Stanley Museum of Art | The University of Iowa

Jackson Pollock's Mural

Detail photo by Dave Drogos

See yourself at the Stanley

Come explore our beautiful home - a campus and community hub of global visual culture.

Everyone is welcome.

Plan Your Visit Explore the Collections

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.

A group of three university students look at a large African mask

Discover

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

Two women sitting on a green couch having a conversation

Connect

There’s always something exciting going on at your art museum. Find out what’s coming up on the calendar.

Multiple bookmarks and copies of a red book fanned out with the text "Beloved. A novel by Toni Morrison."

NEA Big Read | Free Book Pick Up

January 20 - February 12

The NEA Big Read is here in Iowa City! 📚

Get your free copy of Beloved by Toni Morrison and be a part of this community-wide reading event. Available to pick up at 12 different locations across Iowa City. From February to May, our community will celebrate Beloved with a full calendar of events.

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.

Admission to the museum building will end 5 minutes before gallery closing.

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

Current Exhibitions

Swirls of paint in different colors on a canvas

Jackson Pollock, Mural, 1943. Oil and casein on canvas, 242.9 x 603.9 cm. University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, Gift of Peggy Guggenheim, 1959.6 © Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Homecoming

August 26, 2022–July 2025

The Stanley's inaugural exhibition reintroduces visitors to the museum's extraordinary collection. Homecoming comprises of a series of related installations: Generations, Fragments of the Canon, and History Is Always Now.

Homecoming

A large white mural filled with colorful drawings, mounted on a concrete wall held together by a metal base

Keith Haring (American, 1958–1990), A Book Full of Fun, 1989, acrylic on plywood, 71 x 107 x 1 ¾ in. Photo by Brendan Paul. Loan of Horn Elementary, Iowa City Community School District © Keith Haring Foundation

To my Friends at Horn: Keith Haring and Iowa City

May 4, 2024 - March 9, 2025

This exhibition celebrates revolutionary graffiti artist Keith Haring's ties to Iowa City.

To my Friends at Horn: Keith Haring and Iowa City

A series of masks on display in a gallery with purple walls

Sowei masks for Sande Society

Part of exhibition, Alternate Paths: New Object Histories from Africa to America, at the Stanley Museum of Art, 2024. Photo by Adrian Carmenate.

Alternate Paths

August 2, 2024 - February 23, 2025

Alternate Paths: New Object Histories from Africa to America explores artistic agency as well as ethical and material dimensions of African art collections from the University of Iowa and Indiana University.

Alternate Paths

Aerial view of museum with campus recreation center on left and Main Library on right

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 is 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

NEA Big Read | Free Book Pick Up

Monday, January 20, 9:00am to Wednesday, February 12, 2025 5:00pm

Stanley Museum of Art

The Stanley Museum of Art will launch its National Endowment for the Arts Big Read program on Jan. 20, 2025, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This event features a community wide reading of the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison. Pick up a free copy of Beloved at 12 pickup locations across Iowa City between Jan. 20 and Feb. 12, 2025. Register here to pickup a free copy: https://uiowa.doubleknot.com/event/nea-big-reads-beloved-by-toni-morriso... An email confirmation must be presented to claim a book...

Grant Wood Fellows Artist Talks & Panel | 2025

Thursday, February 6, 2025 6:00pm to 8:00pm

Stanley Museum of Art

Join the 2024-2025 Grant Wood Fellows artists for an evening of discussion about their work and research. The event will be accompanied by light refreshments. Panel members: Rush Baker IV (Painting & Drawing) Matthew Willie Garcia (Printmaking) Lyndsey Scott (Interdisciplinary Performance—Music) The Grant Wood Art Colony seeks to provide a creative home for the next generation of artists and continue Grant Wood’s creative advocacy in the School of Art & Art History and the Division of...

Art & Write Night

Friday, February 7, 2025 6:00pm to 8:00pm

University of Iowa Museum of Natural History

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces. Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists. Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each session...

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