Virtual Tours
Virtual Tours are a way to explore exhibitions at the Art Center online. Once you have selected a tour, use your cursor to move around the gallery or tap a circle to “stand” in front of a piece of art. Each artwork is labeled with title and artist.
Explore our extensive collections as if you’re at the museum, walking through the galleries.
The Des Moines Art Center launched virtual tours of their permanent collections and special exhibitions in March 2020. The tours allow visitors to click through the extensive collections as if they were at the museum, walking through the galleries.
Please note: Virtual tours are previously recorded and may not reflect works currently on view at the Des Moines Art Center.
The Richard Meier Building
Built in 1985, the Meier building contains three floors of artwork from the Art Center’s permanent collections.
The Blank Two and Three Galleries
Located within the Eliel Saarinen building constructed in 1948, the Blank Two and Three Galleries contain rotating artwork from the Art Center’s permanent collections.
The W.T. and Edna M. Dahl Gallery and West Gallery
Located within the Eliel Saarinen building constructed in 1948, the W.T. and Edna M. Dahl Gallery and West Gallery contain rotating artwork from the Art Center’s permanent collections.
Karla Black: 20 Years In The Anna K. Meredith Gallery
Art created by Turner-prize nominated Scottish artist Karla Black is confounding to first-time viewers by virtue of the materials she uses and the color palette she employs—predominantly light blue, pink, and pale yellow pastels.
Karla Black: 20 Years In The I. M. Pei Galleries
The highlight of Black’s project at the Art Center are the major sculptures she created on site specifically for the I. M. Pei galleries, a space that Black was particularly taken with when she visited in the fall of 2018.
Hedda Sterne: Imagination In The Blank One Gallery
In 1961, Fortune magazine commissioned the Romanian-born, mid-20th-century artist Hedda Sterne to produce paintings that characterized her impressions of John Deere tractor parts. This exhibition features all seven paintings, which have never been shown together outside Moline, Illinois.
Researchers: Women Artists Inspired by Science in the John Brady Print Gallery
This exhibition of drawings, photographs, and prints explores the work of women artists from the 17th century forward who use research into biology, physics, engineering, astronomy, and other fields as fertile ground for aesthetic inspiration.
Black Stories in the Anna K. Meredith Gallery
Black Stories presents the artwork by Black artists in the Art Center’s permanent collections, and aims to connect and partner with the community in the process.
Black Stories in the I.M. Pei Gallery
Black Stories presents the artwork by Black artists in the Art Center’s permanent collections, and aims to connect and partner with the community in the process.
Iowa Artists 2020: Rachel Cox in the Blank One Gallery
Iowa Artists 2020 will feature selections from photographer Rachel Cox’s “Mors Scena” series.
The Path to Paradise: Judith Schaechter’s Stained-Glass Art in the Anna K. Meredith Gallery
The Path to Paradise: Judith Schaechter’s Stained-Glass Art is the first survey and major scholarly assessment of this groundbreaking artist’s 37-year career.
Human/Nature: An Exhibition Inspired by the Art of Judith Schaechter
To accompany A Path to Paradise: Judith Schaechter’s Stained Glass Art, artist Judith Schaechter worked with Curatorial Manager Laura Burkhalter to choose work from the Art Center’s collection by artists who inspire her or which contains thematic connections to her masterful glass constructions.