The Block Museum’s “Behold, Be Held” exhibit celebrates community and connection

Rikki Byrd, a third-year graduate student in the Department of African American Studies and a 2020-2021 Block Museum of Art Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellow, combined her passion for art and academia in her exhibition, “Behold, Be Held.”

This exhibition is the Block Museum’s first-ever outdoor exhibition, as well as Byrd’s premier art exhibition. The windows of the Block Museum and neighboring Barber Theater serve as an outdoor gallery, showcasing more than a dozen pieces from its permanent collection of 6,000 artworks. The pieces Byrd curated invite visitors to reflect on how art holds us through moments of crisis – including the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I really selected works that represented those subtle gestures that we’ve missed out on in the past year: the closeness the getting together with people, and dancing and celebrating, or even those moments of self-care, and those moments of just enjoying time with yourself,” shares Rikki Byrd. “I hope people walk away [from the exhibit] with really thinking about how art holds us in moments, especially in moments of crisis and upheaval, and how art really informs our thinking and the way that we engage in the world.”

This exhibit celebrates the power of community and connection. It challenges visitors to ask themselves: What am I most in need of right now?

Watch Rikki Byrd reflect on her curated exhibit below:

“Behold, Be Held” will be on exhibit through August 22nd, 2021. This exhibit is free and open to all.

Read more about this exhibit in the Northwestern Now article: “How art holds us through crisis.”