The Art Center offers free educational resources for families, individuals, and educators. Explore artist talks, gallery guides, hands-on activities, and more.
Recorded on July 16, 2025 at the Des Moines Art Center. This lecture features internationally recognized scholar, curator, and critic Tiffany E. Barber discussing the origins and aesthetics of Afrofuturism in relation to artist Firelei...
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Recorded on June 13, 2025 at the Des Moines Art Center. This lecture features a conversation between artist Firelei Báez and John and Mary Pappajohn Director and CEO Kelly Baum in celebration of Báez’s solo,...
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Over the span of 36 hours at the very end of April and beginning of May, I attended two inspiring lectures, both of which deepened my belief in the power and necessity of art museums....
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Recorded on April 26, 2025 at the Des Moines Art Center—Symposium: Light Within Ourselves: Haitian Art and Culture “The History of Haitian Art at the Waterloo Center for the Arts” by Chawne Paige, Executive Director...
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Recorded on June 1, 2025 at the Des Moines Art Center. This lecture was led by Amy N. Worthen, Curator of Prints and Drawings, Emerita, Des Moines Art Center. The talk was inspired by the...
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Inspire learning through a step-by-step exploration of art at the Des Moines Art Center. Bring the galleries into your home or classroom, igniting your students’ imaginations and creativity. All lesson plans are open ended, adaptable,...
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I am launching myself into 2025 with a renewed sense of purpose, ever more confident in the necessity and importance of the Des Moines Art Center. We accomplished a great deal in 2024. Many of...
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Recorded on December 15, 2024 at the Des Moines Art Center. Luke Williams is a scholar, artist, organizer, and critic of 20th and 21st century Black performance and visual cultures. His work, which spans embodiment,...
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I have always found the end of summer and the beginning of fall to be a particularly bittersweet time of the year. It is a moment of transition, as the weather begins to change and...
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Iowa’s 2023 census data cites that of the 3,207,004 people in the state, 84.4% or 2,702,598 of the population are white. Growing up in a state with such low rates of racial diversity is an...
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