February 09

Activity

7PM – 9PM
Spencer Museum of Art

KU and Haskell students are invited to explore our newly reinstalled galleries and enjoy music, activities, refreshments, and good times with friends. The event is free and open to all university students.

Sponsored By: Presented by the Spencer Student Advisory Board

February 10

Activity

1PM – 4PM
305 Goddard Study Center

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

February 13

Talk

6PM – 7PM
The Forum, Marvin Hall, 1465 Jayhawk Blvd

Gabrielle Civil is a Black feminist performance artist, poet, and writer whose work aims to open up space. Originally from Detroit, she currently teaches at the California Institute of the Arts. Civil has premiered 50 performance artworks around the world and her memoirs include the déjà vu, Swallow the Fish, Experiments in Joy, (ghost gestures), and in and out of place.

Sponsored By: Sponsored by The Commons, the KU Departments of English, African and African-American Studies, Women Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Visual Art, History of Black Writing , the Emily Taylor Center for Women & Gender Equity, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, and the J. Wayne & Elsie M. Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction

February 16

Talk

7PM – 8:30PM
Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts St

Ross Gay is the author of four books of poetry including Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, which won the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. His first collection of essays, The Book of Delights, was released in 2019 and was a New York Times bestseller. His latest collection of essays, Inciting Joy, was released in October 2022. Free tickets are available at https://www.universe.com/RossGay. The Raven Book Store will be on site to sell books for a signing following the lecture.

Sponsored By: The Commons

February 17

Activity

1PM – 4PM
305 Goddard Study Center

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

February 18

Activity

1PM – 4PM
Spencer Museum of Art, 401 Loo Gallery

Learn the tale of the Japanese wolves that inspired Konoike Tomoko’s "Donning Animal Skins and Braided Grass", then create your own story on a folded paper zine. Our friends from the Natural History Mususem will join us with some specimens from their collection. The Art Cart is a free drop-in activity station where children and grown-ups enjoy hands-on art projects together, taking inspiration from original works of art on view.

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art

February 19

Talk

2PM – 3PM
Spencer Museum of Art, 407 Kress Gallery

Slow down at the Spencer and spend time getting to know one great work of art. Slow Art Sunday features one work for visitors to contemplate and converse about with Museum staff. In February, get to know the Raqs Media clock, Night & Day, Day & Night.

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art

February 21

Activity

1PM – 2PM
Spencer Museum of Art, 404 Marshall Balcony

Celebrate Black History Month at the Spencer with this tour highlighting art from the Black diaspora in our new collection galleries and the exhibition Pictures of US by Accra Shepp. Graduate intern Maggie Brown-Peoples will lead a discussion of Black artistic expression across the globe and provide resources for further engagement with selected artworks

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art, Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

February 23

Activity

4PM – 5PM
Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont Street

Join Spencer staff for an hour of fun and creativity with our friends at the Lawrence Public Library! For ages 8–11. Registration required. For more information, visit the Library’s website at lplks.org.

Sponsored By: Lawrence Public Library

February 23

Activity

4PM – 6PM

Gather with graduate students from across campus to connect and learn about wellness resources and opportunities at KU. Participate in short tours of new exhibitions led by Spencer Museum graduate interns and enjoy hors d’oeuvres, wine, and punch, plus free prizes and swag. Students can also meet Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Graduate Studies Jennifer Roberts, Graduate Student Body President Hollie Hall, and representatives from Student Senate and the Graduate Student Advisory Board to the Provost.

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art, KU Graduate Studies, The Commons, Office of Multicultural Affairs

February 24

Activity

1PM – 4PM
305 Goddard Study Center

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

March 01

Activity

12PM – 1PM
Zoom Registration: bit.ly/SpotlightYourResearch

Asserting Individual Values: This session will re-center us in our personal value-systems by articulating our individual theories, methods, and interventions. This workshop is presented as a three-part series for scholars interested in reclaiming their relationship to their research

Sponsored By: The Commons, the IPSR Center for Compassionate and Sustainable Communities, the Spencer Museum of Art, the Center for Teaching Excellence, the Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity, and the Environmental Studies Program, with additional funding support from the Office of Faculty Affairs, the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, and the Office of Graduate Studies

March 02

Activity

6PM – 7:30PM
Spencer Museum of Art

Whether you’re an experienced zinester or want to experiment with your first zine, you’re invited to create in community and contribute a page to a collaborative zine exploring disability, ableism, gender, and feminism. Take inspiration from the KU Common Work of Art by Harry Bertoia and the KU Common Book “Disability Visibility” or work on your own project. The first 10 people will receive a free zine making kit. What’s a zine? Check out https://emilytaylorcenter.ku.edu/making-zines-doing-feminism.

