Past Exhibitions

A woman in a white dress in the middle of an open field

it's a fine thing

February 13, 2025 - July 20, 2025. Drawing from the museum's collection and significant loans, "it's a fine thing" explores themes of erasure, community, and the complex relationship between Black Midwesterners and the land through a range of works, including painting, sculpture, photography, video, and performance.

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 2022 - July 2025. The University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art’s inaugural exhibition that reintroduces the public to the extraordinary permanent collection that encompasses over sixteen thousand artworks.

To My Friends at Horn: Keith Haring and Iowa City

May 4, 2024 - March 9, 2025. This exhibition celebrates the Keith Haring's legacy and honors the many individuals who shaped his visits to Iowa City during the 1980s. The 1989 mural Haring painted for Ernest Horn Elementary School anchors the exhibition and is accompanied by other works of art, photographs, and archival ephemera.

Alternate Paths: New Object Histories from Africa to America

August 2, 2024 - February 23, 2025. Organized into three zones, this exhibition explores artistic agency as well as ethical and material dimensions of African art collections from the University of Iowa and Indiana University, where innovative and collaborative research on African art remains a strong legacy.

A Year in Print

March 1 - December, 2024. This exhibition features "Twelve Prints by Contemporary American Artists," a portfolio gifted to the Stanley by collectors Alan and Ann January.

A wall painted with brightly colored geometric shapes. Each shape has a unique color.

Surrounding

Summer 2022 - 2024. Commissioned by the Stanley Museum of Art, "Surrounding" by artist Odili Donald Odita is the first installment in the museum’s "Thresholds" series, which highlights the work of Iowa-affiliated artists.

Spirit Dance

2023 - 2024. Commissioned by the Stanley Museum of Art, "Spirit Dance" by artist Nnenna Okore is the second installment in the museum’s "Thresholds" series, which highlights the work of Iowa-affiliated artists.

Drawn Over: Reclaiming Our Histories

August 23, 2023 - January 2024. This exhibition highlights the museum's collection of Native American ledger drawings, exploring how 19th-century Plains Indian artists adapted their storytelling traditions to new materials to document their lives and culture.