After 14 years, the University of Iowa finally has an art museum again, and the long-awaited $50-million facility will open Friday, Aug. 26.

The University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art (at 160 W. Burlington St., Iowa City) overlooks Gibson Square Park, across from the UI Main Library. The facility was built on the former library parking lot, and that parking is now partially enclosed under the museum.

The entrance to the new art museum, which overlooks Gibson Square Park on campus.

The three-story, 63,000-square-foot museum was built by Davenport-based Russell Construction, which also built the 2005 Figge Art Museum at 225 W. 2nd St., Davenport. Since the former University of Iowa art museum was flooded out in 2008, the Figge stored 14,000 items from the UI collection — which now numbers nearly 20,000 items.

Its most prized possession is Jackson Pollock’s “Mural,” considered by many to be the most important modern American painting. After nine years touring Europe and the United States, the 8-by-20-foot painting is finally home in Iowa City, where it will be on view when the museum reopens Aug. 26.

Stanley Museum of Art Director Lauren Lessing and museum collections staff welcomed “Mural” in its 3,200-pound crate July 14. After acclimating to its new environment, the 1943 painting rode in the custom freight elevator to the second floor of the museum and is now permanently displayed in the Chris and Suzy DeWolf Family Gallery.

Jackson Pollock’s “Mural” returned to the Stanley Museum of Art in July 2022.

“Mural” — which was originally displayed at the Figge through 2012 — traveled more than 20,000 miles to 14 venues on trucks, cargo planes, and boats, and was viewed by more than 2.7 million people after leaving Iowa City on a planned world tour immediately after the 2008 flood, according to the museum.

In 2012, “Mural” underwent a two-year technical study and conservation treatment by research scientists at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, followed by solo exhibitions at the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Sioux City Art Center in Sioux City, Iowa.

Beginning in 2015, “Mural” was the centerpiece of an exhibition organized by the UI Museum of Art, Jackson Pollock’s ‘Mural’: Energy Made Visible, which traveled to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Italy; Deutsche Bank Kunsthalle, Berlin; and Museo Picasso Málaga,
Málaga, Spain.

After the close of that exhibition in 2016, “Mural” anchored exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Art, London; Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, South Carolina; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City.

Art museum staff stand in front of the Pollock “Mural.”

“Mural” marked “a pivotal moment in Pollock’s career and is a beacon for art lovers everywhere,” a museum release said. The Stanley’s inaugural exhibition, “Homecoming,” will include “Mural,” as well as more than
600 works of art in all media by some 500 artists.

“We are bringing home all the wonderful works of art that people have missed so much—the rock stars of the Stanley Museum of Art,” Lessing said. The new Stanley Museum of Art will be officially dedicated at 3 p.m. Aug. 26, followed by its grand-opening celebration Aug. 26—28.

Many activities planned

The 3–4 p.m. dedication on Aug. 26 will include remarks from UI President Barbara Wilson and Stanley Museum of Art Director Lauren Lessing.

Art museum director Lauren Lessing spoke at a media preview in April in the lobby (photo by Jonathan Turner).

If you are not able to attend in person, the dedication will be streamed live on the Stanley website.

Following the dedication, light refreshments will be served in Gibson Square Park.

Beginning at 4:30 p.m. visitors can explore galleries and enjoy curatorial introductions to Homecoming, the inaugural exhibition. Art-making activities in the park will be available all evening and there will be live music beginning 6 p.m. 

Presented in collaboration with UI SCOPE Productions, the featured bands are treesreach, Pictoria Vark, and Houndmouth.

Free popcorn, lemonade, and water will be available in Gibson Square Park from 5 to 9 p.m. Throughout the evening food trucks will be parked adjacent to the park with food for purchase.

A light well open to the sky, part of the three-story, 63,000-square-foot museum (photo by Jonathan Turner).

Get directions and parking information.

Discover where to stay and what to enjoy when you visit Iowa City.

Limited seating will be provided. Members of the public are encouraged to bring a blanket or chair. Bring the family, bring your friends, stay for the fun!

Celebrate the Stanley all weekend!

Friday, Aug. 26

  • Art Stations, Gibson Square Park:4–9 p.m.
    Drop in and create your own work of art, take a fun photo or contribute to a community art project.
  • Curator Talks, Galleries, 4–5:30 p.m.
    Join the curators of Homecoming on the second floor for brief, informal introductions of the exhibition themes.
  • Galleries close at 8:30 p.m.
  • Live Music, Gibson Square Park, 6–9 p.m.
    Bring a chair and listen to live music from treesreach, Pictoria Vark, and Houndmouth. in Gibson Square Park!
    Free popcorn, lemonade and water will be available in Gibson Square Park from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Throughout the evening food trucks (Keeping Up With the Jones and Caribbean Kitchen) will be parked on the street between the Stanley and the Main Library with food for purchase.

Saturday, Aug. 27

  • Art Stations, Gibson Square Park, 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
    Drop in and create your own work of art, take a fun photo or contribute to a community art project.
  • Homecoming Tours, 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
    Join a 45-minute docent-led tour that provides an overview of Homecoming, highlights work you’ll remember and introduces you to recent acquisitions. Tour sizes are limited; visit the lobby welcome desk to participate.
  • Galleries open 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
  • Juggling Performances and Workshop, Gibson Square Park, Noon–3:15 p.m.
    Luther Bangert will perform a unique 10-minute juggling and dance performance on the hour. Between performances Bangert will lead lessons on the practice and art of juggling.
  • Director’s Welcome, Lobby, 4:45 p.m.
    Stanley Museum of Art Director Lauren Lessing will share her plans for the museum and ways visitors of all ages can participate in museum activities all year long.
  • Cedar Rapids Opera Performance, Lobby, 5–5:30 p.m.
    A special performance of Selections from The Grant Wood Operas: Strokes of Genius. Seating is limited and first come, first served.
  • Special Performance by DJ Simeon Talley Gibson Square Park, 6–9 p.m.
    Spend Saturday night in the park! Enjoy music and food after your visit to the museum.
    Donuts and coffee (10 a.m.–noon) and popcorn, lemonade, and water (noon–9 p.m.) will be available for free in Gibson Square Park.
    Throughout the day food trucks will be parked on the street between the Stanley and the Main Library with food for purchase.

Sunday, Aug. 28

  • Homecoming Tours, Noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
    Join a 45-minute docent-led tour that provides an overview of Homecoming, highlights work you’ll remember and introduces you to recent acquisitions. Tour sizes are limited; visit the lobby welcome desk to participate.
  • Galleries open Noon–5:30 p.m.
  • Performance by the Steve Grismore Trio, Lobby 1 to 3 p.m.
  • Performance by the Wilder-Hill Players, Lobby 3 p.m.
    Cookies and coffee (noon to 5:30 p.m.) will be available for free in the lobby

For more information on the museum, click HERE.