These planned upcoming exhibitions and dates may include working titles. All exhibitions and dates are subject to change.
Click a museum name to jump to the upcoming exhibitions for that museum.
Brunnier Art Museum
Christian Petersen Art Museum
Farm House Museum
Anderson Sculpture Garden
Other Spaces on ISU's Campus
Brunnier Art Museum
Scheman Building, second floor
THE ART OF ELIZABETH CATLETT from the Collection of Samella Lewis
January 16 – May 10, 2024
Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012), a sculptor and printmaker, is widely considered one of the most important African American artists of the 20th century. Her work blended art and social consciousness and confronted the most disturbing injustices against African Americans. She is best known for her work during the 1960s and 70s when she created politically charged, black expressionistic sculptures and prints. Catlett was born in Washington, D.C. in 1919. She attended Howard University where she studied design, printmaking, and drawing. In 1940 Catlett became the first student to receive a Master's degree in sculpture at the University of Iowa. In 1946 Catlett received a fellowship that allowed her to travel to Mexico City where she studied painting, sculpture, and lithography. There, she worked with the People's Graphic Arts Workshop, a group of printmakers dedicated to using their art to promote social change. After settling in Mexico and later becoming a Mexican citizen, she taught sculpture at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City until retiring in 1975.
Small Pleasures: Tiny Art from the Permanent Collection
January 16 – July 26, 2024
Scale and size have long been an important part of the creation of art and for the expression of an artist. While large scale sculpture, paintings and decorative arts are impactful because of their grandeur, sometimes the tiniest art leaves a greater impression. The level of detail, the patience of the artist and the close looking asked of the viewer combine to create a memorable experience that often outweigh encounters with much larger works of art.
Small, tiny, or miniature art has been made throughout time and all over the world. University Museums’ permanent collection includes a multitude of examples in a wide range of media of diminutive fine and decorative art. Small Pleasures asks the visitor to marvel in the miniscule – from a small Roman bronze of Hercules; to miniature Chinese ceramics; to the wonder of micro mosaic jewelry; to a beautiful painting of a cloud. Luxuriate in the slow and close looking of University Museums Small Pleasures.
Barrágan: A Spiritual Master
August 27 – December 20, 2024
Lori A. Jacobson Gallery
Luis Barrágan (1902-1988) was a renowned Mexican architect and engineer known for elegant residences and aesthetic gardens with powerful water features. Barrágan’s visual vocabulary used natural elements of water, timber, and stucco paired with vibrant color and texture. He received the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1980.
This exhibition includes twenty-six photographs by Robert Duncan, which explore and are a response to the stunning beauty, architectural elegance, and color of Barrágan’s architectural masterpieces Cuadra San Crist́obal and Casa Gilardi. Curated by Anne Pagel with Merrill Peterson, collaborator.
In Their Time (working title)
August 27 – December 20, 2024
This exhibition considers objects in the museums’ permanent collection and discusses if, how, and when the objects are evaluated and judged by curators and audiences over time. When accessioned objects are "museum collection worthy" and, today, these same objects appear dated, perhaps no longer of today's standard. The art did not change; aesthetic tastes and judgment have evolved. This exhibition raises and explores questions of art criticism, "art is forever," changing tastes, relevancy, curatorial judgments, fluctuating monetary values, and cultural/social values over time, and museums’ responsibilities to future generations--a cornucopia of discussion.
Monuments and Myths: The America of Sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Daniel Chester French
February 8 – May 17, 2025
French and Saint-Gaudens were friendly rivals who transformed sculpture in the United States, producing dozens of the nation’s most recognizable public artworks— from Saint-Gaudens’s Diana (1892–93) atop New York City’s Madison Square Garden to French’s Seated Abraham Lincoln (1911–22) in the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC. Drawing upon the collections of the artists’ historic homes, Chesterwood and the Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park, the project will include approximately 70 sculptures, models, maquettes, and more. The exhibition will introduce audiences to the sculptors’ careers and examine how their art shaped and reflected America’s complicated negotiation of national identity between the Civil War and the onset of the Great Depression.
