Calendar

Take a stroll through the new photography exhibition In Conversation: Will Wilson with Brunnier Art Museum curator, Adrienne Gennett.

As a collaboration between Jay-lin Jane Topel and former Dean David Topel, University Museums, and the University Library, this unique collection furthers the appreciation and understanding of Chinese culture by exhibiting the beauty of traditional Chinese arts. Led by curator Adrienne Gennett.

Meet in the Parks Library, Second Floor Periodical Room

Experience contemporary and historical representation of Native American cultures at the Brunnier Art Museum! Visualize Native land and inhabitation throughout time, interact with your perceptions of modern Native identity, and understand how Ames and Iowa State University interfaces with historical and contemporary Native American life. 

How do bees stay cozy and warm through the long Iowa winter? Learn all about bees and their foraging and nesting habits with Dr. Amy Toth, professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology. This program is in conjunction with the newly planted New Perennial Movement Sample Garden in the Anderson Sculpture Garden. Meet in 0003 Morrill Hall then tour the Anderson Sculpture Garden. 

Join University Museums’ curator, Alison Ranniger, for an engaging tour through the Christian Petersen Art Museum’s newest exhibition, In the Woods by Jeanine Coupe Ryding.

University Museums invites visitors to learn about museum etiquette and tips to help navigate a museum. Dress up as an art critic or create your own unique costume inspired by your favorite artist! The winning costume will receive a prize for Best-Dressed.

with Kyle Mancuso, Curatorial Research Associate, High Museum of Art

Best remembered for his large-scale, Futurist-inspired paintings of the Brooklyn Bridge, Italian-born American modernist Joseph Stella was equally inspired by the natural world as seen in one of his most ambitious paintings Tree of My Life (1919). Learn how Stella's paintings and personality were deeply linked and in what way the changing Italian landscape of the 1910s and 20s complicates the understanding of the artist's experience in the country of his birth.

Virtual on Zoom | Register to be emailed the Zoom link information.

Dive deep into the public art of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences! Learn about the history and research of the Animal Science division through a tour of the public works of art at Kildee Hall.

with Sandra Klowak, hair artist and owner of Corporeal Curios

The Victorian era saw the production of hair memorials move from the hands of a small group of professional artisans to those of women in the home. With Klowak, explore the factors influencing this change, from the evolving Victorian value of sentimentality to anxieties over mass production.

Virtual on Zoom. Registration required to receive the Zoom link information.

with Jen McClung, Associate Teaching Professor, American Indian Studies & English

Learn about the impact historical photography of Native Americans has had on the depictions of Indigenous people in the United States. Then discover the Native American artists who are reclaiming their images and those of other Indigenous peoples through their own creative interactions with photography and art.

University Museums’ Art on Campus Collection has numerous examples of large-scale, metal sculptures that are out in public spaces, facing the Iowa weather. These objects need care to stay in top shape for the public, and conservator Francis Miller has worked on many in the collection. This talk will focus on the care and conservation of bronze works of art in the collection.

Virtual on Zoom. Registration required to receive the Zoom link information.

Meet up at the Christian Petersen Art Museum for a chance to create connections! Hosted in partnership with the College of Design, this event features fun networking activities, a guided tour of the current art exhibitions, with inspiring insights from alumni and ice cream from the ISU Creamery!

Explore a story through art! Kids and their families are invited to follow a story through the exhibition Journeys: Landscapes as Self-Expression, take home a book, and join in fun nature inspired activities with ISU School of Education students and faculty.

With Sandra Klowak, hair artist and owner of Corporeal Curio

In this virtual 2-hour workshop make a 5-petal flower from hair, based on the traditional hairwork technique used to create framed hair wreaths in the 1800s.

Virtual on Zoom. Registration required to receive the Zoom link information.

with Katherine Richardson Bruna, Willie and Kathleen Robinson ISU 4U Promise Professor, School of Education

Poetry heightens attention to sense of self and writing a poem is a reflective and creative exercise. To write a poem about nature elevates our interconnection with other living things and is both grounding and generative. Practice reading and writing poems that celebrate our experiences in the natural places that make us who we are. Come with a place in mind and leave with a poem!

In the University Museums’ Art on Campus Collection, mosaic and tile art are present within several installations across campus. Look at science-inspired mosaics included in the Molecular Biology Building and Hach Hall.

Accompany Farm House curator Allison Sheridan to take a look at the newly installed exhibition and delve into the influences of women’s creative talents in the home from 1860 to 1910.

"Art Write Now" invites writers of all levels to explore the connection between visual art and creative writing! The program includes a curator-led tour of the Christian Petersen Art Museum’s exhibitions, followed by writing exercises led by Ana Hays McCracken to spark meaningful creative responses.

Dragons and Rayguns: Book Reading with Iowa Poet Laureate, Vince Gotera

Renowned glass artist Josh Simpson and retired NASA Astronaut Cady Coleman will discuss their lives in art and science together and how they have influenced each other throughout their careers. After the lecture they will be available to sign copies of their books which can be purchased on site. Enjoy light refreshments and conversation at a reception to follow.

Dive deep into the public art of the Engineering College! Learn about the history and research of the mechanical engineering department through a tour of the public works of art at Hoover and Howe Hall.

University Spring Break: Farm House Museum and Christian Petersen Art Museum closed. 

