News, Stories and Media

Donor support helps University Museums provide meaningful internship, assistantship, and fellowship opportunities that prepare students for careers in museums and the arts. By investing in these opportunities, donors help train the next generation of museum professionals and foster a lasting appreciation for the arts within future communities.

"Lyrical Forms: Arts on Campus with ISU Opera Studio" was a collaborative event with University Museums and the faculty and students of ISU's Opera Studio program, born of a desire to connect the performing arts of the Department of Music and Theatre to the public art around campus.

Lynette L. Pohlman, the Warren and Beverly Madden Endowed Director and Chief Curator of University Museums at Iowa State University, will retire June 3, 2026. She has served as director since 1980 — 46 years — placing her among the longest-serving museum directors in the United States.

Construction work near Beardshear Hall will affect access to the Anderson Sculpture Garden through the summer. Sculptures in the work zone have been wrapped and protected, and some sidewalks are partially closed until early August. A sample perennial planting bed in the area by Austin Eischeid (American, ISU '11) offers a preview of a planned 21,000-square-foot garden expansion, and donors can support that work through Forever True Day on April 1–2.

On February 13, 2026, the Iowa State University Wind Ensemble gave the world premiere performance of a three-movement concerto composed by Dr. Michael Golemo (American, b. 1960) in response to Hive Mind, Beth Lipman's (American, b. 1971) monumental bronze and glass sculpture in the Anderson Sculpture Garden. Commissioned by University Museums in honor of Beverly and Warren Madden, the concert drew a large audience to the Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall. This page documents the evening, including Beth Lipman's remarks to the audience, and a recording of the full performance.

This spring, University Museums presents Albert Paley: Origins, a look at the preparatory phase of artistic creation. The exhibition features a selection of objects from Paley's 50-year career, including a menagerie of zoo animals created for the St. Louis Zoo's huge Animals Always commission, completed in 2006.

When internationally acclaimed artist Beth Lipman created Hive Mind, her monumental bronze and glass sculpture celebrating Iowa State University's legacy of innovation, composer and conductor Dr. Michael Golemo heard music. On Friday, February 13, University Museums and the Department of Music and Theatre present the world premiere of Golemo's three-movement concerto inspired by Lipman's art, performed by the 60-member Iowa State University Wind Ensemble at Simon Estes Music Hall.

AMES, Iowa — University Museums at Iowa State University is opening "America 250: Prairie, Plows, and the People's College" on Feb. 2. The exhibition, on view through October 2026, explores the nation's 250th anniversary through more than 250 historical objects that parallel Iowa State's land-grant heritage and American history.