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.
March 29
Talk
CLIMATE JUSTICE ACROSS DOMAINS: LOCAL TO GLOBAL
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
FRANKLIN D. MURPHY LECTURE SERIES HAKUIN EKAKU (1685-1768) AND ZENGA IN THE EDO PERIOD
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
April 01
Talk
IN‘ZHÚJE‘WAXÓBE / SACRED RED ROCK PROJECT PUBLIC PRESENTATION
3PM
– 4PM
Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St
Come learn about the Sacred Red Rock Project and receive a free activity guide with interactive prompts exploring history, monuments, reimagining and more. After the presentation, weather permitting, we will visit Robinson Park together. Snacks will be provided. Led by members of the Kaw Nation in collaboration with the City of Lawrence, University of Kansas, Spencer Museum of Art, Kanza Heritage Society and others, the project is focused on the return and relocation of In‘zhúje‘waxóbe, the 28-ton red Siouxan quartzite boulder currently located in Robinson Park, to the Kaw Nation, who have a centuries’ long relationship with the Rock and value it as a sacred item of prayer. Visit sacredredrock.com for more information.
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art
April 13
Talk
SENIOR SESSION THREE AMERICAN MODERNISTS: ELAINE DE KOONING, LOUISE NEVELSON, AND ELIZABETH MURRAY
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
ZINE RELEASE AND REFLECTION: DISABILITY JUSTICE IS A FEMINIST ISSUE
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 20
Talk
EXHIBITION TOUR WITH ACCRA SHEPP
6PM
– 7PM
404 Marshall Balcony
Tour the exhibition "Dissent, Discontent, and Action: Pictures of US by Accra Shepp" with the photographer. Shepp, a New York-based artist, will share insights related to his two photographic projects, "Occupying Wall Street" and "The Covid Journals" that form this exhibition. Please note that space in the gallery will be limited and this tour will be repeated on Friday, April 21, at 10:00 am.
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art
April 21
Talk
EXHIBITION TOUR WITH ACCRA SHEPP
10AM
– 11AM
404 Marshall Balcony
Tour the exhibition "Dissent, Discontent, and Action: Pictures of US by Accra Shepp" with the photographer. Shepp, a New York-based artist, will share insights related to his two photographic projects, "Occupying Wall Street" and "The Covid Journals" that form this exhibition. Please note that space in the gallery will be limited and this tour will be offered on Thursday, April 20, at 6:00pm as well.
Sponsored By: Spencer Museum of Art
April 21
Talk
2023 ROCKET GRANTS KICK-OFF AND INFO SESSION
3:30PM
– 5PM
318 Brosseau Learning Center
Artists of all disciplines are invited to learn how to apply for Rocket Grants—funding for innovative, artist-driven projects in surprising places. Rocket Grants administrator Kimi Kitada and Spencer staff member Adina Duke will take you step-by-step through the application process and timeline, budgeting tips, and the types of projects the program funds as well as answer your burning questions. Details about the Rocket Grants program are online at https://rocketgrants.org/apply/. Rocket Grants is a partnership between the Charlotte Street Foundation and the Spencer Museum of Art supported by funding from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Rocket Grants awards up to $6,000 to individuals or collaborative groups within an 80-mile radius of Kansas City.
April 24
Talk
KENNETH A. SPENCER LECTURE AN EVENING WITH ROSS GAY
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
May 11
Talk
SENIOR SESSION JAPANESE CRAFT AND THE ART OF TEA
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