Opening August 26, 2022

Always Free and Open to All.

east front of museum with sky reflected in the glass

Visit

Our beautiful building is a cultural and social center where you can explore, unwind, meet, and create. Everyone is welcome.

Two students thoughtfully viewing artwork

Explore

Spark your curiosity with something new or stop by and see your old favorites.                                                                                                                                  

man and woman looking at lithographs

Discover

The world-class art collection provides exciting opportunities for teaching, learning, and research.                                                                            

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Connect

There’s always something exciting going on at your art museum. Read the latest news and find out what’s coming up on the calendar.

southeast corner of museum building with "University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art" visible on wall in foreground

You're Invited to the Opening Celebration

The grand opening of the new University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art will bring together the campus, the community, and all Iowans to celebrate the return of the collection and the opening of Homecoming, the inaugural exhibition. The celebration will extend through the weekend and includes the official dedication and ribbon-cutting at 3:00 p.m. August 26, followed by tours of the building and galleries, and free entertainment and activities in the museum and Gibson Square Park.

Mark your calendar and join us for an art-filled weekend of family fun!

Text reading "Coming Home Coming Home" side by side with the left part of a large abstract painting with swirls of yellow, pink, teal, and light greenish blue, amid longer, vertical, curved black lines that have a quality of dance-like movement.

Homecoming

August 26, 2022–July 2025

The Stanley's inaugural exhibition, Homecoming,  reintroduces visitors to the museum's extraordinary collection. Homecoming comprises a series of related installations: “Generations,” which will foreground the University of Iowa’s history of innovative arts education and scholarship; “Fragments of the Canon,” featuring African art collected by a Black Iowan, Meredith Saunders; and “History Is Always Now,” in which the Stanley’s celebrated collection of African art will be displayed in a new way that emphasizes movement and cultural exchange through time and across space.

east front of museum with sky reflected in the glass

The Building

Nestled between the Main Library and Campus Recreation and Wellness Center on the west side of Gibson Square Park, the new Stanley Museum of Art will be a hub of learning and research for the University of Iowa and the state. The three-story, state-of-the-art building, designed by BNIM of Des Moines, Iowa, includes a range of flexible spaces for research, education, and exhibitions, and is ideally suited to serve as a center for interdisciplinary teaching, discovery, and community building.

Upcoming Events

Instruction Open House promotional image

Instruction Open House

Friday, August 19, 2022 11:00am to 1:00pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Instruction Open House! Preview the new Stanley Museum of Art classroom spaces and learn how to use campus collections in instruction.  All instructors, TAs, and Faculty are welcome to tour these new spaces. Tours will be available every half hour. Staff from Stanley Museum and the UI Libraries will be on site to answer any questions you might have about instruction resources. 
Stanley Museum of Art Opening Celebration promotional image

Stanley Museum of Art Opening Celebration

Friday, August 26 3:00pm to Sunday, August 28, 2022 5:00pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Join us as we celebrate the opening of our new building! The 3–4 p.m. dedication on Aug. 26 will include remarks from UI President Barbara Wilson and Stanley Museum of Art Director Lauren Lessing. Following the dedication, light refreshments will be served in Gibson Square Park. Beginning at 4:30 p.m. visitors can explore the galleries and enjoy curatorial introductions to Homecoming, the inaugural exhibition. Art-making activities in the park will be available all evening and there will be...
Stanley Reads promotional image

Stanley Reads

Thursday, October 6, 2022 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Stanley Museum of Art
This fall, Stanley Reads book group brings together two of the university's most celebrated arts organizations – The Iowa Writers Workshop and the Stanley Museum of Art. The club will meet three times over the fall semester to discuss The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang, director of the UI Iowa Writers Workshop, and discuss how objects in the Homecoming exhibition connect to the themes presented in the book. Thursday, Oct. 6, 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, 7 p.m. During...
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Gallery Hours

Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Wednesday: 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Thursday: 10 a.m.–8:00 p.m.​​​​​​​
Friday: 10 a.m.–​​​​​​​4:30 p.m.​​​​​​​
Saturday: 10 a.m.–​​​​​​​4:30 p.m.​​​​​​​
Sunday: 12:00–4:30 p.m.

Office Hours

Monday: 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Tuesday: 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Wednesday: 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Thursday: 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Friday: 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed