Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857. It is located on, and named after, the Des Moines River, which likely was adapted from the early French name, Rivière des Moines, meaning "River of the Monks". The city's population was 214,133 as of the 2020 census. The six-county metropolitan area is ranked 83rd in terms of population in the United States with 699,292 residents according to the 2019 estimate by the United States Census Bureau, and is the largest metropolitan area fully located within the state.
Renzo Piano is an Italian architect. His notable buildings include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, The Shard in London (2012), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City (2015), İstanbul Modern in Istanbul (2022) and Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens (2016). He won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1998.
Urbandale is a city in Polk and Dallas counties, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city population was 45,580. It is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Newton is the county seat of, and most populous city in, Jasper County, Iowa, United States. Located 30 miles (48 km) east of Des Moines, Newton is in Central Iowa. As of the 2020 Census, the city population was 15,760. It is the home of Iowa Speedway, Maytag Dairy Farms, and the Iowa Sculpture Festival.
The Iowa Events Center is a public events complex located in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, United States.
The Des Moines Art Center is an art museum with an extensive collection of paintings, sculpture, modern art and mixed media. It was established in 1948 in Des Moines, Iowa.
Kum & Go is a convenience store chain primarily located in the Midwestern United States. The company, started by William A. Krause and Tony S. Gentle, based in Des Moines, Iowa, operates 400 stores in 13 states—primarily in its home state of Iowa. Other states include: Arkansas, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. Kum & Go was ranked as the 24th-largest convenience store chain in the United States by Convenience Store News in 2019.
Barry Flanagan OBE RA was an Irish-Welsh sculptor. He is best known for his bronze statues of hares and other animals.
Christian Petersen (1885–1961) was a Danish-born American sculptor and university teacher. He was the first permanent artist in residence at a U.S. college or university, and he is noted for the large body of sculpture associated with a single place, Iowa State College, now Iowa State University.
Post-Balzac is a bronze sculpture by Judith Shea created in 1991 in an edition of three copies.
The United States Courthouse, located in Des Moines, Iowa, is the headquarters for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. It is part of the Civic Center Historic District that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Mary Miss is an American artist and designer. Her work has crossed boundaries between architecture, landscape architecture, engineering and urban design. Her installations are collaborative in nature: she has worked with scientists, historians, designers, and public administrators. She is primarily interested in how to engage the public in decoding their surrounding environment.
Downtown Des Moines is the central business district of Des Moines, Iowa and the Greater Des Moines Metropolitan Area. Downtown Des Moines is defined by the City of Des Moines as located between the Des Moines River to the east, the Raccoon River to the south, Center Street to the north, and 18th and 15th Streets to the west.
Mario I. Gandelsonas is an Argentine-American architect and theorist whose specializations include urbanism and semiotics.
The Des Moines Arts Festival is an arts festival held every June in Western Gateway Park in Des Moines, Iowa. The three-day festival frequently draws in excess of 200,000 people and has been ranked among the top festivals in the United States.
The John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park is a 4.4-acre (1.8 ha) park within Western Gateway Park in Des Moines, Iowa. It opened in 2009 with 24 sculptures, with four more acquired later. The sculpture park is administered by the Des Moines Art Center and contains works by artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Jaume Plensa, Ai Weiwei, and Barry Flanagan. It is considered "one of the most significant collections of outdoor sculptures in the United States".
Fred Truck is an American artist currently living in West Des Moines, Iowa. He is noted for his performance art and cartoon imagery using painting, sculpture and digital constructions. In 1986, he was a co-creator of the Art Com Electronic Network, an online collaboration site for artists during the early days of the Internet. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) as well as other museums and galleries in the USA and Japan. Throughout his career, his media have included software, virtual reality, graphics, sculpture, born-digital prints, and computer graphic design.
The Des Moines Women's Club, founded in 1885 as the women's club movement swept through the United States, today serves the Des Moines community by providing scholarships, support for the local arts community, and other civic projects.
