Breadcrumb
Past Events

Our Stories In and On the Midwest Landscape: A Panel Conversation with Alicia Olushola Ajayi, Kelley Lemon, and Naima Green
Thursday, April 24, 2025 6:00pm to 8:00pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Join us for a compelling panel discussion moderated by Katherine Simóne Reynolds and featuring Kelley Lemon, Naima Green, and Alicia Olushola Ajayi. This conversation will illuminate the many ways Black artists and practitioners are engaging with ecological narratives, uncovering hidden histories, and shaping future landscapes. This event is held in conjunction with the exhibition, it's a fine thing, currently on view at the Stanley Museum of Art.Moderator:Katherine Simóne Reynolds is an artist...

Schools Out at the Stanley | Bunny Buddies
Friday, April 18, 2025 2:00pm to 3:30pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Hop to it! In this fun and creative workshop, children will transform ordinary socks into adorable bunny friends. Using rice to fill their bodies and buttons for eyes and noses, kids will design and create their own unique and cuddly companions.
Space is limited; please reserve your spot at https://uiowa.doubleknot.com/event/schools-out-at-the-stanley-april-18/3...
Please arrive in time for children to settle in and begin the project at 2 p.m.
School's Out at the Stanley is offered on days...

Night at the Museum: Student Exhibit
Thursday, April 17, 2025 5:00pm to 7:00pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Join us for our last installment of Night at the Museum this academic year, a series of monthly events for UI students that occurs on Thursday nights, when the museum is open late.
This month we want to celebrate our student artists! Working with student artists across the University and the Undergraduate Art History Society, we have created our very own student gallery—gallery guide and all! Student works will be displayed in the Stanley's lobby for one night, during this event.
Students are...

Drawing Salon with Robert Caputo
Sunday, April 13, 2025 2:00pm to 3:30pm
Stanley Museum of Art
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...

Siddhartha V. Shah | Our Wounds and Our Weapons: Artmaking in India as Liberatory Practice, 1947 to Today
Thursday, April 10, 2025 6:30pm to 8:00pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Join us at the Stanley Museum of Art for the 2025 Bette R. Spriestersbach Endowed Lectureship, featuring Siddhartha V. Shah, PhD, and John Wieland 1958 Director at the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College. Our Wounds and Our Weapons: Artmaking in India as Liberatory Practice, 1947 to TodayIndependence from British rule in 1947 signaled the end of nearly 350 years of British occupation, leaving the people of India to grapple with tremendous trauma and the task of building a nation that was...

Sundays with the Docents | "it's a fine thing" exhibition tour
Sunday, April 6, 2025 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Join us for a tour of the Stanley Museum of Art's latest exhibition, it's a fine thing. This tour is presented in conjunction with the NEA Big Read and will draw connections between the show and Toni Morrison's novel Beloved. .
This tour is part of the Sundays with the Docents program where Stanley docents create unique tours to share with our audiences throughout the year. Registration is strongly recommended. Walk-ins are welcome, but tours are capped at 20 participants.
Reserve your spot at...

NEA Big Read | Discussion of "Beloved" with Tameka Cage Conley & Derek (DK) Nnuro
Saturday, April 5, 2025 2:00pm
Stanley Museum of Art
The final discussion session of Beloved will be led by Tameka Cage Conley."In a time when dreams might feel distant, I count it 'sheer, good fortune'—a Morrisonian quote from Sula--to return to Iowa City, which remains home to me, and join DK Nnuro for the final discussion of Beloved, a novel that has been seared into my consciousness and all meaning of life for over thirty years. A homecoming of enormous import, we will step into the mercy and splendor of Morrison's language—its gifts and...

Art & Write Night
Friday, April 4, 2025 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
NOTE: The April 4th occurrence in this series will move to the Old Capitol Museum for a very special Art & Write Night!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...

Artist Talks and Conversation | Sonya Clark & Taiye Idahor
Thursday, April 3, 2025 6:30pm to 8:00pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Join us at the Stanley Museum of Art for insightful talks by artists Sonya Clark and Taiye Idahor, followed by a conversation with Cory Gundlach, Curator of African Art.Both Clark and Idahor, whose works are included in the Stanley’s collection, explore critical themes of identity, memory, and cultural heritage through their art, with a shared interest in the visual and symbolic power of hair. Their multidisciplinary approaches, spanning sculpture, textiles, and more, create compelling...
Internship Story Panel: Museum Studies
Wednesday, April 2, 2025 5:00pm to 6:15pm
Virtual
The Museum Studies program is excited to offer the program's first "Internship Story Panel" where Museum Studies students get the chance to present the work they completed for their Museum Studies internship and learn from each others' experiences. A panel of several student presenters will each talk about and feature their work with photos and videos. Afterwards, we’ll have time for Q&A from the audience. Hear about the exciting work our students are proud of completing for their Museum Studies...

