Christian Petersen in Context

Guest Curator Dr. Lea Rosson DeLong, noted scholar of Christian Petersen, will examine Petersen’s sculptures on the ISU campus, placing them in context of his own time, the 1930s through the 1950s, while also emphasizing the ongoing merits of his art today.

Christian Petersen Art Museum
Campbell Gallery, 1017 Morrill Hall
603 Morrill Road
Ames, IA

Lea Rosson DeLong is an art historian, curator, and editor, working mainly in American art of the 1930s and contemporary art. Born in Louisiana, she grew up in Oklahoma and Nashville, Tennessee. Her BA is from the University of Oklahoma and her MA and PhD are both from the University of Kansas. She has curated exhibitions and authored books on Grant Wood, Georgia O’Keeffe, Christian Petersen, and other American artists. Her publications with University Museums, Iowa State University include: N.C. Wyeth’s America in the Making (2011), All the Evils: Christian Petersen and the Art of War (2009), When Tillage Begins, Other Arts Follow: Grant Wood and Christian Petersen Murals (2006), Grant Wood’s Main Street (2004). A frequent guest curator for the University Museums, Iowa State University, she previously was a curator at the Des Moines Art Center and has taught at Drake University in Des Moines and Iowa State University in Ames.

Photo of Christian Petersen with his mural History of Dairying, made in 1934. Terra cotta. Commissioned by Iowa State College. In the Christian Petersen Art Collection, Art on Campus Collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. U88.64a-g