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.
September 27
Talk
MARY HUNTOON'S UNEXPECTED LEGACY
7PM
– 8PM
To join, please register here kansas.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwof--qqzwvEtUX5pmBkvdBGiLPdYD…
Scholar Christina Weyl, PhD explores how the career of Kansas-based artist Mary Huntoon shaped the history of 20th-century printmaking. Learn about her travels abroad, her studies with some of the top teachers of the time, and her influence on the renowned modernist printmaking studio Atelier 17. This event is related to the exhibition “Mary Huntoon: Artist & Art Therapist,” and is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation as part of an initiative to conserve works on paper in the collections of KU Libraries and the Spencer Museum of Art.
Sponsored By: KU Libraries, Spencer Museum of Art
September 28
Talk
ARTISTS, ENGINEERS, AND ADVOCATES: A TOUR OF PUBLIC ART ON KU'S WEST CAMPUS
6PM
– 9:30PM
Lied Center of Kansas, 1600 Stewart Dr
Join Spencer Museum Director Saralyn Reece Hardy for an exploration of public art located on KU’s West Campus. The tour begins in front of the Lied Center at 6:00 p.m., where we will be joined by Curator Cassandra Mesick Braun, community advocate and Tribal Health leader Dee Ann DeRoin, and Lied Center Engagement and Education Director Anthea Scouffas to discuss two artworks in front of the building. Attendees will then travel to “Salina Piece” by Dale Eldred, located outside Youngberg Hall. Beginning at 6:50 p.m., Reece Hardy will discuss concepts of shape, shadow, and form in public sculpture. Following the tour, attendees are invited to stay and watch a special projection of artworks related to the art on West Campus.
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art
October 01
Activity
OPEN FRIDAYS
10AM
– 4PM
Spencer Museum of Art, Goddard Study Center, 305
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. Space is limited. If we are at capacity, we invite you to explore the adjacent Brosseau Learning Center until space opens up. The Goddard Study Center is also open by appointment at other times.
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art
October 05
Talk
FRANKLIN D. MURPHY LECTURE SERIES EXPERIENCING MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE
5:15PM
– 6:15PM
Please join us live on YouTube: youtube.com/c/KUArtHistory
Ranging from Early Christian Rome to Romanesque and Gothic France, England, and Iberia, this lecture by Paul Binksi (Cambridge) explores the language of architecture in the Middle Ages.
Sponsored By: Kress Foundation Department of Art History, Spencer Museum of Art
October 06
Activity
COFFEE @ THE COMMONS POET MICHAEL KLEBER-DIGGS
5:30PM
– 6:30PM
The Commons, Spooner Hall, 1340 Jayhawk Blvd
Join Michael Kleber-Diggs for coffee and conversation prior to the reading. Coffee @ The Commons is a series that offers space for more informal dialogues with scholars.
Sponsored By: Department of English, The Commons, Spencer Museum of Art, IPSR Center for Compassionate and Sustainable Communities
October 06
Talk
POETRY READING BY MICHAEL KLEBER-DIGGS
5:30PM
– 6:30PM
The Commons, Spooner Hall, 1340 Jayhawk Blvd
Michael Kleber-Diggs is the author of Worldly Things, for which he won the 2020 Max Ritvo Poetry Prize. His poems offer guidance on ways forward – toward radical kindness and a socially responsible poetics. “Let’s create folklore side-by-side,” he urges, asking us to aspire to a form of nurturing defined by tenderness, to a kind of community devoted to mutual prosperity. “All of us want,” after all, “our share of light, and just enough rainfall.”
Sponsored By: Department of English, The Commons, Spencer Museum of Art, Center for Compassionate and Sustainable Communities
October 07
Talk
FRANKLIN D. MURPHY LECTURE SERIES REJECTING THE FEMINIST LABEL: XIANG JING AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN ARTIST'S IDENTITY
7PM
– 8PM
Join the live presentation via YouTube here: youtube.com/c/KUArtHistory
The Beijing-based sculptor Xiang Jing is one the most important artists in contemporary China. In this talk, Quincy Ngan (Yale University) analyzes how Xiang’s art has changed in response to criticism, tracing how the artist defends her sense of self as an “artist” rather than a “feminist artist.” Additionally, Ngan describes how Xiang’s female figural sculptures convey the complex human psyche and transcend gender binary.
Sponsored By: Kress Foundation Department of Art History, Spencer Museum of Art
October 08
Activity
OPEN FRIDAYS
10AM
– 4PM
Spencer Museum of Art, Goddard Study Center, 305
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. Space is limited. If we are at capacity, we invite you to explore the adjacent Brosseau Learning Center until space opens up. The Goddard Study Center is also open by appointment at other times.
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art
October 14
Talk
SENIOR SESSION CULTIVATING RECIPROCITY
10:15AM
– 11AM
Spencer Museum of Art, Brosseau Learning Center, 318
Spencer Curator Kate Meyer and collections manager Angela Watts discuss works by Indigenous artists that represent origin and creation stories and ideas about reciprocal relationships with land.
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art
October 15
Activity
OPEN FRIDAYS
10AM
– 4PM
Spencer Museum of Art, Goddard Study Center, 305
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. Space is limited. If we are at capacity, we invite you to explore the adjacent Brosseau Learning Center until space opens up. The Goddard Study Center is also open by appointment at other times.
