student blog

Along with the Stanley's belief in getting students into and engaged with the museum physically, we also believe students should have a space to share their research, creative projects, writing, and other achievements, expertise, and thoughts about art, art history, and the Stanley with their peers. 

The Stanley Student Blog will not only serve as a way to make our events accessible, but also to preserve the work that students do;  their work isn't gone once the event they helped coordinate is over or their employment ends, but lives on here, for future students to engage with days, weeks, months, or maybe even years later. 

If you're interested in contributing to our blog in some type of way, please reach out to Assistant Curator of Student Engagement Allie Tokarski at allison-tokarski@uiowa.edu. We'd love to hear your thoughts on the art on display at the Stanley, the work you're doing related to the Stanley or the arts community on campus, or how the arts are impacting your time here at Iowa. 

A photo of a student, in profile, working on their sewing project; fabrics, sewing supplies, and other materials are scattered in front of them on a table covered with a blue gingham tablecloth.

Night at the Museum: Stress-Relief Patchworking

Monday, November 18, 2024
For our November installment of Night at the Museum, we hosted a stress-relief patch making workshop. Students were welcomed to join us and create their own pieces of fabric art on tote bags or pencil cases or their own textile goods. Click here to learn more about how the event went!
A graphic comprised of four movie posters on a red-purple gradient background.

Recap of Refocus Film Festival from Museum Programs Intern Abbie McLaren

Monday, October 28, 2024
Museum Programs Intern Abbie McLaren attended FilmScene's 3rd Annual Refous Film Festival in Iowa City this October with a pass received through FilmScene's partnership with the Stanley. She watched a total of four films--check out this post for Abbie's thoughts on "Nightbitch," "Pavements," "Aelita: Queen of Mars," and "Plastic."
A close up of a student working on assembling their cyanotype; they are laying various materials on top of the blue paper.

Night at the Museum: Cyanotype Photograms

Thursday, October 17, 2024
For our second installment of Night at the Museum this academic year, we hosted a making workshop focused on cyanotypes. Students were able to stop by the Stanley on Thursday night to create cyanotypes with us, or they could instead opt to pick up a take-home bag with all the materials and instructions to make their cyanotype photograms at home by themselves. Click here to learn more about how this event went!
A photo of the entire setup: approximately one dozen printed blue paper bags are lined up along the top of a table, waiting to dry, set above a bottle of white ink, a plate with white ink on it, the ink covered linoleum block, an inked up brayer, and a clean brayer that has been used to apply pressure to the back of the plate to help transfer the ink.

DIY Block Printing

Monday, October 7, 2024
The creative component of our September Night at the Museum event with student org Hawk the Vote involved making political inspired block prints with event attendees. After this event, we decided to use the same process to stamp the take-home-kit bags for our October event. If you are interested in learning how to make your own block prints to decorate your clothes, bags, or walls with, read this blog post for information about how we designed and made ours!
A photo of Luke Krchak superimposed onto a green background, with the words "Student Spotlight." Luke is wearing a brown beanie and a blue t shirt and is smiling.

Museum Studies Intern Fall 2024: Luke Krchak

Friday, September 27, 2024
Click here to learn more about Luke Krchak and the work he will do as Museum Studies Intern within the Learning & Engagement department at the Stanley Museum of Art during the Fall 2024 semester.
Students wait and watch as Annelies block prints voting-inspired imagery onto tote bags, pencil cases, fabric patches, or other fabric items at the direction of the students.

Night at the Museum: The Art of Voting 2.0

Thursday, September 19, 2024
For our first installment of Night at the Museum this academic year, we revisited our partnership with Hawk the Vote and hosted another iteration of "The Art of Voting." Similar to last year, we used our student event this month to encourage students to register to vote with Hawk the Vote; we provided a super cool voting-inspired art activity; and had some snacks and drinks available for attendees. Click here to learn more about how this event went!
A photo of Bella Epstein, standing in front of the Keith Haring mural, "A Book Full of Fun," in the Stanley Museum of Art galleries, teaching in front of a group of children and their parents.

A Reflection from Summer Learning & Engagement Intern Bella Epstein

Monday, September 2, 2024
Click here to learn more about the various projects Bella Epstein, an art education and printmaking student at UNI, worked on during her summer as an intern for the Stanley's Learning & Engagement department.
A photo of Stanley student employee, Shaun Mallonga, working on Jiha Moon's mural, 'One An Other,' in the Stanley Museum of Art lobby.

A Reflection on Working with Jiha Moon

Thursday, August 29, 2024
Shaun Mallonga, an MFA student at the University of Iowa and Gallery Host at the Stanley Museum of Art, reflects on the experience of working with artist Jiha Moon on her recent mural project, "One An Other," in the Stanley Museum of Art's lobby.
Student employees Sarena Gibson and Mari Johnson crouch on the street in downtown Iowa City, where they are working on a large chalk drawing as part of the city's Rock the Chalk summer festival.

Stanley Museum of Art Student Employees at Rock the Chalk 2024

Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Two of the Stanley's student employees, Communications & Marketing Assistant Sarena Gibson and Gallery Host Mari Johnson, participated in the Iowa City Downtown District's "Rock the Chalk" event. This festival features community members and local artists filling downtown streets with chalk art. For their piece representing the Stanley, Sarena and Mari recreated Keith Haring's mural, "A Book Full of Fun," currently on display at the Stanley.