Co-organized by the American Federation of the Arts, the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Park, and Chesterwood, a Site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Fairytales from the Permanent Collection
January – July 2025
Christian Petersen Art Museum
Morrill Hall, first floor and lower level
On Campus at Iowa State: The Art of Christian Petersen
January 15 – July 26, 2024
Two exhibitions guest curated by Jerome Thompson, retired curator of the State of Iowa
Christian Petersen: A Sense of Place in Campus Life
Campbell Gallery
From 1934-1955 Christian Petersen was artist-in-residence at Iowa State and sculpted public and studio works of art for the College and its departments. Working with faculty, staff and students he conceived, sculpted and installed iconic works of art that expressed Iowa State’s land grant mission. While many of Petersen’s sculptures are place specific around campus, this exhibition will rely on sketches, models, and concept drawings from the vast collections housed at the University Museums to figuratively bring these works of art into the Campbell Gallery at the Christian Petersen Art Museum.
Sculpting an Icon: Christian Petersen's Fountain of the Four Seasons
Reiman Gallery
This exhibition will explore the origins of the Fountain of the Four Seasons on ISU’s campus, and its journey to become the iconic work of art it is today. Historical material, artist sketches, models and more will work to tell the story of this work of art and the ongoing conservation an iconic public work of art requires.
Farm House Museum
World's Fairs, Expositions & Centennial Celebrations of the Victorian Era
February – October 2024
Between 1851 and 1910, there were 13 major World’s Fairs or Expositions. Fairs and Expositions were wildly popular attractions and extremely costly to create. Though the first major fairs were in Europe, the trend quickly moved to the U.S. Through exhibitions, architecture, and access to “far away” cultures, these European and U.S. events became epicenters for the exchange of knowledge, a show of nationalism, and unique innovations through industrialization. Decorative art objects were key catalysts in illustrating to attendees Victorian ideals, trends, and “best taste.”
This exhibition illustrates through objects and narrative the earliest World’s Fair in 1851 London through several in Paris and the Centennial and World’s Columbian Exhibitions in the United States. The objects tell the story of how glass, pottery, sculpture, and other arts were innovative for their time and on-trend or trendsetters for the movements of the Victorian Era, Japanese influences on Western art, and Art Nouveau. These major public events full of over-the-top fanfare gave access to wide audiences, often millions, while revealing to attendees the peoples and cultures from the furthest of lands.
Curated by Gracia Koele, 2023 Pohlman Fellow
George Washington Carver, The Student & Artist
February 1 – July 30, 2024
“I have no words to adequately express my impressions of dear old I.S.C. All I am and all I hope to be, I owe in a very large measure to this blessed institution.” -George Washington Carver, May 1921
Carver, the budding artist, was inspired and encouraged by former Farm House resident Etta Budd. Carver, the student, was clearly impacted by the professors and leaders at Iowa State as catalogued in a six-page letter written by Carver to Louis Pammel in May of 1921 in response to Pammel’s inquiry into Carver’s life story and impactful individuals.
Several works of art from the permanent collection by Carver’s advocate Etta May Budd, and a ceramic vase attributed to Carver are exhibited at the Farm House Museum, Iowa State’s oldest building. Along with these objects, portraits and decorative arts that relate to the many individuals Carver noted in his letter of 1921 are highlighted. In conjunction with the exhibition World Fairs, Expositions & Centennial Celebrations of the Victorian Era a brief look at Carver’s artistic and military connections to the 1893 Chicago World Fairs are examined.
This exhibition is in conjunction with the exhibition George Washington Carver, The Student & Innovator in the Dean’s Art Gallery, Curtiss Hall, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and George Washington Carver, The Student & Visionary in locations across campus.
Yuletide: Festival
November – December 2024
The Farm House Museum has a warm glow this time of year, making it the perfect place to kick off the holiday season on campus. Join us as we gather in the beauty of ISU campus’ oldest building to share in the Victorian holiday festival and celebrate the upcoming new year.
Women's Domestic Artistries: 1860 – 1910
February – October 2025
Women’s Domestic Artistries invites visitors to view historical craft traditions of the Civil War and Victorian Era. The art and crafts featured in this exhibition serve as touchpoints in a long history of artistic tradition, tracing the histories of gender norms, creativity, expression, and identity of women as leaders in the creation of home decoration, commemorative objects, art, and meaning in their lives.
