Northern Illinois University
Art Museum
College of Visual and Performing Arts

Current Exhibitions

Exhibitions will be open Nov. 14 to Dec. 16, 2023 and Jan. 16 to Feb. 17, 2024 (closed during university holidays).

What is for Supper? What is a Meal?

Rotunda and South Galleries

"What is for Supper? What is a Meal?" explores aspects of nurturing, socialization, health and sustainability. Geographic, cultural and economic differences may determine what is available to eat and what would be satisfying as a meal. The importance of food shared is a linchpin of hospitality and is an integral component for social dialogue to take place. Issues that threaten our food intake also threaten our greater well-being. This exhibition is curated by the NIU Art Museum Exhibition Advisory Committee.

The artists participating in this exhibition were selected from private and public collections, a national call for entry and by invitation and include: Rein Brooks, Barbara Ciurej and Lindsay Lochman, Sue Coe, Honoré Daumier, Evelyn Davis-Walker, Andrew DeCaen, J. J. Grandville, Daniel Grych, Henry Hargreaves, Tom Huck, Andrew Ellis Johnson, Christina Kang, Marina Kuchinski, Caitlyn Lawler, Laura Letinsky, Maureen O'Leary, Janelle O'Malley, JWP, Lisa Riedl, Dana Sherwood, Susanne Slavick, Neal Slavin, So Young Song, Sophia Varcados and Andy Warhol.

Food for the Soul: Belief and Healing in Burma

North Gallery

"Food for the Soul: Belief and Healing in Burma" is curated by Catherine Raymond from the Burma Art Collection at NIU. This exhibition features five sections that include explorations of food for well-being, merit-making, healing, spirituality and taboos.

Unsurpassed in Quality: Vintage Food Labels from the Collection of Peter B. Olson

Hall Case Gallery

This exhibit is in our hall case gallery and features a variety of lithographic food labels curated by the NIU Art Museum's assistant director.

Upcoming Exhibitions

In spring 2024 we will be hosting "Making Our History – Artists Render Lincoln's Legacies," which was produced by University of Illinois Springfield art studio professor Brytton Bjorngaard and Lincoln scholar Graham A. Peck. Bjorngaard and Peck worked with 20 Illinois artists who were given access to the Lincoln archives. This exhibit will be open Mar. 26 to May 11, 2024.