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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October 1, 2021In Washington, D.C., the National Cathedral has commissioned world-renowned artist Kerry James Marshall to...
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September 27, 2021Written by Sophie Bernal It took thirty-six years for Paris to see one of its... -
August 5, 2021Des Moines, IA — Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation (PAF) is pleased to...
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May 23, 2020Rendered site plan of urban farm planned for 2308/2310 Lyndale Ave, Hawthorne, Minneapolis. Image:...
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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...
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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In Washington, D.C., the National Cathedral has commissioned world-renowned artist Kerry James Marshall to design new stained-glass windows that will address the concept of racial justice.
For the Cathedral, the artist will reimagine the space previously occupied by two stained glass windows that honored Confederate generals, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. These windows and their Confederate imagery told an incomplete story. The windows celebrated two generals, but they did nothing to address the reality and painful legacy of slavery and racism. For the Cathedral, the windows represented a false narrative of what America once was and left out the painful truth of our history. The Cathedral’s stated desire for new windows is to “capture both darkness and light, both the pain of yesterday and the promise of tomorrow, as well as the quiet and exemplary dignity of the African American struggle for justice and equality and the indelible and progressive impact it has had on American society.”
For Marshall, “it’s kind of a calling, and a real honor to be asked.” Together with the poet and author Elizabeth Alexander, Marshal will address this complicated narrative. In this new era of reckoning, these amazing and creative people will help engage the public with this revisioned space and with confronting our history of racial injustice.
dsmpublicartfoundation.org/kerry-james-marshall-to-reimagine-confederate-windows-for-national-cat... ... See MoreSee Less
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It took thirty-six years for Paris to see one of its historic monuments wrapped by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. After the Pont-Neuf in 1985, it’s the Arc de Triomphe’s turn to be wrapped from head to toe. An ephemeral and spectacular work, L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped pays a final tribute to the two deceased artists (Jeanne-Claude passed away on November 18, 2009, Christo on May 31, 2020). Transformed for two weeks into a gigantic gift wrap, the monument is covered in 25,000m² of silver polypropylene held together by several thousand meters of red rope. As time erodes the fabric, its hues turn blue, revealing the three colors of the French flag, in a nod to the monument’s role as a symbol of national unity. The project was inaugurated on September 18, 2021 and will be visible until October 3, sixty years after its conception and after having undergone a postponement of one year due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.
dsmpublicartfoundation.org/larc-de-triomphe-wrapped-paris-1961-2021/ ... See MoreSee Less
L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, Paris, 1961-2021 - Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation
dsmpublicartfoundation.org
Written by Sophie Bernal It took thirty-six years for Paris to see one of its historic monuments wrapped by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. After the Pont-Neuf in 1985, it’s the Arc de Triomphe’s tu...Comment on Facebook
Dozens gathered — many in shirts adorned with a picture of Yore — to celebrate the completion of a mural on an Oakridge Neighborhood Services basketball court that was commissioned by the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation and designed by Jordan Weber, a local artist.
The mural is meant to honor Yore, a 14-year-old Oakridge resident who was killed by a stray bullet in October 2016. With no suspects in the case, the mural serves as a reminder that Yore has not been forgotten — and that his spirit is still felt among those who knew and loved him. via The Des Moines Register
Yore loved basketball — especially LeBron James. He was often seen on Oakridge's court, where his memory now lives on.
www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/des-moines/2021/08/20/des-moines-oakridge-community-ce... ... See MoreSee Less
Des Moines' Oakridge Neighborhood community celebrates mural's completion with inaugural basketball game
www.desmoinesregister.com
Dozens gathered Wednesday night to celebrate the competition of Yore Jieng's mural on the Oakridge Neighborhood's basketball court.Comment on Facebook
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Please join us this evening at 6:30 for a dedication ceremony for the new basketball court mural at Oakridge Neighborhood, which was designed in honor of Yore Jieng, a 14-year-old Oakridge resident who died after being struck by a stray bullet while he sat in the passenger seat of a car with his family. The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. on the Oakridge campus, 1401 Center St., Des Moines. The mural is part of a larger project by the Greater Des Moines Public Arts Foundation to revitalize public spaces in ethnically diverse and low-income areas. The @dsmpublicart foundation commissioned artist Jordan Weber to create two murals in the Oakridge Neighborhood, the first of which embodies the dreams and potential of Jieng. The project, called "SWISH," is funded through the foundation’s Director’s Discretionary Fund, a GC20 Capital Project grant from Bravo Greater Des Moines and Knapp Properties LC.
