Exhibitions

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.

On July 4, 2026, the United States will commemorate the 250th anniversary of its founding. Farm House Museum, built in 1860 as Iowa State's first building, has been central to the development of campus, Iowa State heritage, education, innovation, and national policy. This exhibition honors key people, moments, objects, and experiences centered within Farm House through more than 250 primary source objects that trace the land-grant university's heritage and the nation's evolution.

Artist Norwood Viviano (American, born 1972) merges data visualization with traditional glass techniques to create sculptures that reveal patterns of change in American cities and landscapes. This exhibition includes series examining population growth, manufacturing history and visualizing future sea level rise, alongside a new commission for the permanent collection that connects Iowa State's agricultural legacy through cast glass architecture and topographical maps.

"Tell Me a Story" examines the many stories found throughout University Museums collections from fairytales to mythology and creative narratives that continue to fascinate artists working in many media. The objects on view represent a wide array of media, cultures, and time periods in the history of art, further emphasizing the continued use and love of storytelling throughout the world.

In 1961, Ann and Henry Brunnier pledged to Iowa State a collection of dolls and decorative arts amassed over 55 years. The donation included a comprehensive decorative art collection comprised of glass, ceramics, Old Russian enamels, and ivory carvings from American, European and Asian cultures. Ann’s accessioned art collection included more than 8,000 objects, filling two semi-trucks. In addition to a large encyclopedic collection of glass, fine ceramics, Russian enamels and ivory, this collection also includes furniture, jades, pottery, snuff bottles and carved wood objects.

Science exhibition highlighting the innovative techniques for caring for public art installations in terra cotta, incorporating the original artist intent with state of the art scanning and replication technology that can be found right here on Iowa State’s campus.

This exhibition centers on Christian Petersen's Unknown Political Prisoner maquette — the entry he submitted to a 1952 international competition organized by the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, which sought a sculpture honoring those imprisoned or killed in the struggle for human freedom. On view alongside it are related drawings and sculptures that trace how Petersen's thinking evolved in his later years: away from patriotic celebration and toward something heavier — loss, mourning, the grief of those left behind. He developed numerous proposals for war memorials during this period, none of which were realized in his lifetime.