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Albert Paley: Origins

Model for Animals Always by Albert Paley
Time

Sunday, Mar 01, 2026 to Friday, Jul 24, 2026

Location

Christian Petersen Art Museum

Albert Paley is a pioneering American metal sculptor whose work merges traditional forging techniques with contemporary design to create expressive, monumental forms. "Origins" invites viewers to delve into the origins of Paley’s creative process, revealing how ideas emerge in response to specific sites and project requirements, how he balances the poetic with the pragmatic, and how meaning is embedded within form. This exhibition brings together a selection of maquettes and preliminary designs that highlight the interplay of material and symbolism central to Paley’s practice, which lay the groundwork for his large-scale public art commissions embedded in landscapes across Iowa and the United States.

This exhibition is curated and organized by University Museums in partnership with the Clarinda Carnegie Art Museum's Art on the Fly program. Support for the exhibition and programming was given by the Kathy and John Howell Art Enrichment Program and University Museums Membership. 
Albert Paley's Transformation sculpture at the entrance to Morrill Hall

Paley's Art on Campus

Paley’s Transformation, completed in 2007, holds a prominent and enduring place at the Christian Petersen Art Museum. Commissioned as a public work of art to mark the entrance of the newly renovated Morrill Hall at Iowa State University, the sculpture serves as a symbolic gateway to a revitalized center of learning and stands as a physical metaphor for the building’s evolution from a historic campus structure into a contemporary museum and educational space. From maquettes to monumental metal, this exhibition showcases Paley's response to architectural and public spaces expressed through the context of forms.

Albert Paley next to a model of Animals Always

Artist Bio

Albert Paley (b. 1944) began his career making wearable sculpture as a jeweler and goldsmith, earning his Masters of Fine Arts from Tyler School of Art in 1969. He moved to Rochester, New York that same year to teach goldsmithing at Rochester Institute of Technology, where he now holds an endowed chair. His trajectory changed dramatically in 1974 when he won a commission to create Portal Gates for the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery, a project that launched his transition to architectural-scale metalwork. Paley and a former student spent a year forging the gates that would become among the most significant ironwork created since Louis Sullivan. In the five decades since, Paley has become the first metal sculptor to receive the American Institute of Architects' Lifetime Achievement Award. His art appears in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and over 40 other institutions worldwide. He has completed more than 50 major public commissions, including the Animals Always Gateway Sculpture for the St. Louis Zoo—currently the largest sculpture at any zoo in the United States. 

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Cardboard Giraffes and Steel Giants: Works of Art by Sculptor Albert Paley Return to Iowa State with Behind-the-Scenes Exhibition

This spring, University Museums presents Albert Paley: Origins, a look at the preparatory phase of artistic creation. The exhibition features a selection of objects from Paley's 50-year career, including a menagerie of zoo animals created for the St. Louis Zoo's huge Animals Always commission, completed in 2006.