Join naturalist Jim Pease, Ph.D., for a walk through the exhibition In the Woods by Jeanine Coupe Ryding, as he shares stories and insights on humans’ complex relationship with trees. With over five decades of experience as a naturalist, educator, and community activist, Pease brings a wealth of knowledge to this exploration.

During the first spring in the New Perennial Movement Sample Garden in the Anderson Sculpture Garden, thousands of bulbs and plantings will be emerging to benefit pollinators, and campus visitors! Learn from the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium about how perennials affect pollinator populations in Iowa, and what you can do to encourage these species in Iowa.

How do artists represent the relationships that connect people? How can these complex relationships be conveyed in a single work of art? Join University Museums for a stroll through public art centered on communication and collaboration.

Meet at Communications Building, East Entrance

Discover techniques of holistic wellbeing inspired by landscapes on exhibition at Brunnier Art Museum! Engage personal wellness at a biofeedback station, examine Midwestern ecology, and express yourself with an improvisational photography session.

Explore the beauty and meanings of flowers! Find the artistic flowers in the exhibition Journeys: Landscape as Self-Expression and join in dissecting real flowers and creating your own artful flowers with Reiman Gardens and the ISU Horticulture Department.

Dr. Julie Courtwright, Professor of History at Iowa State University, will examine how wind and fire have shaped the grassland for thousands of years. In the process, these forces of nature have also shaped the history of the people who have called the place home -- whether they've liked it or not.

Will Wilson is a Diné photographer, artist, and curator who creates art and images of indigenous people to confront issues of agency and identity. Registration optional. 

Connect with University Museums for an afternoon of poetry! Led by Vince Gotera, enjoy a guided tour of the Art on Campus Collection and Anderson Sculpture Garden. Gotera will share poems inspired by Art on Campus and read alongside the works of art that motivated them. Learn about his creative process and go home with inspiration to create ekphrastic poems of your own! 

Relax and recharge while immersing yourself in art and nature. Visit the Christian Petersen Art Museum to explore the exhibition In the Woods and create your own take-home terrarium with materials generously provided by Reiman Gardens. For added inspiration, enjoy the vibrant blooms in the Anderson Sculpture Garden just outside Morrill Hall.

Come to the Brunnier to join in a roundtable style conversation between Dr. Niigaan Sinclair, the United Native American Student Association, and Iowa State University students as they discuss contemporary Native American arts and life. Dr. Niigaan Sinclair is Anishinaabe from Peguis First Nation and a professor at the University of Manitoba, where he holds the Faculty of Arts Professorship in Indigenous Knowledge and Aesthetics in the Department of Indigenous Studies.

Dive deep into the public art of the College of Health and Human Sciences! Learn about the history and research of the education division through a tour of the public works of art at Lagomarcino Hall.

In partnership with Iowa State’s student publication, Sketch, join University Museums for a pop-up reading of student-penned poetry inspired by the Art on Campus Collection in the Anderson Sculpture Garden.

Gardening can be overwhelming, but Iowa State University Horticulture experts are here to help! You may know them from Iowa Public Radio’s Garden Variety, but here is a chance to meet Aaron Steil, Cindy Haynes and Dr. Jeff Iles in-person and tour the New Perennial Movement Sample Garden in the Anderson Sculpture Garden, planted last fall with thousands of bulbs and perennial plants.

Do you want to date like a Victorian? Join University Museums staff and interns at Farm House Museum for a festive journey into 19^th century society, featuring a costume contest, an introduction to Victorian era dance, crafts, refreshments, and more! Victorian-inspired costumes are encouraged!

Discover the creative journey and the inspirations behind Jeanine Coupe Ryding’s exhibition In the Woods at the Christian Petersen Art Museum. The reception will feature a walking tour of the exhibition led by the artist, along with refreshments.

Explore the many trees, from artistic to realistic, on exhibit in the Brunnier Art Museum! Families are invited to create their own trees, learn to recognize different types of trees, and more with ISU Natural Resource and Ecology Management students.

Throughout its 50-year history, University Museums has commissioned numerous talented Iowa writers to craft poetry inspired by the Art on Campus Collection. Join University Museums for a guided walk highlighting these public artworks, accompanied by readings of the featured poems.

with Steve Wilke-Shapiro, Owner & Architect of Sequel Architecture, and Allison Sheridan, curator

The Farm House Museum recently underwent a roof replacement and exterior painting to receive a historically accurate “glow up” before celebrating 50 years of being a public museum. Join the consulting preservation architect and the curator for an insightful look at the project.

Museum Makers is a hands-on art experience inspired by the printmaking techniques in the exhibition In the Woods by Jeanine Coupe Ryding. Enjoy a guided tour of the exhibition, followed by a chance to create your own nature-inspired monoprints. All skill levels are welcome! 

Explore the newly expanded Anderson Sculpture Garden and find out more about University Museums’ only living collection–the plantings in the New Perennial Movement Sample Garden! Curator Sydney Marshall will give insight into the plantings that arrived last fall, and the new sculpture installations surrounding the garden.

Looking for a quiet place to study? Visit the Christian Petersen Art Museum on Thursday during Prep Week for extended study hours with relaxing activities in a calming, artistic atmosphere.

Discover the many ways artists use the landscape to explore their own identities with Brunnier Art Museum curator Adrienne Gennett. This will be the last chance to see some of the artwork on view in the exhibition before they return to the lending institution.