron Coleman, Anna Cortes, Zoë Couvillion, Stanley M. Daniel, John Driesbach, David Faber, Dan Grzeca, Kellie Hames, Darren Hauser, Tom Herzberg, Rachelle Hill, Joshua Jay Johnson, Brian Kelly, Anna Kenar, Millicent Kennedy, Ray Kobald, Wes Kramer, Will Kurucz, Kari McDonald, Michael McGovern, Samantha Mendoza, Adrienne Miller, Susan Moffett, Mark Olinger, Peter Olson, Nick Phan, James Pink, Stephen Prina, John Pufahl, Curtis Readel, Jessica Robles, Frances Ross, Ron Ruble, Lee Tanner Sido, Spinney, Matthew Vincent, Thomas Vogel, Valerie Wallace, Ken Warneke, Michael Weigman, Brad Widness, Eric Watson and Richard Wolfryd. 

This show has been curated by Michael Barnes and Peter Olson with assistance from Richard Siegesmund and Jo Burke. Installation assistance: Amanda Baisden and Devin Gonzalez. Graphic Design: Sophia Varcados and Vitaliy Koen. Additional help: Robert Banke, Shelby Edelmann, Dan Grych, Kryssi Staikidis and Jessica Labatte.