Arts and attractions

Fountain of the Four Seasons

Fountain of the Four Seasons sculpture by Christian Petersen.

Exhibits Calendar

Anderson Sculpture Garden | contact

South of Morrill Hall, free

Brunnier Art Museum | contact

Scheman Building, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 1-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, $3 suggested donation

  • Closed for renovations through summer 2019

    Christian Petersen Art Museum | contact

    Morrill Hall, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday, $3 suggested donation

    • "Designed for a Modern Life: Decorative Arts & Fashion in the Mid-century," features selections from both permanent collections and select loans, Oct. 25 through June 28, 2019
      • Lecture, Feb. 24, 2 p.m., 2019 Morrill Hall, "Fashions Suburbia: Dressing the Family in Mid-Century America," Jennifer Farley Gordon explores the fashions of the middle-class mid-century family, including the way that clothing style and clothing consumption factored into the everyday lives of men, women, and children in post-war suburban America
      • Lecture, March 7, 7 p.m., 1030 Morrill Hall, "The House America Has Been Waiting For: The Lustron House and Post-World War II Design," World War II was particularly influential on mid-century designers in the United States. Ted Grevstad-Nordbeck explores one such development: the Lustron kit house, of which there are dozens of examples in Iowa, including Ames
      • Short Films, March 10, 2 p.m., 0003 Morrill Hall, "American Design & Marketing in the 50s & 60s," a series of three film shorts that highlight the height of 1950s and 1960s design in the U.S. will be shown and discussed.
    • "The People's College: The Morrill Act and Iowa State," ongoing
    • "Commissioning a Collection: 75 Years of Public Art," ongoing

    Design on Main Gallery | contact

    203 Main St., 2-5 p.m. Thursday-Saturday

    • "Festival of Personal Geographies," an exhibition exploring how art can be used to create personalized maps, Feb. 13 through March 17
       

    Farm House Museum | contact

    Central campus, Noon-4 p.m., Monday-Friday, $3 suggested donation

    • "Timeless: Love and Romance in the Victorian Era," an exhibition that takes a peek into love and romance in the Victorian era, through Oct. 31, 2019

    Gallery 181 | 515-294-7428

    College of Design, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, free

      Parks Library | contact

      Special Collections and University Archives, 403 Parks Library, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, free

      • "We Are ISU: Snapshots of Student Life," begins March 13.
        Presentation, March 13, 7 p.m., Sun Room, Memorial Union, "Student Life at Iowa Agricultural College: Experiment and Experience, 1869-90," Douglas Biggs
      • Online exhibits: archives.lib.iastate.edu

      Memorial Union | contact

      Gallery, viewing based on room availability, free

      • "Layers on Layers," screen printed posters by John Bosley, through March 25

      Pioneer Room, viewing based on room availability, free

      • "VI," exhibit featuring works by Caleb Henkelman, through March 31

      Multicultural Center, 8 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-5p.m. Friday, 5-11 p.m. Sunday, free

      Reiman Gardens | contact

      9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, $9 (youth $4.50, free for members)

      Hughes Conservatory

      • "The Magic Circle," a display of orchids and other flowering plants, through March 16

        Textiles and Clothing Museum, Mary Alice Gallery | contact

        1015 Morrill Hall, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Friday, free

        • "Designed for a Modern Life: Decorative Arts & Fashion in the Mid-century," features selections from both permanent collections and select loans, Oct. 25 through April 13, 2019
          Reiman Gardens

          Reiman Gardens

          Campus attractions

          Highlights

          Best public rose garden

          Iowa State's Reiman Gardens has been named the best public rose garden in the U.S.

          Most beautiful campus

          Iowa State's campus includes over 600 public works of art and was rated as one of America's 25 most beautiful in the book, The Campus as a Work of Art.

          Carillon

          The 10-bell carillon chime installed in the Campanile in 1899 was the first scientifically tuned bell chime outside of England; the carillon has 50 bells today.

          Building of the 20th Century

          Iowa State's Stephens Auditorium was named Iowa's "Building of the 20th Century" by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Iowa Chapter.

          Most Grant Wood murals

          Iowa State has the largest Grant Wood murals in the nation, including two WPA projects located in Parks Library -- "Breaking the Sod" and "When Tillage Begins, Other Arts Follow."

          Seamless curtain

          The main stage curtain in Stephens Auditorium is seamless, made entirely of silk, measures 85 by 35 feet and weighs 3,000 pounds. It was woven in Kyoto, Japan, on the world's largest continuous loom.

          Accredited museum

          The University Museums at Iowa State is one of only 10 percent of museums in the nation to be accredited by the American Association of Museums.

          Medallion site

          Iowa State's central campus was one of only three university campuses to make the American Society of Landscape Architect's 1999 centennial listing of "Medallion Sites."

          Most Christian Petersen sculptures

          Iowa State holds the nation's largest campus public collection of sculptures by Christian Petersen, who was artist-in-residence from 1934 to 1955.

          Online art tour

          You can take a virtual look at some campus art with University Museums' Digital Art on Campus project.