Northwestern University opened the new Ryan Field on Oct. 2, putting its athletics program in the national spotlight. What spectators see from stadium seats or living room couches reflects years of effort and an important part of student-athletes' identities. Just as essential, however, are the student experiences beyond competition, that take place away from camera crews and crowds of fans.
The Reframe program is an ongoing collaboration between Northwestern's Block Museum of Art and the department of athletics and recreation to create space for reflecting on the experiences and identities of student-athletes through art.
The Reframe program, now entering its fourth year, is believed to be the only sustained partnership in the U.S. between an academic art museum and an athletic program, with student-athletes' perspectives as its primary focus.
Reframe brings student-athletes, coaches and staff together to view and discuss works from The Block's collection. The act of looking at art together creates space to explore the opportunities and challenges of their athletic experience, the identities they hold alongside athletics, and shared experiences of leadership, teamwork and vulnerability.
"Student-athletes must balance their commitments to academics and their teams. With the opening of the new stadium there is the pressure of extra visibility and a desire to live up to an expectation of excellence," said Lisa Corrin, The Block's Ellen Philips Katz Executive Director. "We wanted to create space for them to talk about their experiences."
Launched in the fall of 2022, Reframe was developed with artist and former Northwestern football student-athlete Dwight White II '16. Since then, The Block and athletics department have convened teams, coaches and staff around works from the museum's collection. The partnership treats the museum as a resource for student development and gives art a role in conversations that can be difficult to begin in the usual settings of college athletics.
"For me, Reframe inspires an important pause," said Maria E. Sanchez, Northwestern's senior associate athletics director for strategic impact, leadership and student engagement. "Through art and conversation, we can be reminded that we are more than any one aspect of our identity. When we make space for the many different parts of who we are, we learn more about ourselves and each other. That understanding fosters deeper connections, a greater sense of belonging and a more meaningful community."
This fall, the partnership has taken a public form in The Living Room at The Block. The Living Room is a drop-in space showing only one work of art at a time, where visitors can look closely and respond to questions alongside the artwork. More than 100 student-athletes, coaches, administrators and campus partners helped shape the fall presentation, selecting four works from The Block's collection that speak to the lives of student-athletes. A group of 25 helped develop questions and community prompts that bring their perspectives into conversation with those of other visitors.
Reframe works on view in The Living Room:
Sept. 9 to Oct. 4: Omar Victor Diop, "Juan de Pareja" (2014)
Diop portrays himself as Juan de Pareja, an artist who was enslaved in painter Diego Velázquez's household, while holding a pair of soccer cleats. Athletics participants selected the photograph for its connections to excellence and vulnerability, the pressure of performance, and the complex impact of systemic racism and colonial history on sports across the globe.
Oct. 7 to 25: Cara Romero, "Amber Morningstar" (2022, printed 2024)
Romero photographs artist and activist Amber Morningstar (Choctaw Nation/Chickasaw) inside a life-sized doll box, surrounded by objects Morningstar chose to express her identity. Athletics participants connected the photograph to the experiences of women and girls in sports and media, as well as the pressure and privilege that come with self-image, self-portrayal and representation.
Oct. 28 to Nov. 15: Kachelle Knowles, "Old People Drink at The Bar, Young People Drink in the Streets" (2024)
Two young Black men sit together at ease in this work by the Bahamian artist Kachelle Knowles. Athletics participants selected it for its expansive portrayal of masculinity and its attention to friendship and rest.
Nov. 18 to Dec. 13: Leonard Suryajaya, "Perennial Blossom" (2022)
Thirteen Northwestern students appear in a group portrait, each choosing what to wear and hold to make aspects of their identity visible. Athletics participants saw a reflection of the student-athlete experience: belonging to a team while being more than one's role within it.
"When students look closely at a work of art together, they often find words for experiences they might not otherwise share," said Erin Northington, The Block's Susan and Stephen Wilson Associate Director of Campus and Community Education and Engagement. "They also hear how someone else sees the work, which can change how they understand one another."
The Living Room extends a conversation that began among athletics participants to their peers and the wider community for shared dialogue. It makes visible a central idea of Reframe: a student-athlete can be known for what they do in competition and still have more to show, say and discover.
The Living Room is free and open to the public at The Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston. Learn more about the fall presentation.
