TO ALL GATES: REDISCOVER YOUR ART CENTER

TO ALL GATES: Rediscover Your Art Center
September 25, 2005 – February 19, 2006

We’ve been busy all summer trading spaces! Join us as we unveil the galleries, newly reenergized with dramatic installations of Art Center classics and rarely seen treasures that will surprise you at every turn.

Favorites from the Art Center’s Permanent Collections, as well as works that have not been on view for many years, will combine to bring different cultures, continents, and periods in history to Iowans in their own backyard.

It’s all about REDISCOVERY, and inviting Iowans to reconnect and take pride in their Art Center, a local treasure with national and international stature.

Funding for To All Gates: Rediscover Your Art Center is provided by Pioneer Hi-Bred International and Greater Des Moines Foundation. Additional support provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

GRAND REOPENING WEEKEND

PUBLIC GRAND REOPENING
Sunday, September 25
Noon – 3 pm
Free for Art Center members and children under 13: $5 for nonmembers
Picnic lunches from Palmer's Deli available: $6 adults; $4 children under 13

Spend an afternoon rediscovering—and celebrating—your Art Center. This event features fun for the whole family, including interactive activities in the galleries, hands-on projects in the studios, plus outdoor entertainment and an old-fashioned picnic lunch from Palmer’s Deli under the big tent.

The Art Center will also be presenting a
SPECIAL SNEAK PREVIEW GALA (black tie optional)
Saturday, September 24, 2005
6:30 pm to midnight
Please call Debra Lehmann at 515.271.0336 for ticket information.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

EXHIBITION RELATED PROGRAMS

Sunday, October 23, 2 pm
Lecture and Book Signing
“Who is Robert Rauschenberg?”
Mary Lynn Kotz, author and art historian
Levitt Auditorium

In celebration of Robert Rauschenberg’s 80th birthday on October 22, Mary Lynn Kotz will tell the inspiring story of the artist who grew up poor in Port Arthur, Texas and subsequently changed the course of art history. Kotz will present an illustrated lecture based on her book, Rauschenberg / Art and Life (2004). A book-signing will follow the talk.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Gallery Talks
Art Center curators will lead candid and informative discussions about the galleries and themes they developed for this project. Visitors will learn first hand about the curatorial process, how selections were made, why works of art were organized as they are, and much more.

Thursday, October 27, 7 pm
Patricia Hickson, curator/gallery manager and Laura Burkhalter, assistant curator

Thursday, November 17, 7 pm
Jeff Fleming, acting director and Amy Worthen, curator of prints

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

LECTURE Jeff Koons
Tuesday, December 6, 6:30 pm

Internationally acclaimed artist Jeff Koons will deliver a lecture at the Art Center on the subject of his work, including commentary on his 1981 sculpture, The New Shelton Wet/Dry Triple Decker—one of the most provocative pieces in the museum’s collections. Interested in kitsch, pop culture, and consumer commodities, Koons’ work challenges our definition of art. Like the readymades of Duchamp, his work places decidedly nonart objects in an art context and raises questions of authorship and originality in art. Koons has received many awards and honors in recognition of his cultural achievements.

The Des Moines Art Center presents this lecture in honor of the Fingerman Memorial Lecture Series, which is made possible through generous gifts by Louis and Lois Fingerman.

Tickets for this FREE lecture are required and limited.
Tickets are available exclusively through IowaTix
beginning Wednesday, November 16.
Order on-line at www.iowatix.com or
by phone at 515.277.3727 (9 am – 5 pm, Monday – Friday).
Limit 4 per party.

The Des Moines Art Center is committed to providing educational opportunities for
the entire community; therefore, ticket orders will only be processed as described above.

Tickets ordered through IowaTix will be issued at the Art Center
(with photo ID) the evening of the event beginning at 5:30 pm.
Doors to Levitt Auditorium will open at 6:15 pm.
The Art Center reserves the right to release seats for any unclaimed tickets at the start of the lecture.

A video replay of this lecture will be held at 6:30 pm, Thursday, December 8
in Levitt Auditorium.

Lecture made possible by support from
Pioneer Hi-Bred International and the Greater Des Moines Foundation.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Guided Tours
We are pleased to offer guided tours of To All Gates: Rediscover Your Art Center and the Permanent Collections. Please schedule at least three weeks in advance. Contact Jennifer Cooley at 515-271-0328 or jcooley@desmoinesartcenter.org.

Adult Group Tours: $2 per person/$20 minimum fee
Student Tours and Downtown Tours: Free