The Art Center offers free educational resources for families, individuals, and educators. Explore artist talks, gallery guides, hands-on activities, and more.
Presented in recognition of LGBTQ+ History Month, Ben Millett, the Des Moines Art Center’s 2025 Iowa Artist (exhibition dates July 26 – November 2, 2025), delivered a public lecture on October 16, 2025. In this...
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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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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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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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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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Performed in the Des Moines Art Center’s exhibition “Hurricane Season: Caribbean Art + Climate Change” on July 11 and 12, 2024. About the Artist: Inspired by the poetry of Celia Sorhaindo, N’Jelle Gage Thorne embodies...
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On February 11, 2024 at the Des Moines Art Center, “States of Becoming” curator Fitsum Shebeshe provided insight into the premise of the exhibition and introduced the work of 17 African artists working in the...
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During this Artist Lecture + Conversation, Ange Altenhofen and T. J. Dedeaux-Norris, two of the artists featured in the 2023 Des Moines Art Center exhibition “Transform Any Room,” introduced their work through a brief slide...
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