Review

Des Moines Art Center Celebrates 60th Anniversary

Interior view of the Des Moines Art Center’s Pei building. Photo: Cameron Campbell

For me, walking into the Des Moines Art Center in Des Moines, Iowa, is like walking into a church. A cool quiet pervades the rooms of stone and wood. There is a certain smell, indescribable, but the same as it was 20 years ago. It must be the meditative activity of looking at art that makes the association in my mind. Or maybe it is because we would go there as a family on Sundays after church. I always had to see “the blue plug” (Three-Way Plug, Scale A [Soft], Prototype in Blue by Claes Oldenburg), staring up at it with wonder and not knowing what it meant, but knowing it was fantastic. I waited in fear to come upon “the screaming pope” (Francis Bacon’s Study after Velásquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X). Thankfully, the wonder, rather than the fear, has stuck with me (although the Bacon still gives me chills), and I now look at art for a living.

The Des Moines Art Center is housed in three architectural jewels (left to right): I.M. Pei, Richard Meier, and Eliel Saarinen buildings. Photo: Cameron Campbell

The art center has forged many other connections like mine, and more are made every day. To learn the history of the Des Moines Art Center is to receive a lesson in foresight. Some years have been smoother than others, but its 60th year is evidence of its enduring spirit. It sits today as a leader in contemporary exhibitions, featuring national and international artists. Its collection is unmatched for a facility of its size, and the collection is housed in three architectural jewels.

Peggy Patrick, the self-described “oldest living relic” of the art center — her actual titles include art teacher, assistant director, volunteer — remembers the beginning as being on the verge of something but not knowing what it would bring. The spark was ignited upon the revelation that James D. Edmundson, a wealthy citizen, planned to leave money to begin an art museum in Des Moines. The Des Moines Association of Fine Arts formed in 1916, “to bring exhibitions to Des Moines and to acquire works of art to be placed in the future museum,” according to a concise history by Louise Rosenfield Noun in An Uncommon Vision: The Des Moines Art Center, a volume published on the occasion of the institution’s 50th anniversary in 1998.

The association hummed along, making a few acquisitions and holding exhibitions at the city’s main library with financial and organizational assistance from local community groups. The Depression halted their activities until a group of members decided to move ahead in preparation for the future museum. A new space was rented on the second floor of a downtown brick building, and the community pitched in to build out the space with donated labor and materials. The Works Progress Administration had been involved with the association and took over all organizational aspects in 1941, including naming it the Des Moines Art Center.

Edmundson had been a lawyer, real estate investor, and scholar, and his posthumous gift to the 27-yearold organization would give it a much-deserved home. He passed away in 1933, but his will stipulated that 10 years pass before any money was disbursed. A board of trustees was formed following Edmundson’s wishes, and the search for an architect began. Four years of debate among the trustees yielded Eliel Saarinen, a renowned Finnish architect, as the chosen one. Edmundson is to thank for the Art Center’s ideal setting as well as its funding start. The museum sits in a particularly appealing part of Des Moines, Iowa — on a hill and set back from a tree-lined thoroughfare. Behind it, the woods of Greenwood Park sprawl to the south.

Grandeur was not the aim of Saarinen’s low, sprawling building — a trait that secured his role as the Art Center’s first architect. According to an essay by Franz Schulze in An Uncommon Vision, the trustees were resolutely against any imitation of Greek, Gothic, or English architecture, “This building will be judged by succeeding generations,” Schulze reports, “and it must satisfy them or it will soon be obsolete.” This mentality continued to serve the art center’s architectural vision through two major additions.

Henri Matisse, Dame á le robe blanche (Woman in White), 1946, oil on canvas, 38” x 23”. Gift of John and Elizabeth Bates Coles, 1959

Saarinen’s building surrounds an intimate courtyard and reflecting pool on three sides, providing visitors with a contemplative atmosphere, both inside and out. As education has always been essential to the art center’s mission, Saarinen’s plan also included an education wing with classrooms and studios.

The first addition was built mainly to house the art center’s growing contemporary sculpture collection, but it also provided an auditorium to replace Saarinen’s original, which was converted into three additional galleries. I.M. Pei’s 1968 building “…fills in Saarinen’s U-shaped plan, completing a square and facilitating a circular tour of the interior,” writes Schulze. The plentiful spaces created by Pei are accentuated by how he captured indirect natural light. Pei’s wing also offers visitors a view of lush Greenwood Park through two stories of windows on the south.

Schulze relates that Richard Meier’s 1985 addition was of three entities: one multi-functional wing attached to the west wing of the Saarinen building, a restaurant space at the point where the Pei and Saarinen sections meet, and a north wing for the center that is all exhibition space. The latter provides unique perspectives on collection pieces through many niche spaces and the vertical expanse of a winding stairwell.

Though three internationally known architects created buildings decades apart in time and light years apart in style, their work stands the test of time. “People say the buildings don’t match,” says Patrick. “Well, of course they don’t match! Our portrait of George Washington doesn’t match our Francis Bacon. That’s not what it’s all about. It’s about being the best representation of that period of time.”

