Des Moines Art Galleries, Museums, Supplies & More

Best art galleries Des Moines museums supplies classes your area

Anyone that wants to learn about art in Des Moines has definitely found the right blog and our first section will fully cover the best art galleries and museums near you.

After that we will get into a variety of other topics like art supply stores, events, festivals, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, local sculptures and statues, art classes, studios for rent, and the top frame shops in your area.

You can jump straight to any section that interests you most by using the table of contents on the left and we are also including a Des Moines art map with all of the spots we mention throughout the post pinned on it.

There are quite a few other posts on towns around the Midwest on our site that you can check out if interested.

Best Art Galleries & Museums In Des Moines

The best art galleries and museums in Des Moines would be:

The Des Moines Art Center is a modern and contemporary art museum that also has a gift store, a cafeteria, and a studio art instruction school. The museum is always free for anyone and opens at 11am Tuesday through Friday and 10am on weekends.

Tandem Brick is an excellent choice for custom framing as well as being the ideal spot for quirky, one-of-a-kind gifts, cards, and local art.

In 1980 Heritage Art Gallery which is open from 11am to 4:30pm Monday through Friday held its first show and it is a non-profit that is funded by entry fees from gallery sponsored competitions, private donations, and exhibitions.

Originally opening in 2019 Liz Lidgett Gallery and Design’s customers have grown to include personal collections, restaurants, corporations and small enterprises, and hotels. The gallery is open from 10am to 4pm every day but Sunday while Lidgett is also a frequent art expert, stylist, and host for publications such as Better Homes and Gardens, Martha Stewart, and Apartment Therapy.

Olson-Larsen Galleries is open from 11am to 5pm Tuesday through Friday and 11am to 4pm on Saturday and was founded in 1979 as a modern gallery in your area that represents 60 professional Midwestern artists, most of which have had their art displayed in prominent museums or have been put in permanent collections across the country. Olson-Larsen artists work in a variety of two- and three-dimensional media including paintings, photography, sculpture, various forms of prints, and mixed media work and they even have a a custom frame shop and an alternative exhibition space for installation and performance art called the OL Guild.

Materials & Supplies Near You

These art stores in your area are good places to buy new supplies or materials:

You probably already know what chain stores like the Michaels, Dollar Tree, and Hobby Lobby near you have to offer. If all you are trying to buy are some quick, basic, and cheap art supplies Dollar Tree should suffice.

The Great Frame Up and some of your other local framers should probably also sell some supplies.

Shows & Events

The best local art shows, festivals, and events held throughout the year would be:

The Des Moines Arts Festival is one of the world’s most prestigious festivals bringing together 180 of the country’s top artists in a beautiful urban street setting surrounded by the 4.4-acre John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park and the newly constructed Krause Gateway Center designed by Renzo Piano Building.

ArtFest Midwest is the Midwest’s largest fine arts show where 250 Iowa and regional artists are represented.

Art Dealers & Appraisers

The art dealers and appraisers near you are places to find new unique pieces or learn the value of something you already own:

Steven Vail Fine Arts is a modern art gallery that provides art consultancy, bespoke framing, and other related services. The Project Room at Steven Vail Fine Arts is an exhibiting venue for modern and contemporary prints, multiples, and works on paper by creators from all over the world.

Home to an exceptional collection of fine art that spans the globe Kavanaugh Gallery has original paintings in oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, and mixed media as well as sculptures, limited edition prints, Giclée’s, serigraphs, antique and reproduction prints and posters, and early works on paper.

Walking Tours

When the weather is nice walk around outside and see unique art in your area on one of these tours:

The Art Route is a painted walkway that runs along city sidewalks and crossroads that connects 87 pieces of public art with a 6-mile-long trail downtown as well as 14 painted crosswalks at six crossings. Additionally there will be an art pocket along the paths near the City of West Des Moines City Hall.

Destination Des Moines is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and marketing the city via activities that support the vibrancy of our Waterland Community.

Of course when the festivals are going on that would also be a great time to walk around.

Sculptures & Statues

Framing art supply stores Des Moines lessons near you studios

Another fun thing to do on a sunny day would be to check out some of these statues and sculptures:

  • Pappajohn Sculpture Park at 1330 Grand Ave
  • South Des Moines Sculpture Park at 768-798 McKinley Ave

The Pappajohn Sculpture Park is open from daylight to midnight during city park hours.

The South Des Moines Sculpture Park is a long narrow strip of land in a residential neighborhood with roughly 18 sculptures.

Des Moines Art Classes

Whether you are trying to find private lessons or group classes for kids, teens, or adults some of the best Des Moines art schools can be found at:

Amy O’Brien enjoys sharing her expertise of art and design through Virtual Sip & Paint sessions and she also does fine art and commissioned projects while oil portraits of homes, people, and pets are available.

A great art studio for everyone who likes painting can be found at Bottle & Bottega where they use acrylic paints on 16″ x 20″ canvas and walk the students through the painting of the day step by step.

Jess Quinn Art provides fine art items and commissions as well as art education and group workshops for private parties, fundraisers, team building, and fun.

Fuzzishü is a fully equipped studio where you can take jewelry, metalsmithing, and glass blowing classes and workshops or rent studio space.

Remember that the local Des Moines Art Center also has instructors that teach quality classes and Kunzler Studios is a good spot for ceramics lessons.

Studios For Rent Near You

You can try to rent art studio space in your area at:

Mainframe Studios is a nonprofit company that provides permanent inexpensive workplaces for artists of various disciplines.

Both traditional and affordable housing options are available at Crane Artist Lofts where qualification for affordable housing units is based on income level, household size, and student status.

Kunzler Studios is a historic Valley Junction art gallery and ceramics studio who does one-time and monthly ceramics classes.

Fuzzishü from our best art schools near you list also may also have open studio space.

Framing

When you need to find local art framing head to:

Moberg Framing is a full-service professional frame business dedicated to client pleasure where museum grade framing, framing consultancy, canvas stretching, appraisals, art restoration, bespoke moldings, custom finishes, pickup, delivery, and installation are among the services offered.

For over 20 years Andy’s Frame Shop has been in business providing individualized professional service that keeps customers coming back for all of their framing requirements.

Dot’s Gallery is a frame shop and art gallery that has been doing their thing since the mid 1970’s and quotes are provided free of charge.

For nearly 35 years The Great Frame Up has been framing memories and artwork to create high-quality custom framing that reflects your distinct style and personality.

Heritage Art Galleries, Olson-Larsen Galleries, Tandem Brick, and Steven Vail Fine Arts also do framing.

By the way we have also discussed the art scene in:

Have Fun Enjoying The Des Moines Art Scene

Hopefully we did a fair enough job of covering the full art scene near you. After reading about the best local galleries, museums, events, shows, supply stores, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures, classes, studios, and framers in your area you should feel a lot more prepared to make your next move.

Go ahead and use the comments to share your own tips or to let us know if you think we got anything wrong.We hope you enjoy your time at the best Des Moines art galleries, museums, supply stores, or doing whatever else you plan to do with the info.

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This post and all of the posts on our site are edited by Dan Soloman who has been a huge fan of art since he was a little kid. His mother was a good local artist, and she taught him the trade from a very early age. He studied art and its history in both high school and college, has worked at multiple galleries, and recently has begun creating and editing online content for this site and some other online media platforms.

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