Image credit: Chihongo (male face mask), Chokwe style. Early to mid-20th century. Wood, cotton, bark, raffia. 11 1/2  x 9  x 10 3/4 in. University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, The Stanley Collection of African Art, X1990.598 SAAH Visiting Scholar Professor Barbaro Martinez-Ruiz will join Professors T.J. Dedeaux-Norris (Associate Professor, SAAH) and Beatrice Mkenda (Associate Professor of Instruction, French and Italian), and Dr. Cory Gundlach (Curator of African Art, SMA) for a workshop on...

Join us for our next installment of Night at the Museum—a series of monthly events for students that occur Thursday nights, when the museum is open late.  This month, we're partnering with Campus Activities Board (CAB) to host a paint-and-sip-style creative workshop led by Amanda Lensing! Lensing will lead attendees in creating their own pastel-and-watercolor masterpiece, inspired by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama's work. This event has a limited capacity; we encourage you to RSVP at this link t...

A Virtual Curator Talk with Eric Ensley and Emily Martin Join Eric Ensley and Emily Martin, co-curators of Making the Book, Past and Present, for a behind-the-scenes look at their Main Library Gallery exhibition. Find out how they decided which Special Collections & Archives materials to share with visitors, discover more about some of the curators' favorite items, and learn why it is so important to show modern book art in conversation with historic books.  Registration is required to attend...

On your day off from school, stop at the Stanley to create an art project and enjoy snacks in our lobby. Then, head up to the galleries to try your hand at our scavenger hunts and find a new favorite artwork. This week, collage your own robot! We will provide a base and a variety of materials. Gear up your creativity and imagination to create a unique robot! Please allow 30 minutes to complete the art project. No registration required.

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...

This unique and hands-on program integrates art viewing, art making and mindfulness strategies to provide students with tools to de-stress, manage anxiety, and develop wellness practices. During the 2-hour workshop, participants will learn new ways to improve well-being, while benefiting from the positive effects of viewing and making art. No prior art making experience necessary. The workshop will be led by Dana Keeton, a local board-certified art therapist and licensed mental health...

Dr. Boureima Diamitani and Dr. Samuel Nortey will explore the historical, political, educational, and gendered dimensions surrounding ceramic pottery in West Africa today. Diamitani’s research addresses challenges around the (mis-)representation, production, and restitution of pottery among Senufo communities in Burkina Faso, while Nortey’s work examines ceramics as an agent of community cohesion, social inclusion, and cultural heritage preservation in Ghana. Together, the presentations and...

The program will be held in the Stanley Museum of Art Visual Classroom on the 3rd floor. Due to space limitations, reservations are required. Please reserve your spot here. Please join us for an artist talk by Molly Jae Vaughan. This talk concludes Vaughan’s weeklong residency at the Stanley Museum of Art in collaboration with the Theatre Department, the Printmaking Program, Iowa Print Group, and the LGBTQ Iowa Archives and Library to complete the 23rd garment in her Project 42. Since 2012...

Join Melinda Myers, Assistant Professor of Contemporary Dance and Choreography, for a fun Prompt for the Planet workshop that lets you connect with nature through art!  Whether you're an experienced artist or just starting to dip your toes into the world of creativity, this workshop is open to all skill levels. Space is limited!  Please register at https://uiowa.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5tmleArm2C7Lnds

Join us for a conversation about the deep impact leading mid-century visual artists played on the choreographic vision of Martha Graham. The conversation will give special emphasis to the work of Isamu Noguchi, who designed the set for Errand into the Maze and Alexander Calder, who designed mobiles for Graham’s Panorama—both will be performed on the Martha Graham Dance Company presentation at Hancher Auditorium on March 29.

This lecture looks at the continuing life and uses of some very old books in and outside of the Making the Book, Past and Present exhibition. Starting from one of the biggest in both scale and edition size, the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle, which was printed from hundreds of woodcut blocks, to others containing mystical puzzles or movable parts, no two copies of a pre-modern book were ever the same. This look at annotating, collecting, and censoring them, as well as keeping things in them will show...

