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
Mitchell Squire
2019 | Short-Term Collection
Bus Wrap #10: Multiple Black
Tom Sachs
2007, fabricated in 2008 from an edition of 5 (5/5) | Long-Term Collection
Other Public Art Downtown
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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You can actually browse through all the dedicated locations on this map right here (tinylink.net/iTp5H), which also highlights details about each installed photo and the stories behind them. ... See MoreSee Less
A new public art exhibit is taking over 200 NYC bus shelters
www.timeout.com
Catch it through June 20.Comment on Facebook
Jordan Weber, an artist based in Des Moines, Iowa, explores questions of incarceration and healing in St. Louis as artist-in-residence for a new project centered on the “Close the Workhouse” campaign.
Weber has been commissioned by the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation for a project called “SWISH." This accomplished artist will be transforming an ordinary basketball courts into a remarkable, mural-style design. The court-site is in Oakridge Neighborhood, an urban public housing project of globally diverse populations: 51% under 18; 99% low-income. ... See MoreSee Less
Sam Fox School, CRE2, Pulitzer Arts Foundation welcome artist-in-residence Jordan Weber | The Source | Washington University in St. Louis
source.wustl.edu
Multidisciplinary artist Jordan Weber will discuss his work March 9. Weber is currently exploring questions of incarceration and healing in St. Louis as part of a new project, co-sponsored by the Sam ...Comment on Facebook
"Immersive Van Gogh'' opened in Chicago earlier this month. After selling out its initial engagement, it extended its stay through September to give more people the chance to walk through famous Van Gogh paintings such as "Irises," "Sunflowers," and "Starry Night."
The exhibit uses music, color, movement, and light to envelop visitors in the artist's work. It's meant to present scenes as glimpses of active life set among moving landscapes. Organizers promise a whopping 500,000 cubic feet of projections, including 60,600 video frames set to music. 🤩
www.travelandleisure.com/culture-design/visual-arts/immersive-van-gogh-los-angeles-san-francisco ... See MoreSee Less
Here’s Your Chance to Step Inside Van Gogh’s Most Famous Paintings
www.travelandleisure.com
"Immersive Van Gogh," a multisensory experience that made its debut Toronto in July, will open in San Francisco in March and Los Angeles in May.Comment on Facebook
“LOVE” ❤️
Artist: Robert Indiana
An icon of American Modern Art — LOVE — 1969-1999, is the signature work of art by artist Robert Indiana.
The word Love in upper-case letters, arranged in a square with a tilted letter “O”.
Beginning in 1964, Indiana began to create images and objects using the word LOVE. Indiana maintained that a single word could be a viable subject of art by harnessing its emotional charge and the power of language.
With the universality of the word and subject in mind, the Museum of Modern Art selected his image of LOVE as its Christmas card in 1965, and the US Postal Service created a stamp with the image in 1973. It was quickly adopted by the “love generation” and enjoyed mass appeal, which continues today.
Other works in the edition of this particular format and colors are in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Tate Modern in London. Many museums around the world, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Brooklyn Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, National Gallery of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among others, hold additional works by the artist.
Many versions of Robert Indiana’s Love sculpture that exist worldwide (1969–1999). The first rendering of it in sculpture was made in 1970. Sculptural versions now appear in urban centers around the globe. Variants employ the Hebrew, Chinese, Italian and Spanish languages, as well as the original English language. #LOVE #lovesculpture #allyouneedislove #happyvalentinesday #dsmpublicart ❣️
dsmpublicartfoundation.org/public-artwork/love/ ... See MoreSee Less
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Happy Lunar New Year! February 12th marks the official start to the multiday celebration of the first new moon of the lunisolar calendar, celebrated in many east Asian countries including China, South Korea and Vietnam.
The Robert D. Ray Asian Gardens Gardens highlight the importance of diversity in our community, as well as, acknowledges the contributions that Asian Americans have made to Iowa, and serves as a lasting monument honoring Robert D. Ray (1928 – 2018); Iowa governor from 1969 to 1983 . The Gardens are dedicated to the man who was the first public official anywhere in the United States to offer Vietnamese people a safe haven; created Iowa SHARES to send food and medicine halfway around the world to feed starving Cambodians; kept the Tai Dam of Loas intact as a people and a culture by arranging for them to resettle in this state; and welcomed so many other people from all countries of Asia to become Iowans.
Under the inspired compassionate leadership of then Governor Robert D. Ray, in the 1970s Iowa responded to three refugee challenges, providing more leadership to America and the world, and saving 1,000s upon 1,000s of people from Asia from starvation and death. Governor Ray was also in the forefront of building strong relationships with China, Japan and other countries of Asia, both while serving as governor and following his time in office.
#lunarnewyear #yearoftheox #HappyNewYear #dsmusa #dsmpublicart #PublicArt #asiangarden #publicart 🌕❤️ ... See MoreSee Less
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Created by artist Mitchell Squire, "Multiple Black" is the title of the tenth (10th) commission by the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation in collaboration with the DART (Des Moines Area Regional Transport Authority).
“[Multiple Black] illustrates a design made from an assemblage and collage of original photographs. The images include a base layer of dark tightly curled strands of hair combined with gold jewelry and pearls on the left side, and “parts” in the hair and freshly manicured and adorned nails on the right side of the bus. This is a celebration of the artistry and style fully expressed in multiple ways in the black community.” - Mitchell Squire
"Multiple Black" was unveiled to the public on July 25, 2019 at the site of “A Monumental Journey” along Grand Avenue near 2nd Street in downtown Des Moines.
@mitchellsquire @ridedart @dsmpublicart #dsmpublicart #publicart #mitchellsquire #BHM #blackhistorymonth #ART #blackartists #artondart #dsmusa
dsmpublicartfoundation.org/public-artwork/bus-wrap-10-multiple-black/
Mitchell Squire ... See MoreSee Less
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“A Monumental Journey”
Artist: Kerry James Marshall @kerryjamesmarshs
"A Monumental Journey" honors the National Bar Association founders: 12 courageous African-American attorneys who — in Des Moines, IA — changed the course of American history in 1925. At a time when the American Bar Association and other national legal associations denied membership to African-American lawyers, these attorneys created their own legal organization. By honoring these individuals, the project preserves local cultural history that has had great significance at the national and international levels. #BHM #BlackHistoryMonth #KerryJamesMarshall #DSMPublicArt #publicart #desmoines #desmoinesiowa #dsmusa
@dsmpublicart @nationalbar
dsmpublicartfoundation.org/public-artwork/a-monumental-journey/ ... See MoreSee Less
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“Back of a Snowman (Black)”❄️🖤
Artist: Gary Hume #dsmpublicart #publicart #sculpture #snowman #grayhume #babyitscoldoutside #dsmusa #desmoinesiowa ... See MoreSee Less
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