For Immediate Release
Contact: Jordan Powers
Tel: 630.470.5136 (m)
Email: jpowers@desmoinesartcenter.org
DES MOINES, IOWA (JULY 2021) – The Des Moines Art Center is thrilled to announce it has been awarded an Arts and Culture Grant from the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. The $20,000 award will support the Art Center’s free admission initiative and allow for continued enhanced programming across the state.
More than 200 Iowa organizations and individuals working in arts and culture, film and media and history and historic preservation received a boost from $2.3 million in grant awards announced by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.
The grants are funded through the annual appropriations passed by the Iowa Legislature and signed into law by Governor Reynolds, effective July 1, 2021. The state’s investment is enhanced by funding from two federal agencies, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and administered by the department’s three divisions: the Iowa Arts Council, State Historical Society of Iowa and Produce Iowa, the state office of film and media production.
“The annual funding has never been more important than this year’s investment, which will help fuel the resurgence of Iowa’s arts, film, heritage, humanities and creative sectors,” Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs Director Chris Kramer said. “Audiences and visitors are eagerly returning to museums and historic sites, concerts and cultural festivals this summer, even as our industry continues to rebound from substantial financial losses from the pandemic.”
“We are honored that the State of Iowa recognizes the tremendous challenges the arts have faced throughout the pandemic. We are grateful to the Department of Cultural Affairs and the Iowa Arts Council for supporting the Des Moines Art Center — this gift will allow us to continue to provide free admission for all and enhanced programming across the state, both virtually and in-person,” Des Moines Art Center Director of Development Tiffany Nagel Spinner said.
For further information, interviews/quotes or images, please contact Director of External Affairs Jordan Powers at 630-470-5136 or jpowers@desmoinesartcenter.org.
About the Des Moines Art Center + John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park
Recognized by international art critics as a world-class museum in the heart of the Midwest, the
Des Moines Art Center, an AAM-accredited institution, has amassed an important collection of art from the 19th century to the present, with a major emphasis on contemporary art. Focused on quality and global in scope, it includes major works by Henry Ossawa Tanner, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, Francis Bacon, Andy Goldsworthy, Henri Matisse, Wangechi Mutu, Ai Wei Wei and Kara Walker, among hundreds of others. The collection is housed in three major buildings, each designed by a renowned architect—Eliel Saarinen, I. M. Pei and Richard Meier. With the exception of special events, admission to the museum is free.
In September 2009, the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park opened in Des Moines’ Western Gateway Park. Philanthropists John and Mary Pappajohn provided funding for and donated 31 sculptures by internationally acclaimed contemporary artists to the Des Moines Art Center. The collection of sculptures by such artists as Martin Puryear, Louise Bourgeois, Deborah Butterfield, Willem de Kooning, Mark di Suvero, Olafur Eliasson, Keith Haring, Robert Indiana, Ellsworth Kelly, Yayoi Kusama, Jaume Plensa, Richard Serra and Joel Shapiro is the most significant donation of artwork to the Art Center in a single gift in the museum’s history. The Pappajohn Sculpture Park is a collaboration of the Pappajohns, the City of Des Moines, the Des Moines Art Center and numerous corporate and private donors.
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