Welcome to the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation
The Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation enriches lives by advancing the best of public art by placing art in public spaces in the community through public and private collaborations, adding to the cultural record through its collections and educational programs. We invite you to discover public art through-out the Greater Des Moines area.
Featured Art this Month
Tom Sachs
2007, fabricated in 2008 from an edition of 5 (5/5) | Long-Term Collection
Other Public Art Downtown
Mitchell Squire
2019 | Short-Term Collection
Bus Wrap #10: Multiple Black
Kerry James Marshall
July 2018 | Long-Term Collection
Other Public Art Downtown
Featured Artists this Month
News + Initiatives Blog
Our blog posts are a growing knowledge base of insights, stories and information. Get inspired by and delve into a breathtaking array of public art.
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June 22, 2019The Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation is emphasizes that the spaces embracing public... -
March 20, 2019Des Moines, Iowa: On 13 March 2019 the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation...
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November 20, 2018Who were the most influential people in 2018 contemporary artworld? ArtReview’s annual ranking of the...
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November 2, 2018The Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation in partnership with The City of Pleasant...
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October 6, 2018The Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation proudly presents the world premiére of temporary, site-specific, public...
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August 9, 2018Skate parks are all well and good in the daytime when skaters can see...
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August 2, 2018On July 12, 2018, Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation proudly dedicated A MONUMENTAL...
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August 2, 2018A disused church in the Spanish city of llanera has been given a new...
From Our Facebook Feed
Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation increasingly utilizes social media as an important method to communicate with current and prospective audiences. Facebook and other social media platforms provide diverse opportunities to share the best of public art in Greater Des Moines to people around the world.
Social media participants can witness the public art process. Followers can watch a video of installations or an interview with artists, public art professionals, and educators on particular subjects. According to the Director M. Jessica Rowe at the Public Art Foundation, people do want to see more than just having public art appear: “Rather than hoping for an audience, we want to build an audience.”
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Spider 🕷
Artist: Louise Bourgeois
The artist, Louise Bourgeois, has been using spiders in her work since the 1940s, and in the 1990s began sculpting them into colossal forms like this. Surprisingly, she sees them not as ominous predators, but as a symbol for her much beloved mother. For the artist, whose work has explored themes of childhood memory and loss, the spider carries associations of a maternal figure. Indeed, Bourgeois’ “Spider” series relates to her own mother who died when the artist was twenty-one. The allusion to her mother as a weaver refers to the Bourgeois family’s tapestry restoration business, in which her mother was the chief seamstress. #dsmpublicart #publicart #louisebourgeois #spider #spiderart #pappajohnsculpturepark #desmoines #desmoinesiowa #entirelyunexpected #midwestmoment ... See MoreSee Less
Posted 6 days ago
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Je l ai vu à New York , impressionnante œuvre .
Kristen Wood we should go look at this
Rebecca
Featured Artist // Get to know Mitchell Squire
Mitchell Squire is an artist and educator whose practice encompasses architecture, visual art, and the study of material culture. He has mounted solo exhibitions at CUE Art Foundation (NYC), White Cube (London), Bemis Center for Contemporary Art / Carver Bank (Omaha), and the Des Moines Art Center, as well as many academic institutions. His work has appeared in signature group exhibitions in Des Moines, and nationally at Richard Gray Gallery (Chicago), Lesley Heller Gallery (New York), Sanitary Tortilla Factory (Albuquerque).
“Multiple Black” 🚌 🖤 by Squire is the title of the tenth (10th) commission by the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation in collaboration with DART.
#dsmpublicart #mitchellsquire #artondart #iowaartist #contemporaryart #desmoines #publicart #art #artbus ... See MoreSee Less
Posted 1 week ago
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In 2012, the GDMPAF began creating free educational resources for families and educators that deepen understandings and enhance experiences of public art in Greater Des Moines.
Public art is intended to share stories of diversity, equality, inclusion and equity as they relate to the people and places of Iowa, especially those stories often untold. We hope that these resources will catalyze community conversations that can result in a shared, and fuller, understanding of our common history — and common bonds.
These useful resources developed in two stages. GDMPAF seeks to engage a cross-section of students, as well as communities, in telling, discussing and perhaps even producing the stories depicted in public art. To learn more visit: dsmpublicartfoundation.org/resources/ ... See MoreSee Less
Resources | Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation
Posted 2 weeks ago
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“It seems pumpkins do not inspire much respect. But I was enchanted by their charming and winsome form. What appealed to me most was the pumpkin’s generous unpretentiousness.”- Yayoi Kusama ✨🎃
#dsmpublicart ... See MoreSee Less
Posted 3 weeks ago
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Cheyanne Parish pumpkin!!!!
Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation Featured Artist: Tom Sachs ... See MoreSee Less
Tom Sachs | Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation
Contemporary American artist Tom Sachs (born 1966, New York) studied at the Architectural Association in London and received a BA from Bennington College, Vermont. His work has been featured in numero...Posted 3 weeks ago
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Did you know the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation has free educational resources for families and educators that deepen understandings and enhance experiences of public art in Greater Des Moines?
Public art is intended to share stories of diversity, equality, inclusion and equity as they relate to the people and places of Iowa, especially those stories often untold. We hope that these resources will catalyze community conversations that can result in a shared, and fuller, understanding of our common history — and common bonds. ... See MoreSee Less
Five Dangos | Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation
Introduction The Dango series are oval sculptures that resemble vases without openings. “Dango”means “dumpling” or “closed form” in Japanese. These hand-built, ceramic works stand about 7 ...Posted 4 weeks ago
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Happy 10th Anniversary to the Pappajohn Sculpture Park! #DSMPublicArt ... See MoreSee Less
Pappajohn Sculpture Park | Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation
Open to visitors since September 2009, the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park features artwork by 22 of the world’s most celebrated artists. The 4.4 acre park, located within a major crossroads ...Posted 1 month ago
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Important comment from this article....“Many, many studies have shown that there is a prominent relationship between rising property values and green space,” said Ed McMahon, senior resident fellow at the Urban Land Institute based in Washington, D.C. “You’re using parks as a tool to create places people wanted to be. That’s why we’re seeing 15% to 30% increases in the value of properties adjacent to parks and open spaces.” ... See MoreSee Less
10-year-old sculpture park sparks economic development in Western Gateway
Editor's note: Property values have tripled in the Western Gateway in the past 20 years. Since the addition of the sculpture park 10 years ago, values have incrPosted 1 month ago
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