Sponsored By: Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity, The Commons, Spencer Museum of Art, Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging, and Faculty Staff Council on Disability Inclusion

March 03

Activity

1PM – 4PM
305 Goddard Study Center

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

March 04

Social

12PM – 5PM
Spencer Museum of Art

We’re throwing a party and you’re invited! We recently updated our collection galleries upstairs to increase accessibility and put more diverse artwork on display. Join us to celebrate art and community in these new spaces. This event offers experiences for everyone. Explore historic and contemporary art from all over the world, take part in creative challenges and activities, and enjoy performances and refreshments.

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art

March 06

Talk

10AM – 11AM
Kansas Union, Mallott Room, 1301 Jayhawk Blvd

Artist Stephanie Dinkins (Stony Brook University) shares about her work, including a two-year collaboration with artist Simon Denny commissioned by the Spencer’s Arts Research Integration program and KU’s Institute of Information Sciences. Dinkins is known for creating art about artificial intelligence as it intersects with race, gender, and history. Her recent major solo exhibition “On Love and Data” was organized by the Stamps Gallery (University of Michigan) and traveled to the Queens Museum in New York.

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art, Department of Visual Art, Institute for Information Sciences, Franklin D. Murphy Lecture Fund of the Kress Foundation Department of Art History, Museum Studies Program, Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Kansas Blockchain Institute

March 06

Talk

11:30AM – 12:30PM
Kansas Union, Mallott Room, 1301 Jayhawk Blvd

New Zealand artist Simon Denny (HFBK Hamburg) shares about his work, including a two-year collaboration with artist Stephanie Dinkins commissioned by the Spencer’s Arts Research Integration program and KU’s Institute of Information Sciences. Based in Berlin, Denny makes exhibitions and projects that unpack the stories technologists tell us about the world using a variety of media, including installation, sculpture, print, painting, video, and NFTs. He represented New Zealand at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015.

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art, Institute for Information Sciences, Department of Visual Art, Franklin D. Murphy Lecture Fund of the Kress Foundation, Department of Art History, Museum Studies Program, Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Kansas Blockchain Institute

March 07

Talk

4PM – 6PM
Haskell Indian Nations University, Tommaney Library, 2450 Creek Avenue

This is a follow-up to the Indigenous community forum held in September 2022. We invite members of the Indigenous community to drop in for any portion of the two-hour event to learn about the Spencer’s current initiatives and projects inspired by the last forum, receive updates on repatriation efforts, discuss contemporary museum issues, express concerns, and provide input through various activities

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art, KU Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

March 08

Activity

12PM – 1PM
Zoom Registration: bit.ly/SpotlightYourResearch

Applying What We’ve Learned: This session will bring us into centered focus around our work so that each of us is better equipped to achieve our unique research, writing, and teaching goals. This workshop is presented as a three-part series for scholars interested in reclaiming their relationship to their research.

Sponsored By: The Commons, the IPSR Center for Compassionate and Sustainable Communities, the Spencer Museum of Art, the Center for Teaching Excellence, the Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity, and the Environmental Studies Program, with additional funding support from the Office of Faculty Affairs, the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, and the Office of Graduate Studies

March 10

Activity

1PM – 4PM
305 Goddard Study Center

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

March 23

Talk

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

The extraordinary quilts by Emporia native Rose Kretsinger are frequently requested by visitors but have not been shown in more than 10 years. Join Curator Susan Earle for a special viewing of these quilts in the new Lee Study Center to learn about Kretsinger’s brilliant designs and techniques. Senior Sessions are designed with accommodations for older adults, but open to all.

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art

March 24

Activity

1PM – 4PM
305 Goddard Study Center

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

March 25

Activity

1PM – 4PM
Spencer Museum of Art, Michaelis Gallery

Explore how clothing, adornment, and hairstyles can give clues about people in works of art. Look closely at several portraits, then create decorative figures of your own using the materials provided. The Art Cart is a free drop-in activity station where children and grown-ups enjoy hands-on art projects together, taking inspiration from original works of art on view.

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art

March 29

Talk

5PM – 9PM
Maceli’s Banquet Hall, 1031 New Hampshire St., Lawrence, KS 66044 and via Zoom

For the second year in a row, KU will participate in the Worldwide Climate Justice Teach-In, organized by researchers at Bard College. This interdisciplinary event is an opportunity for local researchers, community leaders, practitioners, students, and creative scholars, among others, to share their unique contributions to the work of addressing climate change. Register for this hybrid event at https://thecommons.ku.edu/climate-teach-in.

Sponsored By: The Commons, the Department of Geography & Atmospheric Science, the IPSR Center for Compassionate and Sustainable Communities, the KU Libraries, and the Environmental Studies Program

March 30

Talk

11AM – 12:15PM
Spencer Museum of Art, Art and Architecture Library, Room 103 and on Zoom. To join via Zoom, please contact Maya Stiller at mstiller@ku.edu for the access code.

