COMMUNITY PROGRAMS

The Des Moines Art Center organizes and participates in numerous community partnerships with metropolitan area school systems, religious, social service and community centers, corporate entities, and other cultural institutions. Community engagement efforts are designed to build participation with the Art Center through programs that broaden and diversify our audience base or strengthen our existing relationships.

Artist Residency Projects

Each year, the Art Center organizes opportunities for students to work with internationally recognized artists. Programs vary from brief workshops to weeks-long residencies. Groups are selected by the Museum Education Department based upon the age-appropriateness and skill base needed for each project. Due to the demanding nature of the programs, the Art Center works with teachers who have demonstrated a consistent and committed relationship with the museum and its mission. The combined work of these teachers, their students, participating artists, and the Art Center staff has resulted in many successful endeavors. If you would like to be considered for an artist residency project, please contact Jill Featherstone at jfeatherstone@desmoinesartcenter.org or 515-271-0317.

High School Students work with Yoko Inoue

Twenty ceramics students from Dowling Catholic High School worked with artist Yoko Inoue during the week of April 7-11, 2008. Inoue designed a workshop for the students that focused on reinterpreting ceramic pieces from antiquities into a new contemporary context. Each student independently researched a period in the history of ceramics: from ancient Greek pottery, to the Chinese Tang Dynasty, to Mayan ceramics. From their research, each student selected one vessel, design, or glazing technique to transform into contemporary use and significance—sculptural or functional. The students carried out this research prior to Inoue’s visit. With Inoue’s support, the students delivered brief presentations about their selected time period, addressing the historical context and intent of the objects. The students then created sketches of their intended products, which were shared with the class. In addition to talking with the students about her art and ideas, Inoue demonstrated some hand-building techniques that she utilizes in her work. The students continued to finesse their recontextualized objects under the guidance of ceramics teacher, Teri Breck.

Dowling Catholic High School students.

Matthew Buckingham Works with Three State Universities

Artist and Iowa native Matthew Buckingham led three intensive one-day seminars in March 2008 with more than 40 college students and faculty from around the state. Participating groups included: Intermedia Program at the University of Iowa; Cinema and Comparative Literature Program at the University of Iowa; Art Department at the University of Northern Iowa; and the Visual Culture Club at Iowa State University.

During the seminars, Buckingham asked students to watch each of the three moving-image works in his solo exhibition and examine the site-specific piece, Improbable Horse (2008). From the gallery, the seminars moved to Levitt Auditorium, where Buckingham learned about the students’ individual interests and backgrounds. Students were then encouraged to share their questions and opinions about Buckingham’s work. This dialogue was wide ranging—from questions about the physical environments of the pieces, to challenging observations about authorship and feminism, to conversations about the relationship between text and image. After a break, in-depth conversations about art and cultural politics continued and focused on interpreting an article by artist Jimmie Durham titled “Creativity and the Social Process” (1983). As in the Bakker seminar, Buckingham spent a relatively brief amount of time with the students, but it was very qualitative.

Laura Swan, a student from Iowa State shared her thoughts: “I want to express my appreciation for the wonderful event organized for university students last month, which allowed us to meet Matthew Buckingham and discover his work in a more thorough manner than is usually possible. I am one of the students you hosted from Iowa State, and I had a wonderful time. It was insightful to have an opportunity to discuss it with the artist. I really enjoyed the day and hope you continue to offer these sorts of events in the future.”

Special thanks to the faculty members who partnered with the Art Center on this program:
Jon Winet, Associate Professor and Head of the Intermedia Department of the University of Iowa’s School of Art and Art History; Ariana Hamidi, Visiting Assistant Professor of Cinema and Comparative Literature at the University of Iowa; Tim Dooley, Associate Professor of Art at the University of Northern Iowa; Emily Godbey, Assistant Professor of Art and Design at Iowa State University.

University of Northern Iowa students and faculty view Matthew Buckingham’s installation The Spirit and the Letter (2007).

Making Things and Producing Space
Seminar with Conrad Bakker and Grinnell College

In February, 2008 Conrad Bakker led a boundary-pushing seminar for ten Grinnell College art students. As a means of communicating with the students, Bakker created a wiki (a collection of Web pages that can be edited by a group) and uploaded essays for the students to read in preparation for his visit. Bakker then met with the students at the Art Center Downtown, where he gave them a personal tour of his solo exhibition. After participating in a lively discourse about the concept of value and how artworks function in a myriad of public and private situations, Bakker asked the students to carry out one of the two assignments posted on the wiki.

