Constructed from mirrored stainless steel that is backlit by LED bulbs, the nearly 5-foot-high letters are visible from sunset to sunrise. The time- and light-based installation on the roof of the Mainframe Studios building in Des Moines lights up and dims, as if it is taking a deep meditating breath. Mainframe Studios is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. They provide affordable workspaces …
Artist: Jill Wells with Project Blackboard Growth Culture celebrates the cultural diversity of Des Moines through a vibrant display of color and four distinct cultural patterns, the chevron, swirl, Ankara, and paisley. The initials E.K.D are marked on the court to honor the park’s name. Together, artist Jill Wells and collaborator Project Blackboard, along with the City of Des Moines, …
The Youth Have Spoken, a mural located at Evelyn K. Davis Park, was created from the question: What does community mean to you? Made by the artists Jill Wells, Marissa Hernandez, and the summer campers of the 2023 Parks and Recreation youth camp. Behind the teal background of the mural the youth summer campers wrote hidden messages; “love is love”, …
The mural Black Renaissance, located outside xBk Live Music Venue, is an innovative 3D tactile experience that enables everyone to interact with the art. It is designed to be touched. The mural celebrates accessibility, inclusion, care, and community. This large-scale mural shows expansive black and blue foliage, with vibrant purple lotus flowers over a colorful ombre background of black, blue, …
Working with local artist Ben Schuh and Liz Lidgett Gallery, the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines commissioned a mural on the west side of the Renaissance Des Moines Savery Hotel in celebration of Greater Des Moines and the role the Community Foundation has played in painting the canvas of the City. The mural was installed on the occasion of …
The mural presents a panorama of downtown Des Moines from the vantage point of the capitol dome. Agran and collaborator Drew Etienne sought to create an artwork that celebrates a sense of place using color, edge quality, and atmosphere to engage this large wall, but that integrates itself and does not overwhelm downtown. Inspired by their own studio practices, painters …
The Community Foundation commissioned Jill Wells to paint the 4,500-square foot mural, Future, for the Evelyn K. Davis Center for Working Families. In conversations with Marvin DeJear, former Director of The Evelyn K. Davis Center for Working Families, Wells focused on African American homeownership as a central theme in the life work of Evelyn K. Davis and J. Barry Griswell. …
The Community Foundation’s first president, Monroe Colston, was he honored through the Monroe Colston Cornerstone Mural, completed on the east wall of the C3 Center by local artist ASPHATE and the Scarce Elementz Crew. As Community Foundation Executive Director, Kristi Knous, remarked at the dedication, Colston’s “…leadership paved the way for future generations, the very people who are learning, growing and gathering …
“SWISH” is a project initiated in 2019 by GDMPAF that transforms basketball courts in ethnically diverse and low-income areas. The project involved two phases with a mural in each location: first on the basketball court at Oakridge Neighborhood in Des Moines, and second: a traditional mural on the side of Oakridge’s Building 301. Jordan Weber, a Des Moines native and …
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). The bus travels approximately 27,000 miles per year or 2,250 miles per month into communities throughout Greater Des Moines. These routes include Ankeny, Altoona, Pleasant …
Created by artist Marianne Fairbanks, Zigs Zag, Zags Zig is the title of the ninth (9th) commission by the Public Art Foundation in collaboration with the DART (Des Moines Area Regional Transport Authority). The bus travels approximately 27,000 miles per year or 2,250 miles per month into communities throughout Greater Des Moines. These routes include Ankeny, Altoona, Pleasant Hill, Des …
Nick Goettling’s design is the eighth (8th) commission by the Public Art Foundation for the DART (Des Moines Area Regional Transport Authority) bus travels approximately 27,000 miles per year or 2,250 miles per month into communities throughout Greater Des Moines. These routes include Ankeny, Altoona, Pleasant Hill, Des Moines, Grimes, Windsor Heights, West Des Moines, Clive, Urbandale and Johnston.
Benjamin Gardener’s design will be seen 100s of thousands of residents and visitors. The bus will travel approximately 2,250 miles each month in Des Moines, Ankeny, Altoona, Pleasant Hill, Des Moines, Grimes, Windsor Heights, West Des Moines, Clive, Urbandale, and Johnston.
“Shine”by Robert Whicker is a large scale painting on the Redhead Park Basketball Court. Meredith Corporation and Rebuilding Together Greater Des Moines celebrated their 15th anniversary with an employee volunteer work day on 6 October 2016 in the Capitol East neighborhood. As part of that work day, approximately 200 Meredith employee volunteers completed a significant number of improvement projects at …
The property features a 20’ x 40’ mural on one side, painted by Chris Vance in 2017. This original composition is a colorful and welcome addition to the Natural Grocers store.
The mural painting, titled Cosmic Waltz, is approximately 24 feet wide by 12 feet high. It is an abstracted rendition of two joined partners holding hands and crossing feet while surrounding energy (represented with the red/orange/yellow orbs) pulses around them.
Artist Jennifer Leatherby’s mural is constructed of distinct, geometric forms. Measuring 10-feet by 20-feet, the composition incorporates multiple abstract shapes which are vividly painted — yellow, grey, purple, pink, orange or turquoise — on a solid white background. The artist distilled these forms into blunt, philosophically charged geometries. These pared-down facets appear “folded” and utilize shifting axes in the overall design. Stripped down to its essential quality, each colorful shape shows …
A grid of murals were commissioned for the exterior, east wall of a restaurant on Court Avenue in Des Moines. Located in the lower and central part this wall is a 25-ft-wide by 12-ft-high mural titled Ancient Minds of Modern Scribes. This detailed composition is applied directly on the surface with aerosol spray paint by artists Asphate and Leter91. The mural’s left side is …
The Des Moines Register art critic Michael Morain reported on August 3, 2015 that Weber, known for politically and socially charged artwork, “spray-paint[ed] black outlines on the two-story, 100-foot long wall, with help from a forklift, a video projector and a few buddies from Minneapolis. …But the new mural’s message is more subtle. The blonde woman represents “the overall American …
“No Action Too Small” is a 30 feet by 60 feet mural by Chris Vance. It was commissioned in 2013 by the Metro Waste Authority for its central office in the East Village of downtown Des Moines as an educational tool that integrates the artist’s style with its environmental mission of providing safe, smart waste disposal and recycling. For this …
In May 2012, the Ingersoll Park Neighborhood embarked upon a public art project. Mark Kane, former Garden Editor of Better Homes and Gardens and Ingersoll neighbor, explained, “Here’s the story. A group of neighbors came together and converted the traffic circle at 44th and Harwood into a garden. Today it looks great and serves to inspire other neighborhood associations.” In …