Artist: @jordan_j_weber
Illustrator: @meanzchan
Photo: @hoodwill_gunting
#dsmpublicart #publicart #desmoines #desmoinesiowa ... See MoreSee Less
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“Jordan Weber recently was the lead artist on a mural created in memory of Yore Jieng, a 14-year-old Des Moines high school student killed by a stray bullet in 2016. That mural, commissioned by the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation, is located in the Oakridge neighborhood on the surface of a basketball court where Jieng and his friends played.”
www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2021/08/11/des-moines-artist-activist-jordan-weber-harvard-l.... ... See MoreSee Less
Des Moines artist among 10 'accomplished practitioners' chosen worldwide for Harvard fellowships
www.desmoinesregister.com
After years of creating and advocating for social justice in the Des Moines metro and across the country, Jordan Weber was named a 2022 Loeb Fellow.Comment on Facebook
“It is an effort to revitalize public spaces, integrating public art into neighborhoods where there is often little or none,” said Jessica Rowe, PAF director. “SWISH” basketball courts are canvases for creative expression that strengthen communities, inspire multi-generational play, and healthier public spaces.”
Most recently, Jordan Weber was commissioned by the PAF to create murals on two basketball courts in Des Moines’ Oakridge Neighborhood, an urban public housing and human services agency. With a support team of artists and community members, Weber has transformed the first basketball court into a design embodying the dreams and potential of a 14-year-old Oakridge resident Yore Jieng, whose senseless death was caused by a stray gunshot while sitting in the passenger seat of a car with his family.
Oakridge Neighborhood Services, Jordan Weber, Cole Norum, Meanz Chan
#DSMPublicArt
dsmpublicartfoundation.org/basketball-court-murals-spark-innovation-and-community-pride/ ... See MoreSee Less
Basketball Court Murals Spark Innovation and Community Pride | Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation
dsmpublicartfoundation.org
Des Moines, IA — Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation (PAF) is pleased to present “SWISH” — a public art project that commissions accomplished, qualified artists to transform basketball co...Comment on Facebook
Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation (PAF) is pleased to present “SWISH” — a public art project that commissions accomplished, qualified artists to transform basketball courts with remarkable, mural-style designs. The process emphasizes neighborhood collaborations in ethnically diverse and low-income areas.
“It is an effort to revitalize public spaces, integrating art into neighborhoods where there is often little or none,” said Jessica Rowe, PAF director. “SWISH” basketball courts are canvases for creative expression that strengthen communities, inspire multi-generational play, and healthier public spaces.”
Most recently, Jordan Weber @jordan_j_weber was commissioned by the PAF to create murals on two basketball courts in Des Moines’ Oakridge Neighborhood, an urban public housing and human services agency. With a support team of artists and community members, Weber has transformed the first basketball court into a design embodying the dreams and potential of a 14-year-old Oakridge resident Yore Jieng, whose senseless death was caused by a stray gunshot while sitting in the passenger seat of a car with his family.
“SWISH” is funded through the PAF Director’s Discretionary Fund, a GC20 Capital Project grant from Bravo Greater Des Moines @bravogreaterdsm and Knapp Properties LC. The basketball courts were engineered and repaired with sponsorship from Oakridge Neighborhood @oakridge_neighborhood
📷 credit: @hoodwill_gunting
#dsmpublicart #publicart #jordanweber #desmoines #dsmusa #basketball #mural #swish ... See MoreSee Less
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He’s amazing!