Press Room
View press releases and download high-resolution images. Members of the press seeking more information about exhibitions and programs, interviews with Museum staff, or images should contact Director of External Affairs Elizabeth Kanost.
Please note: Appointments are required to take professional photography or video or to use tripods and other equipment in the galleries. Personal photography without equipment is permitted, but do not use flash or selfie sticks.
Press releases
Spencer Museum’s new exhibition highlights how 'Bold Women' have changed art and society
Three Lawrence-based artists among recipients of 2024 Rocket Grants
Spencer Museum’s ‘Native Fashion’ exhibition explores diversity, ingenuity of Indigenous style and dress
Spencer Museum, Charlotte Street announce Rocket Grants 2024 call for artists
Spencer Museum announces 2024 Brosseau Creativity Award recipients
Spencer Museum to host event with the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., cousin of Emmett Till
New exhibitions at Spencer Museum explore legacy of Emmett Till and racial justice
Spencer Museum exhibition explores life and death of abolitionist John Brown
A new exhibition opening today at the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas explores the life and death of abolitionist John Brown as interpreted by acclaimed Black modernist Jacob Lawrence. “Jacob Lawrence and the Legend of John Brown” features a series of 22 prints created in 1974. ...
Spencer Museum acquires paintings by Dread Scott and Fahamu Pecou
The Spencer Museum of Art has acquired major works by artists Dread Scott and Fahamu Pecou. The two paintings are currently on view at the museum as part of the exhibition “Black Writing,” which explores the power, politics and complexities of language in contemporary Black culture. The exhibition, which will...
Spencer Museum exhibition features Kansas artists who investigate nature
The exhibition “Reading the World,” which showcases how artists from Kansas and beyond explore forces of nature, opens Aug. 26 at the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas. Together the works displayed prompt viewers to consider their own encounters with the natural world as well as their...
Spencer Museum commissions new painting for KU Common Work of Art
The Spencer Museum of Art commissioned artist Fahamu Pecou to create “Parable of the Sower: Oya’s Dream” as the KU Common Work of Art for the 2023-2024 academic year. The painting is Pecou’s response to the KU Common Book, “Parable of the Sower,” by Octavia Butler. ...
New book by Spencer Museum curator centers voices of unrecognized performers
A new book by Joey Orr, Spencer Museum curator for research at the University of Kansas, presents the often unheard experiences of collaborators who perform in other artists’ work. ...
Artists Miller & Shellabarger to perform April 28-29 at Spencer Museum of Art
This week the Spencer Museum of Art will host Chicago-based artists Miller & Shellabarger (Dutes Miller and Stan Shellabarger) for a series of public events on April 28-29 that explore performance art, queerness and the dynamic of performing as a couple. ...
Spencer Museum, Charlotte Street announce Rocket Grants 2023 call for artists
The Spencer Museum of Art and Charlotte Street have announced the 2023 cycle of Rocket Grants, with the call for artists opening online May 15. An information session will be held April 21 at the Spencer Museum at the University of Kansas for artists interested in applying. ...
Spencer Museum announces 2023 Brosseau Creativity Award recipients
The Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas has announced the 2023 recipients of the Jack & Lavon Brosseau Creativity Awards. Established by benefactor Lavon Brosseau in 2011, the awards honor innovative and risk-taking creative work in the categories of writing and diverse media from KU undergraduate students...
Spencer Museum to host community celebration of new collection galleries March 4
The Spencer Museum of Art invites the public to explore its recently renovated and reinstalled collection galleries at Level Up!, An Art Party for All, from noon to 5 p.m. March 4. This free community celebration will highlight the Spencer Museum’s upstairs collection galleries, which have been updated to increase...
Photos by Accra Shepp at Spencer Museum of Art document Occupy Wall Street, COVID-19
A new exhibition, “Dissent, Discontent, and Action: Pictures of US by Accra Shepp,” opens Feb. 18 at the Spencer Museum of Art. Through two portrait series, “Occupying Wall Street” and “The Covid Journals,” New York-based contemporary photographer Accra Shepp reveals a sense of community, hope and resilience during an era...
Spencer Museum receives $250K from Institute of Museum and Library Services for database upgrade
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has awarded the Spencer Museum of Art $250,000 to upgrade its collection database, MuseumPlus, to the newest cloud-based version. Together with an IMLS grant awarded in 2021 to redesign the Spencer Museum’s websites, this funding will help improve access to and the...
Spencer Museum announces KU Common Work of Art for 2022–2023
The Spencer Museum of Art has selected an untitled “sounding sculpture” by Harry Bertoia as the KU Common Work of Art for the 2022–2023 academic year. The sculpture, which was designed to be touched, seen and heard, connects to themes of access in the KU Common Book “Disability Visibility” edited...
Spencer Museum of Art receives $3 million gift to endow Arts Research Integration
The Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas has received a $3 million gift from Kansas City-based donor Margaret H. Silva to endow Arts Research Integration (ARI), a groundbreaking initiative that brings artists into a wide range of research processes through interdisciplinary collaborations. Additionally, Silva has offered to...
Spencer Museum announces 2022 Brosseau Creativity Award recipients
The Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas has announced the 2022 recipients of the Jack & Lavon Brosseau Creativity Awards. Established by benefactor Lavon Brosseau in 2011, the awards honor innovative and risk-taking creative work in the categories of writing and diverse media from KU undergraduate students...
Spencer Museum, Charlotte Street Foundation relaunch Rocket Grants
The Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas and Charlotte Street Foundation have announced the return of Rocket Grants with the call for artists opening May 13. ...
Spencer Museum announces Sydney Pursel as new curator for public practice
The Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas has announced the hiring of Sydney Pursel as the institution’s first curator for public practice. This new position will focus on ways to include community voices in the Spencer Museum’s exhibitions and programs along with shaping the direction of the...
Spencer Museum receives $1.4M from Department of Education to help Kansas teachers bring art into their classrooms
The Spencer Museum of Art has been awarded a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education for a five-year project collaborating with K-12 educators across Kansas to integrate art and art therapy into their classroom teaching. This is the largest federal grant the University of Kansas has ever...
Spencer Museum’s annual Backyard Bash features student installations in Marvin Grove
The Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas announces its sixth annual Backyard Bash, which opens Oct. 21 and remains on view in Marvin Grove through Nov. 12. Part exhibition, part festival, the Backyard Bash celebrates the interplay of nature, culture and the character of community in Marvin...
Spencer Museum opens Oct. 15 with never before exhibited works
The Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas will reopen its galleries Oct. 15 with a new exhibition featuring works of art from the collection that have never been displayed. ...
