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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May 23, 2020Rendered site plan of urban farm planned for 2308/2310 Lyndale Ave, Hawthorne, Minneapolis. Image:... -
April 22, 2020"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery... Variations of this proverbial expression can be...
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April 7, 2020Share stories of diversity, equality, inclusion and equity. Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation...
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April 1, 2020There is plenty of space around me as I take my daily walk, I...
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February 5, 2020Des Moines, Iowa (February 4, 2020) – The 6th Avenue Corridor Urban Neighborhood Main...
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January 21, 2020Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation proudly highlights a grant award of $40,000 from...
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October 29, 2019Internationally acclaimed artist Andy Goldsworthy’s project at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art brings to...
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October 18, 2019October 17, 2019: We mourn the passing of The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings, renowned...
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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New York City-based artist Alice Aycock will create the white sculpture, “Lift Off,” which has been commissioned by the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation. The plan is to dedicate the piece in the fall. The work is her first permanent installation in Iowa.
The airport had been looking for a splashy art piece to greet airport users as they arrive and leave the area. The sculpture will be visible from nearby Fleur Drive, one of the busiest streets in the city. The art will be near a new entrance/exit to the airport that is part of an overhaul that includes a proposed new airport terminal.
“It will be an iconic piece,” said M. Jessica Rowe, foundation director. “It will inspire at a time when we could all use some inspiration.”
Aycock plans a galvanized stainless steel structure covered by white powder-coated aluminum. The 21-foot-tall, 18-foot-wide sculpture will look different as the light on it changes, Aycock said in an interview.
www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2021/01/19/famed-artists-sculpture-greet-motorists-des-moine...
#DSMPublicArt #DSMUSA ... See MoreSee Less
Famed artist’s sculpture will greet motorists at Des Moines airport
www.desmoinesregister.com
A Des Moines foundation has firmed up plans for an $850,000 sculpture, roughly resembling a tornado, near a planned new entrance to the Des Moines airport.Posted 24 hours ago
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The Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation is pleased to announce the commission of “Lift Off” by internationally acclaimed artist Alice Aycock.
“Lift Off” will be installed at the DSM International Airport before year-end 2021. #DSMUSA #DSMPublicArt
👉https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2021/01/19/famed-artists-sculpture-will-greet-motorists-at-des-moines-airport/ ... See MoreSee Less
Famed artist's sculpture will greet motorists at Des Moines airport - Iowa Capital Dispatch
iowacapitaldispatch.com
A Des Moines foundation has firmed up plans for an $850,000 sculpture resembling a tornado near a new entrance to the Des Moines airport.Posted 3 days ago
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“Out of the Mountain of Despair, a Stone of Hope”
Artist/Sculptor: Lei Yixin
Located in downtown Washington, DC, the memorial honors Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy and the struggle for freedom, equality, and justice. A prominent leader in the modern civil rights movement, Dr. King was a tireless advocate for racial equality, working class, and the oppressed around the world. #mlkday #publicart ... See MoreSee Less
Posted 4 days ago
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“All is flux, nothing stays still.”
A Greek quotation attributed to Heraclitus: “All is flux, nothing stays still” is an appropriate way to begin to talk about Miffy Fountain.
The sight and sound of moving water is both stimulating and entrancing. Throughout history, people have attempted to shape and control this elusive element in fountains. From the beginning, fountains have been rife with symbolic connotations. Certain commonalities are inherent in the properties of water, but ways for its display have been far ranging. All cultures associate water with spiritual blessing. Over centuries and across nations, artists, architects, landscape and garden designers, hydraulics experts, and engineers have collaborated to exploit the refreshing, soothing, and theatrical potential of water—with the result that fountains grace every major city in the world.
Today, fountains are often part of urban development schemes and the shift is from scenographic displays to improvisational theater.
The artist Tom Sachs @tomsachs explores the fountain’s function as an icon and metaphor. Miffy Fountain (2007) is the first, long-term fountain which the artist has created. This public art project is integrated into Des Moines’ Western Gateway Park as a downtown oasis.
To learn more visit: dsmpublicartfoundation.org/public-artwork/miffy-fountain/
#dsmpublicart #publicart #tomsachs #miffy #miffyfountain #sculpture #artoftheday #desmoines #desmoinesiowa ... See MoreSee Less
Posted 2 weeks ago
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Foreground: “Back of Snowman (Black and White)”, Gary Hume, 2002
Background: Krause Gateway Center, Architect Renzo Piano
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Posted 3 weeks ago
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“The new year is like a blank book, the pen is in your hands, it is your chance to write a beautiful story for yourself.” #happynewyear #goodbye2020 #hello2021 #dsmpublicart #desmoines #publicart #freshstart #nomade #jaumeplensa ... See MoreSee Less
Posted 3 weeks ago
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“Panoramic Awareness Pavilion”
Artist: Olafur Eliasson @studioolafureliasson
“To a great extent it works as an orientation device," said Eliasson. "It works with this idea of dividing the view either from the inside or as you walk around it as a color centre. Walking through the city or the park's paths, you know when you’re in the blue area, then the purple, then the orange. I think it’s a measurement machine that indicates your movement. It’s almost a functional idea of mapping and a number of my works play around with or question our sense of orientation. I think once we establish a contract or an idea about where we are and how we are, we also establish the ability to evaluate where we are and maybe even criticize the nature of being in a certain place." (Interview with OLAFUR ELIASSON In Disegno.Dailycom)
dsmpublicartfoundation.org/public-artwork/panoramic-awareness-pavilion/ #dsmpublicart #publicart #olafureliasson #desmoines #desmoinesiowa #sculpture #colorblock ... See MoreSee Less
Posted 3 weeks ago
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Lovely!!!
Do you want to build a snowman? ❄️⛄️🖤🤍 ❄️
“Back of a Snowman (Black and White)”
Artist: Gary Hume #dsmpublicart #publicart #snowday #snowman #garyhume #desmoinesart #desmoinesiowa #midwestliving #midwestmoment
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Posted 3 weeks ago
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