By Christina Fernández-Morrow
The Des Moines Are Center is hosting “Light Within Ourselves: Haitian Art in Iowa” through September 7, 2025. Organized in partnership with the Waterloo Center for the Arts (WCA), the exhibition showcases fifteen carefully selected works of Haitian art from the WCA’s collection— “the largest public collection of Haitian Art in both Iowa and the United States.” Founded in 1977 with a donation of work acquired by Dr. and Mrs. F. Harold Reuling during their travels in Haiti, the collection started with 7 pieces and has since grown to include more than 2,000 pieces collected from art collectors and artists.
Since 1977, the WCA and the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, who holds over 1,500 pieces of Haitian art have shared their collections through exhibitions at various art centers and have grown global interest in Haitian art by collaborations such as this one.
This exhibition explores Haitian culture through artwork that represents their history of liberation, as Haiti was the first nation to win independence from their colonizers and inspired and often assisted other countries throughout Latin America to gain their independence. It also tells a story of spirituality, creativity and the diaspora from the Caribbean to all parts of the world, including Iowa.
Elizabeth Gollnick, associate curator at the Des Moines Art Center, who worked with Chawne Paige, the executive director of the WCA to curate this exhibit, hope it sparks conversation, teaches, and most importantly, serves as a “bridge commonality, connection, openness, mindfulness,” explains Paige.
Visitors can experience paintings, metalwork, sculpture, and drapos, the beaded and sequined banners that caught the attention of art collectors around the world, as they enter the Des Moines Art Center, directly to the left of the main entrance. When asked how the pieces on display were chosen from among the thousands available, they admit it was a challenge. “It was very important for me to ground it in Haitian identity, across lots of generations of artists. I also wanted to have artists represented in the diaspora who fled and settled in other parts of the world,” comments Paige about the pieces showing in Des Moines. But there were logistical considerations, too, like the space available and ensuring the public can immerse themselves in the art without feeling overwhelmed. That created opportunities for collaboration beyond the art centers. They created a series of events that center the Haitian culture in Iowa. One collaboration includes local photographer Brittany Brooke Crow and Dr. Inbal Mazar, Associate Professor of World Languages and Cultures at Drake University and volunteer with Des Moines Refugee Support, who interviewed and photographed ten families who recently immigrated from Haiti to Central Iowa, and a grant project with Grinnell College Libraries to digitize and catalogue Iowa’s Haitian art collection.
Learn more:
- Virtual Tour of Light Within Ourselves: Haitian Art in Iowa: https://desmoinesartcenter.org/visit/tours/virtual/light-within-ourselves-haitian-art-in-iowa/
- Waterloo Center for the Arts: https://www.waterloocenterforthearts.org/
- Haitian Art Digital Crossroads Website: https://hadc.sites.grinnell.edu/
- Virtual site for Light Within Ourselves with Grinnell student contributions: https://hadc.sites.grinnell.edu/light-within-ourselves-haitian-art-in-iowa/
Light Within Ourselves: Haitian Art in Iowa runs through September 7, 2025, at the Des Moines Art Center. Admission is free. Plan your visit at desmoinesartcenter.org
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