Museum Without Walls Program
Beginning in 1999 when NIU's Altgeld Gallery in DeKalb was shut down for major renovations, the Art Museum was involved in various art projects with and in the greater DeKalb community. All of these ventures were conceived, developed and installed in alliance with local community groups and organizations and were aimed at building community allies and audiences.

We actively solicited proposals from artists, designers, community associations, schools, business groups and continually explored ideas for locations and partners for specific ‘non-gallery’ visual and interdisciplinary arts projects, including - but not limited to - performance, temporary installations, long-term sited works, and art events. Our goal has been to work in close collaboration with artists and the community to enliven public spaces in and around the DeKalb area by placing meaningful artworks in business districts, parks, lobbies, store windows, parking lots, libraries, hospitals, health centers, community centers and other spaces of daily life.
Although this program is on hold at the moment, we hope to be able to re-instate it in some form in the future. Interested parties should keep in touch with us. We have information on this website about past projects.