Video
THREADS Dance Performance
Recorded on August 24, 2025 at the Des Moines Art Center. The Des Moines Art Center celebrated 25 years of the Community Access Program with an original dance performance titled “Threads” by the Swan Project...
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The Art Center offers free educational resources for families, individuals, and educators. Explore artist talks, gallery guides, hands-on activities, and more.
Lectures + Videos
Video
An Afrofuturist’s Guide to the Galaxy with Tiffany E. Barber
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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Artist Lecture: Firelei Báez in Conversation with Director Kelly Baum
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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Video
Symposium: Light Within Ourselves: Haitian Art and Culture
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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Amy N. Worthen Lecture
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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Samantha Box in Conversation with Luke Williams
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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Panel Discussion Featuring b. Robert Moore, Nikole Hannah-Jones, and Jordan Weber
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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Artist Lecture: b. Robert Moore “Art should be felt, not just seen” + SEEDS ballet performance
Des Moines Art Center’s 2024 Iowa Artist, b. Robert Moore delivers a lecture, “Art should be felt, not just seen,” filled with intimate details about his solo exhibition “In Loving Memory.” The event begins with...
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Whispers of Guabancex, A Shamanic Dance of Healing and Release by N’Jelle Gage Thorne
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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Artist Lecture: Teresita Fernández: “From the Subterranean to the Cosmos”
Teresita Fernández delivered the 34th installment of the Fingerman Lecture at the Des Moines Art Center on June 6, 2024 in concert with the exhibition “Hurricane Season: Caribbean Art and Climate Change” (June 8 –...
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