Accessibility

We can provide an American Sign Language interpreter for museum programming. However, due to interpreter shortages throughout Iowa, ASL interpretation is only available upon request.

ASL and other accommodation requests can be made by emailing jfeatherstone@desmoinesartcenter.org. Please allow two weeks notice to schedule an interpreter.

All bags, parcels, or items larger than 11”x14”x 6” are considered oversized items and must be stored in a complementary locker. Oversized items, including umbrellas, that can’t fit in a complimentary locker can be stored in another location at the discretion of a Visitor Experience Staff member. All allowable bags should be hand carried at the side, to the front, under a stroller, or on the back of a wheelchair or mobility device. Bags of any size cannot be carried on the back.

Medical exemptions to bag restrictions in the museum will be considered on a case-by-case basis and coordinated with Security and Visitor Experience staff.

Our curatorial team tries to provide descriptive transcripts for time based media or video artworks on view in the museum. A descriptive transcript is a text file that contains both the spoken dialogue (captions) and written descriptions of the important visual elements in a video.

Transcripts are located within the exhibition gallery spaces; if you have trouble locating a copy, please ask an Art Center guard. On descriptive transcript binders, visitors may also find a QR code that allows them to access a PDF that can be read aloud via screen reader.

Time based media artworks can be on view throughout the museum, but are most commonly found in the Pamela Bass-Bookey and Harry Bookey Gallery on the lower level of the Richard Meier building.

A variety of benches and chairs are available in most art galleries. Portable gallery stools can be used throughout the museum and are accessible in the Macomber Lobby.

Most public programs that happen within a specific gallery space, such as Creative Aging, Art for Brunch!, or a Gallery Talk, will have seating in the gallery available.

Large print labels are available for Des Moines Art Center exhibitions that include extended label information — this typically includes exhibitions located in the Anna K. Meredith Gallery and the A. H. Blank Gallery. These labels are located within the exhibition gallery spaces; if you have trouble locating a copy, please ask an Art Center guard.

Large print labels for select works in our permanent collection are also available in the Resource Cart located in the Macomber Lobby.

We strive to provide live captioning for all events offered in Levitt Auditorium, such as lectures, panel conversations, or film showings. Check our Event Calendar to view which programs take place in the auditorium.

To support your visit, an accessibility resource cart is available in the Macomber Lobby. Visitors are welcome to help themselves to these items, including sensory support totes (with noise-canceling headphones, sunglasses, and fidget tools), large print labels for select works in our collection, clipboards and pencils, and BINGO activities for children and families.

Guide dogs and other trained service animals are welcome at the museum. Pets and emotional support animals are not permitted.

On-leash pets are welcome at the Pappajohn Sculpture Park.

The museum’s Social Story Narrative is a written guide, available online or as a PDF download, with photographs and short, easy to read sentences. It can be used by anyone to help prepare for a museum visit, detailing what guests will see and how they may interact with the spaces during their time in the museum.

DOWNLOAD

Wheelchairs are available at both the education desk and the front entrance information desk. These are free and available on a first-come, first-served basis.