Allison Sheridan

  • Curator of the Farm House Museum; Manager of Collections, Communications and Publications

Contact

aclone@iastate.edu

515-294-3342

295 Scheman Building
1805 Center Drive
Ames, IA 50011

Bio

Allison Sheridan is Curator of the Farm House Museum, Iowa State University’s oldest campus building and a National Historic Landmark. She also serves as Collections Manager and Communications and Publications Manager for University Museums at Iowa State.

Her work focuses on collections stewardship, interpretation, and expanding public access through digital and print publications. Sheridan joined University Museums in 2001 and has curated numerous exhibitions, with expertise in nineteenth- to twenty-first-century American glass, as well as Iowa State history and related scholarship.

She has served in regional cultural organizations, including the Ames History Museum, and has consulted, juried exhibitions, and presented at conferences nationwide. Over two decades, she has advanced public engagement with material culture through research, workshops, and professional collaboration across museum and history communities.

Sheridan collaborates with faculty and students across disciplines, supporting research and course partnerships through collection access. She is available for media interviews, speaking engagements, and panels on American glass, Victorian studies, museum collections, and Christian Petersen. Contact her to explore exhibitions, lectures, and collaborative opportunities.

Education

M.S., Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies, Iowa State University, 2011

B.S., History, Iowa State University 2001

Areas of Expertise

  • American glass
  • Iowa State University history
  • Christian Petersen
  • Morrill Act of 1862
  • Museum collections management
  • Visual literacy

Key Accomplishments

  • Curated 50+ exhibitions
  • Made University Museums' collections accessible online via eMuseum
  • Led or co-led the re-design of three museum collection vaults

Selected Publications

University Museums Collections Handbook, Volume 2: 50th Anniversary Edition (2025)

Sheridan, Allison, Ed. The Land-Grant Act and the People's College: Iowa State University (2011)

Christian Petersen Catalogue Raisonné 

Sheridan, Allison and Leo Landis, Eds. The Iowa State University Biographical Dictionary, University Museums, Iowa State University (2021) 

Design Work

Klemm, Rebecca. Explore Art on Campus at Iowa State University: A NumbersAlive!® Multi-Media Family Book (2023)

University Museums. Compelling Ground: Landscapes, Environments, and Peoples of Iowa (2021)

Rosson DeLong, Lea. Artists In Iowa: The First Century (2019)

University Museums. Faces of Iowa State (2017)

Rosson DeLong, Lea and Amy N. Worthen. Amy N. Worthen: The World in Perspective Prints and Drawings (2017)

University Museums. Campus Beautiful (2015)

Worthen, Amy. The Prints of J.N. Darling, 3rd Edition (2014)

Rosson DeLong, Lea. N.C. Wyeth's America in the Making (2011)

Rosson DeLong, Lea. All the Evils... Christian Petersen and the Art of War (2009)

Brown, Susan M. BodyScapes & CounterPoints: The Prints of Beej Nierengarten-Smith (2009)

Gilmor, Jane. Priscilla Sage: 1958-2008 Fifty Years of Sculpting (2008)