Explore the Zen paintings and calligraphies of Hakuin Ekaku (1685–1768), the most famous Zen monk-artist of Japan’s Edo period with Yukio Lippit (Harvard University). Lippit examines Hakuin’s incorporation of different voices from Edo popular culture to communicate religious meaning, and considers Zenga’s construction as a category in the modern era.

Sponsored By: Kress Foundation Department of Art History, Spencer Museum of Art

March 31

Activity

1PM – 4PM
305 Goddard Study Center

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

April 07

Activity

1PM – 4PM
305 Goddard Study Center

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.

April 08

12PM – 9PM
Lied Center of Kansas, 1600 Stewart Dr

Join us for KU’s Annual First Nations Student Association Powwow and Indigenous Cultures Festival at the Lied Center and newly designated powwow arena nearby. This free community event features a daylong powwow and activities such as Indigenous films, educational workshops, and children’s activities focused on Indigenous cultures. Indigenous artists and craftspeople will have items for sale, and Indigenous food will be available for purchase throughout the day

Sponsored By: Sponsored by KU First Nations Student Association, Lied Center of Kansas, Haskell Indian Nations University, Spencer Museum of Art, Native Faculty-Staff Council, KU Indigenous Studies Program, and University Academic Support Centers

April 13

Talk

10:15AM – 11AM
Spencer Museum of Art, 405 Michaelis Gallery

Join KU Professor and Chair of Art History David Cateforis in exploring three major works in the Spencer collection: Elaine de Kooning’s "Arena" (1959), Louise Nevelson’s "Seventh Decade Garden IX-X" (1971), and Elizabeth Murray’s "Chaotic Lip" (1986). The discussion focuses on the artists’ distinctive uses of abstraction – a key feature of much modernist art – both as a vehicle of personal expression and to invite the viewer’s creative engagement with the artwork. Senior Sessions are designed with accommodations for older adults, but open to all.

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art

April 13

Talk

6PM – 7:30PM
Spencer Museum of Art

Celebrate the release of a free collaborative zine exploring disability, ableism, gender, and feminism inspired by the KU Common Work of Art by Harry Bertoia and the KU Common Book “Disability Visibility.” Contributors reflect on their pages followed by time for questions and discussion. The first 10 people will receive a free zine making kit. What’s a zine? Check out https://emilytaylorcenter.ku.edu/making-zines-doing-feminism.

Sponsored By: Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity, The Commons, Spencer Museum of Art, Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging and Faculty Staff Council on Disability Inclusion

April 14

Activity

1PM – 4PM
305 Goddard Study Center

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

April 21

Activity

1PM – 4PM
305 Goddard Study Center

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

April 22

Activity

1PM – 4PM
Spencer Museum of Art, 405 Michaelis Gallery

Join in a citywide celebration of Earth Day! Learn how to create a colorful woven food covering from plastic bags and wire. The Art Cart is a free drop-in activity station where children and grown-ups enjoy hands-on art projects together, taking inspiration from original works of art on view.

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art

April 28

Activity

1PM – 4PM
305 Goddard Study Center

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

April 30

Activity

2PM – 3PM
Spencer Museum of Art, 401 Loo Gallery

Slow down at the Spencer and spend time getting to know one great work of art. Slow Art Sunday features one work for visitors to contemplate and converse about with Museum staff. In April, get to know Sam-Ilus's "Le partage du gateau (Dividing the Cake)".

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art

May 05

Activity

1PM – 4PM
305 Goddard Study Center

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

May 06

Activity

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.

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

May 11

Talk

10:15AM – 11AM
Spencer Museum of Art, 406 Stewart Gallery, 409 Lee Study Center

Learn how objects in the Spencer Museum’s collection intersect with the Japanese tradition of tea. Dale Slusser, who has studied and taught the Urasenke tradition of tea for nearly 40 years, provides an introduction to tea practice and shares how aesthetics, craft, and tea have interacted over time. Senior sessions are designed for older adults, but open to all. Senior Sessions are designed with accommodations for older adults, but open to all.

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art

May 11

Social

4PM – 6PM
Spencer Museum of Art

Drop in for any part of this open house to learn about the Museum’s next steps for improving access, inclusion, and belonging based on community input and explore our new collection galleries through tours or self-guided activities. Fun for all ages and light refreshments provided.

May 12

Activity

1PM – 4PM
305 Goddard Study Center

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

May 20

Activity

1PM – 4PM
Spencer Museum of Art, 406 Stewart Gallery

Take inspiration from the many teacups and ceramics on display in the Intersections gallery and create your own from mixed media. The Art Cart is a free drop-in activity station where children and grown-ups enjoy hands-on art projects together, taking inspiration from original works of art on view.

Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art