Events Calendar

Events are free and take place in a variety of locations and formats. The Museum is committed to accessibility for all visitors. Our efforts are ongoing. To request an accommodation for an upcoming event, please contact the Museum in advance at spencerart@ku.edu or 785.864.4710.

December 14

Talk

RHYTHM AND BRUSHSTROKES: MUSIC AND ART

10:15AM – 11AM

Spencer intern and PhD candidate in musicology Sara McClure explores the intersections between visual art and music. We'll examine several music-related works on display and hear musicians perform a piece inspired by art.

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art

December 15

Activity

OPEN FRIDAYS

10AM – 4PM

Your art wish is our command. Visit the Goddard Study Center on Fridays to request works of art on paper not currently on view or share your interests and let our staff select works for you. You can also drop in to enjoy works requested by other visitors. The Goddard Study Center is open to all during gallery hours with a break from 12-1PM.

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art

December 21

Talk

DIRECTOR’S WINTER SOLSTICE TOUR

2PM – 3PM
Spencer Museum of Art, 315 Long Ellis Gallery, 316 Simons Gallery, 317 Perkins Central Court, 401 Loo Gallery, 405 Michaelis Gallery, 406 Stewart Gallery, 407 Kress Gallery

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art

December 21

Talk

DIRECTOR’S WINTER SOLSTICE TOUR

4PM – 5PM
Spencer Museum of Art, 315 Long Ellis Gallery, 316 Simons Gallery, 317 Perkins Central Court, 401 Loo Gallery, 405 Michaelis Gallery, 406 Stewart Gallery, 407 Kress Gallery

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art

January 17

Activity

STORYTELLERS AND STORY BOARDS

12PM – 2PM
Spencer Museum of Art, Marshall Balcony, 404

Students are invited to become storytellers through an art activity inspired by the new exhibition "Jacob Lawrence and the Legend of John Brown." Create a story board following the distinct style of Jacob Lawrence's prints to share a story that is important to you.

February 13

Activity

TEXTILE TUESDAYS

1PM – 3PM
409 Lee Study Center, Spencer Museum of Art

Drop by the Lee Study Center on the second Tuesday of the month to see textiles not currently on view. Come back to see different rotations each week.

February 14

Talk

ONE HISTORY, TWO VERSIONS

11AM – 12PM
Spencer Museum of Art, Perkins Central Court, 317

Join Curator Sydney Pursel for a discussion of the exhibition "One History, Two Versions," which features art by contemporary Black artists, and how it connects to themes in the traveling exhibition "Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley: Let the World See."

February 20

Talk

CONVERSATION 1: A GIFT AND A PURCHASE

5:30PM – 6:30PM
Lawrence Public Library Auditorium, 707 Vermont St

Join Curator Sydney Pursel for a discussion of the exhibition “One History, Two Versions,” which features art by contemporary Black artists, and how it connects to themes in the traveling exhibition “Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley: Let the World See.”

February 29

Performance

DISPLACEMENT AND IDENTITY: THE FACES OF ODYSSEUS

5:30PM – 6:30PM
Spencer Museum of Art

Who is Odysseus, also known as Ulysses? The most fascinating Greek hero is also the most difficult to know. Go on a journey through the Spencer's galleries to understand this character, enhanced by readings and performances by students and faculty representing classics, theatre and dance, and music.

March 06

Class

PROTEST ART WITH B.L.A.C.K. LAWRENCE

2PM – 4PM
Spencer Museum of Art

B.L.A.C.K. Lawrence (Black Literature and Arts Collective of Kansas) invites community members to learn about and create protest art, including signs or zines, to uplift the issues that matter to them.

March 06

Performance

GOLDENBERG DUO

2PM – 3PM
Spencer Museum of Art, Perkins Central Court

Siblings Susan Goldenberg, violin, and William Goldenberg, piano, present a concert of classical music featuring works by Black composers Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Florence Price. William will play the Museum's Bechstein grand piano. Susan is a violinist with the Kansas City Symphony and William is a distinguished professor of piano at Northern Illinois University.

Sponsored By: Kansas City Symphony Community Connections Initiative (CCI), Spencer Museum of Art

March 12

Activity

TEXTILE TUESDAYS

1PM – 3PM
409 Lee Study Center, Spencer Museum of Art

Drop by the Lee Study Center on the second Tuesday of the month to see textiles not currently on view. Come back to see different rotations each week.

March 20

Talk

JACOB LAWRENCE AND THE LEGEND OF JOHN BROWN

12PM – 1PM
Spencer Museum of Art, Marshall Balcony, 404

Join Curator Kate Meyer and graduate intern Claire Cox as they discuss the history and continued relevance of Jacob Lawrence's prints depicting the life and death of abolitionist John Brown.

March 28

Talk

THE TRANSFORMATION OF LACE FROM HAND-MADE TO MACHINE-MADE

10:15AM – 11AM
Spencer Museum of Art, Brosseau Center for Learning

During the 19th century, making lace transitioned from a hand process to a machine process as part of the Industrial Revolution. Retired textile professor Tess van Groll discusses this shift using examples from the Spencer's collection.

April 09

Activity

TEXTILE TUESDAYS

1PM – 3PM
409 Lee Study Center, Spencer Museum of Art

Drop by the Lee Study Center on the second Tuesday of the month to see textiles not currently on view. Come back to see different rotations each week.

April 25

Talk

THE INSPIRING STORY OF A VANDALIZED SIGN

10:15AM – 11AM
Spencer Museum of Art, Perkins Central Court

Learn the true story of a sign that was stolen, throw in a river, replaced, shot, replaced again, and shot again. Follow the sign as it travels from rural Mississippi to the Smithsonian to the White House to Lawrence with KU Professor Dave Tell, author of the 2019 book "Remembering Emmett Till."

May 01

Talk

ARTIVISM AND AFROFUTURISM

11AM – 12:30PM
Spencer Museum of Art

B.L.A.C.K. Lawrence members Alex Kimball Williams and Anthony Boynton share their research and its relationship to art displayed in the exhibition “One History, Two Versions.” Williams will speak about police brutality and protest art and Boynton will discuss Afrofuturism.

May 04

Activity

KITE FESTIVAL

1PM – 4PM
Spencer Museum of Art, Reece Memorial Plaza

This community event commemorates the Hamamatsu Kite Festival that occurs each May in Japan. People of all ages are invited to learn about the history and culture of kite-making and create kites of their own to fly outside the Museum.

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art , Center for East Asian Studies

May 14

Activity

TEXTILE TUESDAYS

1PM – 3PM
409 Lee Study Center, Spencer Museum of Art

Drop by the Lee Study Center on the second Tuesday of the month to see textiles not currently on view. Come back to see different rotations each week.

May 23

Talk

A GOTHIC MARVEL

10:15AM – 11AM
409 Lee Study Center, Spencer Museum of Art

Experience the splendor of the Spencer's iconic "Tympanum with the Lamentation (Pieta)." Graduate intern and art history doctoral candidate Sarah Dyer explores the history, original location, function, and style of this impressive portal sculpture once placed over the entrance of a Late Gothic Spanish church.

June 13

Talk

JACOB LAWRENCE AND JOHN BROWN

10:15AM – 11AM
Spencer Museum of Art, Marshall Balcony, 404

Curator Kate Meyer leads a tour of the exhibition "Jacob Lawrence and the Legend of John Brown," discussing the artist and his series of prints as well as John Brown and his ties to Kansas.