Option 1: Thoughtless Acts
Locate an object in everyday life that has been manipulated to function differently than its original intention.

Option 2: Object Intervention
Find or make an object that you then insert into a social space so as to interrupt, question, reveal or engage its normal “habit.”

Although Bakker only met with the students twice—once at the Downtown gallery and then at Grinnell College, where he reviewed the solutions to the seminar’s assignments—his approach to art made a significant impression.

Image of Sarah Fowler’s solution titled Free Snow Cones in response to Object Intervention

“Meeting Conrad Bakker and seeing his work made me think about what art is in a completely different way. In the past, I have been intimidated by the term “conceptual art," and this seminar made me realize what that label could really mean. It was also an amazing experience to be able to stand next to the artist in front of his work. Conrad is an intelligent and very approachable person, and it was very rewarding to hear his observations about my own artwork and the work of my classmates.” Sarah Fowler

Special thanks to Lee Emma Running, Assistant Professor of Art at Grinnell College, for partnering with the Art Center on this program.

Art Educators of Iowa/Des Moines Art Center Art Camp

This week-long camp is for high school students interested in pursuing the visual arts in college and those preparing portfolios for Art Educators of Iowa All-State Art Competition. They study with the visiting artist, meet various artists, learn about the Art Center’s permanent collections, discuss the function of art in society, and learn how to prepare an outstanding All-State Art Competition portfolio.

Callanan/Goodrell and Merrill Artists

This after school studio/museum program serves students from the neighboring middle schools. An Art Center course, 9 — 11 weeks in length is set up for each school. The middle school art teacher promotes the program to interested students from the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades.

Fourth Grade Tours with Des Moines Public Schools

Each year, fourth grade students from the Des Moines, Indianola, Southeast Polk, West Des Moines, and Waukee Public School Districts participate in guided tours of the Art Center’s world-class art and architecture. This fruitful tradition has continued with Des Moines for more than thirteen years and is a recent tradition for Indianola, Southeast Polk, West Des Moines and Waukee. Nearly 5,000 students and chaperones visit the museum as a part of this effort. Led by museum trained volunteers called docents, tours aim to:

Introduce students to art museums
Help students make sense of art through engaged discussion
Teach visual analysis (a balance of describing, analyzing, interpreting, and judging)
Make connections between the students’ lives and the artwork
Foster and promote creativity
Encourage on–going participation with the Art Center

To ensure the richest possible educational experience, the Museum Education Department sends teachers pre-visit preparation materials that include images of artworks they will see on their tours, information and thought-provoking questions about the artwork, and suggested follow-up exercises.

This program is supported by John and Jacolyn Bucksbaum, the MetLife Foundation, the MidAmerican Energy Company, Prairie Meadows, Target, Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield, and West Bank.

High School Days

Offered throughout the academic year in conjunction with the Art Center’s special exhibitions, High School Days aim to produce in-depth learning experiences and promote continued interest in art appreciation and museums. Students in this program participate in a guided tour of an exhibition and other activities, such as an artist’s lecture, informative video, musical performance, art or writing workshop. This program is open to schools in the greater Des Moines area and transportation stipends are available for schools in need.

Lectures To Go

Lectures To Go are designed to share information with your organizations about their neighborhood art museum. Ideal for breakfast club, P.E.O., and Rotary meetings, an Art Center employee will deliver a lively PowerPoint presentation to your group free of charge! Presentations include a brief history of the Art Center, an overview of our unique museum complex, highlights from the permanent collections, a look at our various programming efforts, and suggestions about how you can get involved.

For more information or to schedule a Lecture To Go, please call 515.271.0328 or email jcooley@desmoinesartcenter.org. Please schedule at least three weeks in advance. Presentations last approximately 45 minutes and are based on staff availability. While presentations are free of charge, donations are gladly accepted.

Pre-School Programs

Pre-School Programs are offered at the main and Downtown branches of the Art Center. Programs include a theme-based 30-minute tour of the galleries and a related 45-minute art activity. Connecting the gallery lesson and the hands-on experience is a very effective strategy in early childhood development, and we are happy to develop programs that support your classroom curriculum. Programs are $4 per participant or $48 minimum fee. Programs are subject to studio availability.

St. Augustin School

Students attending 7th and 8th grades at a neighboring parochial school take their weekly art classes at the Art Center where they study studio, art appreciation, art criticism, and art history.