Exhibitions

The Sioux City Art Center’s exhibitions primarily include artworks made by contemporary artists who live and work in the upper Midwest. Exhibitions include thematic group exhibitions, one-person exhibitions, and both local and regional juried exhibitions. Large exhibitions of any kind are presented in either or both of the Art Center’s third-floor galleries, each of which has approximately 3,000 square feet of space.

View Current Exhibitions

Exhibitions

View Current Exhibitions

Exhibitions include thematic group exhibitions, one-person exhibitions, and both local and regional juried exhibitions.

More About Our Exhibitions

A small gallery on the third floor is reserved for the presentation of Grant Wood’s Corn Room Mural, a 1926 work that was originally created for the Martin Hotel, one block north of the Art Center. Second-floor gallery space is reserved for exhibitions with a local connection. Three first-floor galleries are used to present exhibitions of artworks in the permanent collection.

In 2003, the Art Center began a new series of exhibitions that are sponsored by the Blockbuster Partners, a group of supporters who are committed to making large-scale exhibitions accessible to the Sioux City community. Subjects of Blockbuster exhibitions since 2003 have included Rodin, da Vinci, and Pollock, and have featured subjects ranging from Colonial and early American historical objects and the photographic documentation of the western United States to motorcycles and Lego bricks.

Current Exhibitions

Sioux City Art Center Selects 2021

May 21, 2021—September 12, 2021

Sioux City Art Center Selects is a regional juried/curated exhibition with accompanying programing designed to create a meaningful experience for both the selected artists and the Art Center’s audiences. Nine artists, including one outstanding collaborate duo, were selected by the Art Center’s director, Todd Behrens, and curator, Mary Anne Redding, based on digital images of submitted artwork and exemplary artists’ statements.

Siouxland Artists, Inc. Annual Competitive Exhibition

May 8, 2021—August 8, 2021

Siouxland Artists, Inc. is a local arts organization dedicated to fostering the development of the visual arts and spreading the appreciation of art throughout the community. Members from the Tri-State are of Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota include amateur and professional artists working in a variety of media.

Artists of the Upper Midwest in the Permanent Collection

January 1, 2021—December 31, 2040

During its collecting history, the Sioux City Art Center has collected works by important artists from across the Upper Midwest, with the goal of serving as a repository of the region’s artistic production. This effort was expanded significantly over the last dozen years when a group of supporters began donating funds toward the purchase of artworks that is known as The Legacy Collection.

Sioux City Artists in Permanent Collection

September 28, 2019—December 31, 2040

This exhibition of works from the Art Center’s permanent collection brings together many artists who have at one time called Sioux City “home.” These artworks are in many ways the most important part of the Art Center’s mission of maintaining a collection of art for the people of Sioux City.

Grant Wood’s Corn Room Mural

June 1, 2007—December 31, 2040

For the first time since 1992, Grant Wood’s Corn Room mural is shown in its entirety. An exhibition gallery was created in the summer of 2007 in the third-floor H. H. Everist Gallery for long-term display of the mural, while at the same time allowing the remaining Jensen and Terra galleries to be used for changing exhibitions.

Upcoming Exhibitions

Dolie Thompson: Still Life and Selections from the Permanent Collection

August 7, 2021—October 31, 2021

Long interested in the still life, Thompson’s creative work examines the universality of memory. She muses that everyone has their own memories and that when you leave enough space in a photograph for the viewer to go in and discover their own memories, their own thoughts of what could be, that’s where memory and image come together.

J. L. Goff: Watercolors

August 14, 2021—November 7, 2021

Watercolorist Jim Goff is interested in the natural beauty of the Midwestern landscape. He focuses on interesting farmhouses, barns, the water, and trees in his exquisitely evocative paintings of the Siouxland region.

Al Harris-Fernandez: Abstracted

October 8, 2021—January 9, 2022

This exhibition will be the first one-person museum exhibition of paintings by Al Harris-Fernandez in Iowa. Having recently retired from his nearly eighteen-year tenure as the Sioux City Art Center’s director, Al Harris-Fernandez has had more daylight to devote to painting than ever.

Molly Wood: The Poison Garden

November 13, 2021—February 6, 2022

Des Moines photographer Molly Wood has on ongoing fascination with the duality of botanicals—the seductive potential for flora to be toxic in one form and healing in another.

Past Exhibitions

The Briar Cliff Review Exhibition 2021

April 22, 2021—July 18, 2021

The Briar Cliff Review Exhibition includes artwork by local and regional artists featured in the 2021 edition of the Briar Cliff Review, Briar Cliff University’s award-winning journal of literature and the arts, now in its 33rd year. The Art Center installation is an exciting mix of artwork showcasing a diversity of media, style, and techniques from contemporary Midwestern artists.

20 Artists, 20 Parks

January 30, 2021—May 9, 2021

In her remarkable memoir, The Hour of Land, naturalist and author Terry Tempest Williams writes eloquently on the relevance of national parks marking the centennial of the National Park Service with a prescience that can be extended to all parks.

Pieces of the Puzzle: Artwork by Head Start Students

January 30, 2021—April 25, 2021

The Sioux City Art Center is pleased to present artworks created by the children who are supported by the Community Action Agency of Siouxland Early Childhood Programs.

Youth Art Month Exhibition: Elementary School Students

February 13, 2021—April 11, 2021

This annual exhibition celebrates the artwork of Siouxland students from the tri-state area. The 2021 installation includes creative expressions by elementary school students in diverse styles and materials.