Join us monthly to generate new creative writing inspired by works in the Stanley collection. Each session will be led by a different talented writer from our area, who will be offering a new prompt and a new approach to ekphrastic writing (writing inspired by visual art). Bring your own notebook and pencil or computer and leave with the beginning of a newly written piece. Co-sponsored by Iowa City Poetry. Teen and adult writers in all genres are welcome. Write at the Stanley meets every fourth...

San Pere, Louisiana: Oya runs fast, but her collegiate future is placed on hold to care for her mother. Inspired by Federico García Lorca’s Yerma and Yoruban cosmology, Tarell Alvin McCraney’s In the Red and Brown Water is a lyrical offering at the intersection of ancestral myth and ritual about a young woman’s coming-of-age navigating lovers, community, and her chosen path. Join us at the Stanley Museum of Art for a staged reading of the play by the Department of Theatre Arts. Event will be...

Join Melinda Myers, Assistant Professor of Contemporary Dance and Choreography, for a fun Prompt for the Planet workshop that lets you connect with nature through art!  Whether you're an experienced artist or just starting to dip your toes into the world of creativity, this workshop is open to all skill levels. Space is limited!  Please register at https://uiowa.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5tmleArm2C7Lnds

Join us for a talk on Saturday, March 23 at 2 p.m. featuring painting conservator and UIowa alum, David Goist. His presentation, aptly titled "The Unvarnished Truth," focuses on unvarnished paintings from the late 19th and 20th century and the artistic motivations behind leaving works unfinished. Applying a varnish to safeguard the delicate layers of a painting is a centuries-old tradition that offers a certain visual appeal but can alter the artist's original vision. Goist will reflect upon his...

Join Melinda Myers, Assistant Professor of Contemporary Dance and Choreography, for a fun Prompt for the Planet workshop that lets you connect with nature through art!  Whether you're an experienced artist or just starting to dip your toes into the world of creativity, this workshop is open to all skill levels. Space is limited!  Please register at https://uiowa.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5tmleArm2C7Lnds

Join artist, innovator, designer and UIowa alum Suzanne Tick for two insightful conversations about her work. What Now?  Wednesday, March 20 | 6 p.m. |E125 Visual Arts Building What Now? will feature the ever-changing discussion of evolution, connectivity with the world around us, and what is relevant for the time as we move forward as creatives in a post-Covid world. Making Materials Matter Thursday, March 21 | 6:30 p.m. |240 Art Building West Making Materials Matter is a visual journey...

Suzanne Tick | Making Materials Matter & What Now? Join artist, innovator, designer and UIowa alum Suzanne Tick for two insightful conversations about her work. On Wednesday, March 20, 2024 at 6 p.m. in the Visual Arts Building, Suzanne will present What Now?—the ever-changing discussion of evolution, connectivity with the world around us, and what is relevant for the time as we move forward as creatives in a post-Covid world. On Thursday March 21, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. in the Art Building West...

The Drawing Salon focuses on drawing artworks from the museum's collection. Each session will focus on a different artwork. The sessions will begin with an introduction and discussion of the selected work. Participants will be encouraged to pursue their own visions and to take inspiration from the artworks in the gallery. Pencils and sketchbooks/paper are the only artmaking materials allowed in the galleries. The museum has golf pencils with erasers and clipboards for participants to use...

This March, we're doing something a little different.  For our next installment of Nights at the Museum—a series of events for UI students that occur monthly on Thursday nights, when the Stanley is open late--we're running a month long Wikipedia Edit-a-thon in partnership with Art Hawks and LGBTQ Iowa Archives & Library in recognition of Women's History Month. This event has both synchronous and asynchronous elements. Use the provided materials any time to make edits to Wikipedia pages on your...