SONG*LINES: Song Circle with Lyndsey Scott
Sunday, March 30, 2025 2:00pm to 4:00pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Join us at the Stanley Museum of Art for an uplifting singing circle in the lobby on Sunday, March 30, from 2-4 pm .
The Stanley Museum of Art is the 5th stop of the SONG*LINES Project, a series of local song circles hosted by Grant Wood Fellow Lyndsey Scott to nourish the thriving of local community-building organizations and cross-pollinate new connections. Simple songs will be taught on the spot and refreshments will be provided. All voices are welcome! Register here.
Lyndsey Scott is a...

Stanley Creates | Zany Trees
Saturday, March 29, 2025 2:00pm to 3:30pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Let your imagination run wild as you create your very own zany tree in bloom! In this hands-on workshop, children will use air-dry clay, pipe cleaners, pom-poms, and other colorful materials to design and assemble unique and whimsical trees. From towering giants to tiny saplings, the possibilities are endless!
Space is limited; please reserve your spot at https://uiowa.doubleknot.com/event/stanley-creates-zany-trees-in-bloom/3087875
Please arrive in time for children to settle in and begin the...

An Artist's Life (Before, During and After Iowa) | Artist Talk by Bruce Dorfman
Thursday, March 27, 2025 6:30pm to 8:00pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Join us at the Stanley Museum of Art for a talk featuring artist and UIowa alumnus, Bruce Dorfman. Three works by Dorfman will be on view in the Visual Classroom.
About the artist:
Bruce Dorfman has had 60 solo exhibitions in New York, across the U.S.and abroad. He is represented by: June Kelly Gallery, NYC; Carrie Chen Gallery, Great Barrington,
MA; and Elizabeth Clement Fine Art, Boston/Miami/NYC, where he will continue to have solo exhibitions during 2025.
His very first solo exhibition...

Write at the Stanley
Sunday, March 23, 2025 2:30pm to 11:59pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Write at the Stanley: A Generative Writing Workshop is back for the Spring Semester!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...

Drawing Salon with Robert Caputo
Sunday, March 16, 2025 2:00pm to 3:30pm
Stanley Museum of Art
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...

Sundays with the Docents | "it's a fine thing" exhibition tour
Sunday, March 16, 2025 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Join us for a tour of the Stanley Museum of Art's latest exhibition, it's a fine thing. This tour is presented in conjunction with the NEA Big Read and will draw connections between the show and Toni Morrison's novel Beloved. .
This tour is part of the Sundays with the Docents program where Stanley docents create unique tours to share with our audiences throughout the year. Registration is strongly recommended. Walk-ins are welcome, but tours are capped at 20 participants.
Reserve your spot at...

Night at the Museum: Girls' Night
Thursday, March 13, 2025 5:00pm to 7:00pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Join us for another installment of Night at the Museum, a series of monthly events for students that occur on Thursday nights, when the museum is open late.
In honor of Women’s History Month, we're teaming up with the Women's Resource and Action Center (WRAC) to host a collage night! We will provide copies of historical materials to pick through, along with journals to work in. If you're already an avid journaler (or junk-journaler), you are welcomed to bring your own journal or paper goods you...

Alvin Ailey, Homecoming, and the Black Midwestern Imagination
Sunday, March 9, 2025 2:00pm to 3:00pm
Stanley Museum of Art
The Stanley Museum of Art, Hancher Auditorium, and the University of Iowa welcome Ronni Favors, a former dancer and current rehearsal director for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. Born and raised in Iowa City, Favors will be in conversation with assistant professor of history and African American studies Ashley Howard, about artistic expression, home and the Black Midwestern experience.

2025 Downtown Spring Gallery Walk
Friday, March 7, 2025 5:00pm to 8:00pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Join the UI Libraries, the Stanley Museum of Art, and the UI Museum of Natural History for the Iowa City Downtown District's annual Spring Gallery Walk! Celebrating over 25 years, the Gallery Walk is a free event that invites everyone on a self-guided tour of shops and galleries showcasing curated artwork. Be sure to get a stamp at each location you visit, 10 stamps could win you a big prize!
For your first stamp, start the tour on campus at the Main Library Gallery, featuring the new...

School Out at the Stanley | Buggin' Out: Build Your Own Tin Box Robot
Friday, March 7, 2025 2:00pm to 3:30pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Children are invited to build their very own tin box robots using tin boxes, bolts, and a variety of other hardware. This inventive artmaking program encourages young artists to explore their imaginations and transform everyday materials into whimsical robot sculptures. Perfect for kids of all ages and skill levels, this hands-on activity promises a day of fun, creativity, and discovery.
Space is limited; please reserve your spot at https://uiowa.doubleknot.com/event/schools-out-at-the-stanley...