AMES, IA.- As more than 30,000 students return to Iowa State University’s campus this fall, University Museums is ready to welcome them with five new exhibitions spread across its two campus art museums and historic house museum.
University Museums staff have been hard at work over the summer months making final preparations for the exhibitions – some years in the making – and organizing related student tours, class visits, special events and educational programs.
“At their core, our museums are a trusted educational and cultural resource for ISU students, faculty and staff,” said David Schmitz, Warren and Beverly Madden Endowed Director and Chief Curator. “Our staff takes this mission to heart, being very responsive to how instructors teach while also creative with how we invite students and our broader community to experience art across campus.”
Iowa State students, faculty, staff, and community members can experience the new exhibitions, detailed below, at the Brunnier Art Museum and the Christian Petersen Art Museum, which reopen on August 24-25. The Farm House Museum reopens August 24 with a continuing exhibition exploring the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026.
Admission is free at all University Museums entities. New for this fall, University Museums locations will stay open until 7 pm on Thursday nights to better serve campus and community visitors. Select weekend hours for the Christian Petersen Art Museum and Farm House Museum will also occur during the semester.
Brunnier Art Museum (Scheman Building)
Wood for Function and Expression, Aug. 25 – Jan. 31. Furniture, turned vessels, carved sculpture, and more from the permanent collection, looking at wood as both a working material and a medium for artistic expression.
Midwest Maker Series: Mary Merkel-Hess, Aug. 25 – Jan. 31. The inaugural exhibition in a new series on regional artists, with paper vessels and sculpture by celebrated Iowa artist Merkel-Hess (b. 1949) that take their shape from the prairie.
Create and Replicate – Single Object Focus, Aug. 25, 2026 – July 23, 2027. A survey of enduring decorative arts forms repeated across centuries, cultures, and materials, in the Ann Brunnier Decorative Arts Gallery.
Christian Petersen Art Museum (Morrill Hall)
Luis Jimnez: The Mythic Southwest, Aug. 25 – Dec. 18. Bold, energetic drawings and lithographs by Jimnez (1940–2006), drawn from collections across the United States.
Christian Petersen: Memory in Metal, Aug. 25 – Dec. 18. Medallions, medals, and plaquettes by Petersen (1885–1961), including his medallion design for the Eli Lilly Company.
Terra Cotta Conservation in the Art on Campus Collection, opened in January 2026 and runs through Dec. 18. Scanning, replication, and the engineering keeping Christian Petersen's terra cotta sculptures on campus standing.
Farm House Museum (601 Farm House Lane)
America 250: Prairie, Plows, and the People's College, opened February 2026 and runs through Oct. 16. The nation's 250th told through 250 primary source objects inside a National Historic Landmark, the oldest building on campus.
