The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University announced on Mar. 6 the receipt of a significant gift of 14 photographs by artist Fazal Sheikh, given in honor of Interim President and President Emeritus Henry Bienen and Leigh Bienen, senior lecturer emerita at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.
The donation spans more than thirty years of Sheikh’s career, featuring portraits and landscapes that focus on migration, human rights, and environmental justice. The museum said the works will enhance teaching and foster new discussions among students across the university.
Lisa Corrin, Ellen Philips Katz Executive Director of The Block Museum of Art, said: “Fazal Sheikh has spent decades working among the world’s most vulnerable communities, and his photographs bear witness to their lives with rare dignity and humanity. We are honored to bring this body of work to Northwestern where it will significantly impact teaching and spark new conversations for students across the University. That Sheikh chose to make this gift in honor of Henry and Leigh Bienen is a testament to their shared belief in the power of art to bear witness to the world.”
Henry Bienen reflected on his connection with Sheikh: “Fazal Sheikh has been a dear friend of my wife and me since he was an undergraduate at Princeton University. He also had the burden of being my squash coach. We are deeply honored and extremely grateful that Fazal has shared his wonderful art with The Block Museum and the Northwestern community.”
Sheikh described how his relationship with Henry and Leigh Bienen began during his undergraduate studies at Princeton University: “I have known Henry and Leigh since my undergraduate studies at Princeton University, when I was fortunate enough to find myself within their orbit, just as I was beginning to imagine the possibility of a life in the arts. The gift of Henry and Leigh’s attention helped nurture a sense of possibility and bolster my resolve. In the years that followed…their insights and counsel on the human and political context surrounding the work proved essential. As Henry and Leigh near the end of their tenure at the University, I simply wanted to leave a marker in honor of all that they have made possible in my life.”
The gifted collection includes early images from refugee camps in East Africa as well as later projects addressing environmental issues such as uranium waste in Utah or oil extraction impacts in California’s Kern River Oil Field. Several pieces are titled with sitters’ full names—a deliberate choice intended by Sheikh to affirm individual dignity.
This donation recognizes both personal connections between artist and honorees as well as thematic links between their professional interests—particularly relating to human rights—and highlights ongoing collaborations between artists, educators, institutions.