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art
October 21
Social
OPEN HOUSE/OPEN GROVE
5PM
– 7PM
Marvin Grove, directly behind Spencer Museum, 1301 Mississippi St, Spencer Museum of Art
Celebrate the opening of two exhibitions and enjoy twice the time and space with art at our two-day Open House and Open Grove event hosted by Friends of the Art Museum. Move freely between the Museum’s galleries where Debut is on view and Marvin Grove where Understories anchors our annual Backyard Bash. Inside, Spencer interns offer flash tours and fresh perspectives on the collection, faculty share their selections in the Brosseau Learning Center, you can enter to win a hard hat tour, and your art wish is our command in the Goddard Study Center where you can request works of art on paper not currently on view. Outdoors, students introduce their new installations and activations, the Spencer Art Cart rolls out art-making activities, and partners offer explorations of the Grove. These activities and more take place at different times throughout the event to support social distancing. Check back after Oct 1 for the full schedule. Parking is free in lot 91 directly behind the Museum during the times of this event. We dedicate this event in memory of Reggie Robinson, Friends Board President 2015–2016 and longtime Board member, for his legacy of public service and leadership.
Sponsored By: Friends of the Art Museum, Spencer Museum of Art
October 22
Activity
OPEN FRIDAYS
10AM
– 4PM
Spencer Museum of Art, Goddard Study Center, 305
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. Space is limited and face masks are recommended. If we are at capacity, we invite you to explore the galleries until space opens up. The Goddard Study Center is also open by appointment at other times.
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art
October 22
Social
OPEN HOUSE/OPEN GROVE
10AM
– 5PM
Marvin Grove, directly behind Spencer Museum, 1301 Mississippi St, Spencer Museum of Art
Celebrate the opening of two exhibitions and enjoy twice the time and space with art at our two-day Open House and Open Grove event hosted by Friends of the Art Museum. Move freely between the Museum’s galleries where Debut is on view and Marvin Grove where Understories anchors our annual Backyard Bash. Inside, Spencer interns offer flash tours and fresh perspectives on the collection, faculty share their selections in the Brosseau Learning Center, you can enter to win a hard hat tour, and your art wish is our command in the Goddard Study Center where you can request works of art on paper not currently on view. Outdoors, students introduce their new installations and activations, the Spencer Art Cart rolls out art-making activities, the KU Painting Club demos plein air painting, and partners offer other explorations of the Grove. These activities and more take place at different times throughout the event to support social distancing. Check back after Oct 1 for the full schedule. Parking is free in lot 91 directly behind the Museum during the times of this event. We dedicate this event in memory of Reggie Robinson, Friends Board President 2015–2016 and longtime Board member, for his legacy of public service and leadership.
Sponsored By: Friends of the Art Museum, Spencer Museum of Art
October 29
Activity
OPEN FRIDAYS
10AM
– 4PM
Spencer Museum of Art, Goddard Study Center, 305
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. Space is limited and face masks are recommended. If we are at capacity, we invite you to explore the galleries until space opens up. The Goddard Study Center is also open by appointment at other times.
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art
October 30
Social
HALLOWEEKEND IN THE WOODS
2PM
– 4PM
Marvin Grove, directly behind Spencer Museum, 1301 Mississippi St
Stop by for a trick-or-treat among the trees, decorate a pumpkin, and make the sidewalk your runway to debut your Halloween costume. Costumed canines welcome, too!
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art
November 04
Talk
SENIOR SESSION HEALING, KNOWING, SEEING THE BODY
10:15AM
– 11AM
Spencer Museum of Art, Brosseau Learning Center, 318
Spencer Curator Cassandra Mesick Braun discusses ways that artists, scientists, healers, and others have come to understand and visualize the body through key works featured in the exhibition Healing, Knowing, Seeing the Body.
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art
November 05
Activity
OPEN FRIDAYS
10AM
– 4PM
Spencer Museum of Art, Goddard Study Center, 305
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. Space is limited and face masks are recommended. If we are at capacity, we invite you to explore the galleries until space opens up. The Goddard Study Center is also open by appointment at other times.
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art
November 12
Activity
OPEN FRIDAYS
10AM
– 4PM
Spencer Museum of Art, Goddard Study Center, 305
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. Space is limited and face masks are recommended. If we are at capacity, we invite you to explore the galleries until space opens up. The Goddard Study Center is also open by appointment at other times.
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art
November 19
Activity
OPEN FRIDAYS
10AM
– 4PM
Spencer Museum of Art, Goddard Study Center, 305
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. Space is limited and face masks are recommended. If we are at capacity, we invite you to explore the galleries until space opens up. The Goddard Study Center is also open by appointment at other times.
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art
November 26
Activity
OPEN FRIDAYS
10AM
– 4PM
Spencer Museum of Art, Goddard Study Center, 305
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. Space is limited and face masks are recommended. If we are at capacity, we invite you to explore the galleries until space opens up. The Goddard Study Center is also open by appointment at other times.
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art
December 03
Activity
OPEN FRIDAYS
10AM
– 4PM
Spencer Museum of Art, Goddard Study Center, 305
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. Space is limited and face masks are recommended. If we are at capacity, we invite you to explore the galleries until space opens up. The Goddard Study Center is also open by appointment at other times.
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art
December 09
Talk
SENIOR SESSION MAKING DEBUT
10:15AM
– 11AM
Spencer Museum of Art, Perkins Central Court, 317
Curator Kris Ercums presents new research and discoveries related to key works making their first appearance on view in the exhibition Debut.
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art
December 10
Activity
OPEN FRIDAYS
10AM
– 4PM
Spencer Museum of Art, Goddard Study Center, 305
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. Space is limited and face masks are recommended. If we are at capacity, we invite you to explore the galleries until space opens up. The Goddard Study Center is also open by appointment at other times.
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art