Welcome back to the Stanley, Hawkeyes! With any luck, you had the chance to attend our very first Night at the Museum event of the year, AKA our third annual collab with Hawk The Vote. HTV is a student organization here on campus that works to help educate our university population on civic actions, voter registration, and more. We’re happy to say that HTV helped 20 students register to vote, and over fifty students in all came to hang out and make some really cool crafts!  

We had three different stations where folks could sit and make artwork inspired by protest projects and activist artists of the not-so-distant-past, including figures like Elizabeth Catlett and Lil Picard (whose pieces Links Together and Peace Object can be viewed in the Iowa Digital Library as a part of the Stanley Museum of Art Collection). Students could choose between making homemade stickers, carving their own stamps from linoleum blocks, and making buttons with help from HTV volunteers.  

Besides successfully registering to vote or expressing meaningful messages through art, students also had the opportunity to receive a stamp on their Stanley Student Challenge cards! This year, students can exchange a card with at least three stamps for a custom-printed SMA Baggu tote bag or Nalgene water bottle. If you haven’t gotten your own card yet, stop by the Welcome Desk during your next visit to get some help from one of our Gallery Hosts!