The exhibition will highlight domestic artistries produced by women from 1860 through 1910 including quilting, tramp art, mourning art, illustration, pottery, painting, taxidermy and more through primary source objects from the permanent collection.
Yuletide: Glad Tidings
November – December 2025
The Farm House Museum has a certain twinkle this time of year, making it the perfect place to kick off the holiday season with friends old and new. Join us as we gather in the beauty of ISU campus’ oldest building to share glad tidings, merriment and good cheer.
America 250: Prairie, Plows, and the People's College
February – October 2026
On July 4, 2026, the United States will commemorate the 250th anniversary of its founding. The Farm House Museum, built in 1860, has been central to the development of campus, Iowa State heritage, education, innovation, and national policy.
“The journey toward this historic milestone is an opportunity to pause and reflect on our nation’s past, honor the contributions of all Americans, and look ahead toward the future we want to create for the next generation and beyond.” - U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission
America 250: Prairie, Plows, and the People’s College will honor the key people, moments and experiences that have been centered within the Farm House Museum, campus’ first building. This exhibition will explore America’s 250th through 250 primary source objects from honoring the land of the original indigenous people to the plowing of the prairie, campus development and the fostering of generations of democratic and innovative citizens.
Yuletide + America 250: History for the Holidays
November – December 2026
To celebrate the culmination of the 250th founding year of the United States, the Farm House Museum presents History for the Holidays. This exhibition explores the holiday traditions that were brought to the United States by immigrants, decorations that are uniquely “American”, and festivities that have brought Iowa State campus together in merriment year after year since the 1860s. The Farm House Museum has a certain twinkle this time of year, making it the perfect place to honor the history of the holiday season with friends old and new.
Anderson Sculpture Garden
To be determined...
Other Spaces on ISU's Campus
Dean's Art Gallery
George Washington Carver, The Student & Innovator
February 1 – July 2024
“I have no words to adequately express my impressions of dear old I.S.C. All I am and all I hope to be, I owe in a very large measure to this blessed institution.” -George Washington Carver, May 1921
Nearly 75 years ago in 1949, then Iowa State artist-in-residence Christian Petersen carved a plaster sculpture of notable graduate George Washington Carver. Fifty years later, the sculpture was cast in bronze and placed in the courtyard of Carver Hall, creating a commemoration in public art to Carver and his achievements. George Washington Carver’s legacy as an innovator has been honored over the years through numerous works of art in the University Museums’ permanent collection and Art on Campus Collection.
Carver, the student, was clearly impacted by the professors and leaders at Iowa State as catalogued in a six-page letter written by Carver to Louis Pammel in May of 1921 in response to Pammel’s inquiry into Carver’s life story and impactful individuals.
This installation will explore through portraiture the influence on Carver the Iowa State faculty, administration and students had on the success of Carver becoming the innovator he is celebrated today.
This exhibition is in conjunction with the exhibition George Washington Carver, The Student & Artist in the Farm House Museum and George Washington Carver, The Student & Visionary in locations across campus.
Across Campus
Multiple Sites
George Washington Carver, The Student & Visionary
February – July 2024
“I have no words to adequately express my impressions of dear old I.S.C. All I am and all I hope to be, I owe in a very large measure to this blessed institution.” -George Washington Carver, May 1921
Nearly 75 years ago in 1949, then Iowa State artist-in-residence Christian Petersen carved a plaster sculpture of notable graduate George Washington Carver. Fifty years later, the sculpture was cast in bronze and placed in the courtyard of Carver Hall, creating a commemoration in public art to Carver and his achievements. George Washington Carver’s legacy has been honored over the years through numerous works of art in the University Museums’ permanent collection and Art on Campus Collection.
Carver, the student, was clearly impacted by the professors and leaders at Iowa State as catalogued in a six-page letter written by Carver to Louis Pammel in May of 1921 in response to Pammel’s inquiry into Carver’s life story and impactful individuals.
This self-guided exhibition tour will explore through historical and contemporary portraiture the encouragement of young Carver by Iowa State faculty and administration that allowed for his success while on campus and led to him becoming the visionary person he is celebrated today.
This exhibition is in conjunction with the exhibition George Washington Carver, The Student & Innovator in the Dean’s Art Gallery, Curtiss Hall, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and George Washington Carver, The Student & Artist in the Farm House Museum.