Brunnier Art Museum
January 20 – July 24, 2026
Co-curated by Dr. Michèle Schaal, ISU Professor of French and Women’s and Gender Studies
Storytelling is one of the oldest and most universal forms of artistic expression. Whether through reciting, creating, listening to, or reading tales, stories, old and new, impact lives throughout the world. This includes stories that have been passed down through generations to serve as guidance and caution, tales that are transformed to connect with different cultures, and new imaginative creations meant to entertain. Many cultures adapt and transform well-known fairytales and similar forms of stories to suit their values and traditions, meaning that tales are truly both universal and particular. Through the continued adaptation and reiteration of stories, representations have found their way into many forms of visual art.
Tell Me a Story examines the many stories found throughout University Museums collections from fairytales to mythology and creative narratives that continue to fascinate artists working in many media. The objects on view represent a wide array of media, cultures, and time periods in the history of art, further emphasizing the continued use and love of storytelling throughout the world. The art is a visual representation of the narrative, used to reinforce morals, educate, and engage viewers to seek out the various versions of stories that are both familiar and totally unknown. Tell Me a Story demonstrates that despite cultural specificities and differences, storytelling shapes who we are and helps humans understand themselves and the world around them.
Featured artists and makers span centuries and continents, from contemporary glass artist Preston Singletary and MacArthur Fellow Joyce J. Scott to legendary San Ildefonso Pueblo potter Maria Martinez and celebrated American illustrator N.C. Wyeth. European decorative arts from renowned manufacturers including Meissen and Wedgwood appear alongside Indigenous storytelling figures, Russian lacquered boxes, contemporary photography, and prints. This is an exhibition you will want to visit again and again, one story at a time. Any time you want someone to tell you a story, miss a bedtime story, or want a story to read to someone else—with tangible importance and real human connection to locals and faces you can see in class or on the sidewalks—this exhibition welcomes you.
This exhibition is curated and organized by University Museums with Dr. Michèle Schaal, professor of French and women's and gender studies. Generous support for the exhibition was given by the Women's and Gender Studies Program, the Department of World Languages and Cultures, the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, the Department of English, and University Museums Membership.
Get the press release and sharing pack for this exhibition >
Exhibition Programming
Thursday, February 26, 5:00–6:00 p.m.
Curator's Tour: Tell Me a Story
Brunnier Art Museum
Origin stories, cautionary tales, celebrations. Storytelling shapes who we are and helps us understand ourselves and the world around us.
Explore the Tell Me a Story exhibition with co-curators Michèle Schaal, professor of French and women's and gender studies, and Adrienne Gennett, curator of the Brunnier Art Museum, for the only joint curator-led public tour of this exhibition. Experience art and cultural objects that tell stories from around the world, some familiar, others completely unknown to Western audiences. Decorative arts, textiles, and other objects spanning centuries and continents reveal how creators across cultures have transmitted narratives with visuals that can reinforce morals, educate viewers, and preserve traditions.
Discover tales and storytelling methods both new and old. This is a free tour, open to the public.
Thursday, April 9, 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Museum Meetup: Storytellers Abound
Brunnier Art Museum
Fairytales can be some of the first stories we're told, sparking imagination and curiosity. Visit the Brunnier Art Museum to explore the visual storytelling exhibitions Tell Me a Story and Mapping Infrastructure/Mapping Agriculture. Create your own name or letter sign inspired by illuminated manuscripts and grab a take-home snack. Guests are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite fantasy character.
Museum Meetups are free and open to all Iowa State University students and their guests. No registration required. Drop in any time between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 12, 2:00–3:00 p.m.
Myths of the Self with Stephanie Brunia
Brunnier Art Museum
How do we depict ourselves and our experiences in the images we create and share? How do you make invisible emotions visible? Photographer Stephanie Brunia has built her career and artistic practice exploring these questions through projects such as restaging Pre-Raphaelite paintings with contemporary women (on view in Tell Me a Story), documenting her relationship with her aging father in Thursday's Child, and her recent series examining motherhood and domestic life. Brunia is an Iowa Arts Council fellowship recipient whose art has been featured in the Des Moines Art Center's Iowa Artists exhibition and shown at venues from Houston to Switzerland.
Free and open to the public.
Saturday, April 25, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Explore! Today Was a Fairytale
Brunnier Art Museum
Explore new stories and create your own at the Brunnier Art Museum. Activities and crafts for children and families focus on imagination and storytelling. Enjoy the exhibition Tell Me a Story and the many objects on view. Participants are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite fairytale character.
Activities geared for grades K–5; all are welcome. Stop by any time during the three-hour window, while supplies last. No admission fee or registration. Free, easy parking.
Thursday, April 30, 5:00–6:00 p.m.
Tell Me a Story Roundtable Conversation
Brunnier Art Museum
Join Iowa State University faculty and University Museums in a conversational roundtable to learn about the impact of storytelling on teaching and research. In a conversation moderated by exhibition co-curator Michèle A. Schaal, professor of French, Iowa State University faculty discuss the impact of storytelling on teaching and research, along with personal connections to the objects on view in the Brunnier Art Museum exhibition Tell Me a Story.
Free and open to the public.
Panelists include:
- Michael D. Bailey, distinguished professor of history
- Kenny Cook, Professor of English; Dean's Faculty Fellow in the Arts
- Rachel Meyers, associate professor of classical studies
- Amy Popillion, teaching professor, graduate faculty, human development and family studies
- Elisa Rizo, associate professor of Spanish
- Eulanda Sanders, chief strategist of innovation and entrepreneurship; Donna R. Danielson Professor in Textiles and Clothing