The Iowa Humanities Gallery is a changing exhibit space located on the ground floor of the Old Capitol Museum. The gallery was made possible by a gift from the Hanson Family in memory of Clement T. and Sylvia H. Hanson.

Please visit the current events calendar for upcoming exhibit dates.

Upcoming Exhibit

"The Museum Goes to the Fair!"

August 28, 2009, Opening reception 5 - 7 p.m

In celebration of 150 years of discovery, education, and service, the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History will display objects obtained from the Philippine Exposition of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. 

The fair, also known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, was attended by nearly 20 million visitors, from April through December 1904.  World’s Fair organizers wanted to provide the public with an understanding of the world around them, by gathering and displaying the latest knowledge and technology from every field of study and highlighting every achievement of human civilization.

The Philippine villages reconstructed there were the most popular and largest exhibit, spanning 47 acres, containing one hundred buildings, and housing over 1,000 people from various tribes in the Philippine Islands.  Over 75,000 objects were used and displayed, as the Philippine peoples living there demonstrated their crafts, life ways, and ceremonial rituals.

UIMNH Director Charles Nutting visited the fair as it closed in December 1904 and arranged to receive nearly 600 objects from the Philippine Exposition.  Many of these will be on display for the first time in The Museum Goes to the Fair—an exploration of Philippine treasures from the UIMNH vault and the World’s Fair phenomenon.

Special objects that will be on display include textiles, musical instruments, household items, weapons, inticate basketry and more.

Check back soon for program updates!