The Des Moines Art Center’s collection matches the prestige of its buildings. The collection lies mainly in American and European painting and sculpture of the 19th and 20th centuries but also includes more than 3,000 works on paper that span 600 years. Almost every director in the art center’s history has had a major impact on this respected collection. Early confusion and disagreement on what to collect was eventually resolved largely by the hiring of Dwight Kirsch as director — “the first bona fide director,” in Patrick’s opinion. Hired in 1950, Kirsch brought an eye for acquisitions, especially painting and sculpture from 19th-century European and 20th-century American artists. Highlights of Kirsch’s collecting period include one of the art center’s signature pieces, Automat by Edward Hopper, and pieces by Gustave Courbet and Alexander Calder.

Edward Hopper, Automat, 1927

James T. Demetrion, director from 1969 to 1984, was the director who put the art center’s collection on the map, in many opinions. His life as a scholar and his ability to see emerging talent combined to make his 15-year tenure quite an exciting one for the art center. He focused on post-World War II artists. Noun writes, “…when it soon became apparent that there was not sufficient income to acquire major works by first-generation Abstract Expressionists, Demetrion turned to the next generation of artists, selecting major works by Richard Diebenkorn … Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly … Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella ….” — the list goes on. “We had the first Jasper Johns west of New York,” says Patrick, who was assistant director under Demetrion.

Postmodern works by artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hessa, and Donald Judd were acquired by Director Julia Brown Turrell, who also brought her interest in Conceptualism and began the art center’s first foray into photography. In addition, Turrell was responsible for the museum’s first sitespecific sculpture: the work of Bruce Nauman and Richard Serra graces the complex’s hillside.

Gerhard Richter, Brice Marden, Agnes Martin, Dennis Oppenheim, and Cindy Sherman were among the newcomers during I. Michael Danoff’s time as director in the early- to mid-1990s. Socially and politically motivated works were targeted as well.

Susan Lubowsky Talbott came to the Art Center in 1998 and oversaw the acquisition of works by William Kentridge, Martin Puryear, Arthur Dove, and a major outdoor work by Andy Goldsworthy that was part of a nationwide project initiated by the art center. The first off-site expansion was also during Talbott’s tenure with the 2003 opening of the Des Moines Art Center Downtown, an exhibition space on the first floor of a downtown office building.

Talbott is also associated with a renewal of the art center’s relationship to the community. Many museums experience trouble with an elitist stereotype, which is best combated by expanding outreach. “Susan had to get the community back to the art center, and she did a very good job,” says Patrick. Talbott led this charge, and her successor, Jeff Fleming, has kept it going. He speaks of an expanded emphasis on education as a way to increase awareness and membership.

The art center’s educational programming is wide reaching. Studio classes and workshops have been in operation since the beginning, and now the program offers drawing, painting, metal smithing, ceramics, print making, and art appreciation classes. Classes are held year-round, and scholarships are available. Outreach programs include High School Days, Fourth- Grade Tours, Lectures To Go, Pre-School Programs, Visiting Artist Projects, smART Family Weekends, and Connecting Kids and Culture. These serve students of all ages, underprivileged populations, walk-in families, and anyone else who is interested.

“I get the most pleasure out of seeing young families participating in the many programs the art center offers, says Peggy Leonardo, studio programs director and member of the Des Moines Art Center’s education staff for 20 years. “I relish the enthusiasm of the children and their parents. This is the greatest gift this institution can give the city, a special place to make art and enjoy the treasures in the museum.” The outreach does not stop with classes and tours. Lectures, musical performances, and film series fill the yearly calendar, and member groups keep things moving. Art Noir, for example, is a fairly new group aimed at attracting young adult members.

Jeff Fleming was brought to the art center by Talbott as a curator and has since served as senior curator, deputy director, acting director, and now director — a post he has held since 2005. His main focus at the moment is a membership and fundraising drive, called Hands-On Des Moines. “It’s a three-pronged program of raising $34 million to ensure fiscal security and to enhance our buildings,” he says. “It is also to build awareness and to build participation … and to broaden our donor base….”

Right: Des Moines Art Center Downtown, view of visitors in lobby and gallery space. Courtesy of the Des Moines Art Center

The art center celebrated its anniversary throughout 2008, most notably with a Diamond Anniversary Gala and the World Histories exhibition, which was a stimulating exhibition of 11 up-and-coming artists from 10 countries organized by Assistant Curator Laura Burkhalter. Fleming says, “We could have pulled work from our collection and had a collection show. We could have pulled work from the masters of our times … or we could do one of the things we do best and that is be a leader in this community and look to the future and lead the way….”

Patrick applauds Fleming for the way he has moved the art center’s mission forward. “Jeff is really on the cutting edge. He’s putting up first-time shows for these people.” She also speaks of the importance of having something for everyone. “Every so often you’ve got to go back and plug in a popular show. You’ve got to keep a balance.”

Although foresight is definitely a key trait for the art center, pinpointing the reason for its staying power is no easy task. Fleming credits the art center’s backers and the community as a whole. He says there is a reciprocal relationship: “The art center will foster an interest in its mission within the community, and the community in turn supports that mission and is engaged and active in fulfilling that mission.” Patrick adds to that the strong leadership over the decades: “It’s like a patchwork quilt,” she says. “Each of these directors has brought something to the fabric that is the art center.” Or, maybe it is ongoing experiences like mine that keep it going.

Local arts writer, actor, and cultural radio show host John Busbee agrees: “Perhaps my favorite moment or experience is the last exhibit, concert, or event I attended knowing that the next such happening will then become my next ‘best’ moment or experience.”

Susan Watts is a freelance writer whose articles over the past nine years have appeared in Review, Art Papers, Dialogue, and Catalyst. She holds a B.A. in art history and journalism from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.

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