In recognition of its growing collection and its expanding programming, the Gallery became the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art in 1998. The Block embarked on a major reconstruction project the following year and, in September of 2000, the Museum reopened in a new building. Designed by acclaimed Chicago architect Dirk Lohan and substantially funded by a generous gift from the late Paul Leffmann, the glass and limestone structure tripled the size of the original facility. A significant portion of the building is devoted to temporary exhibition spaces — the Main Gallery, Alsdorf Gallery, and Ellen Philips Katz and Howard C. Katz Gallery and Classroom — while the Theo Leffmann Gallery displays the textile work of artist Theo Leffmann. In addition to storage space for the Museum’s collection, the building also includes the state-of-the-art 150-seat Pick-Laudati Auditorium, which accommodate film screenings, lectures, symposia, and classes.

The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, is the fine arts museum of Chicago’s North Shore, offering focused visual arts programming for the Northwestern University community and the greater Chicago area. The Museum mounts several exhibitions a year, organizes numerous lectures, symposia, and workshops with artists and scholars, and screens classic and contemporary films at Block Cinema. We also reach national and international audiences through our traveling exhibitions, publications, and Web site. Our expanding permanent collection — consisting primarily of works on paper — distinguishes the Museum as an important repository of original works of art.