Empty Dresses PAULA STREETER May 25 - June 30, 2018 COMMUNITY GALLERY Empty Dresses as a concept was conceived half a lifetime ago while attending the estate auction of an early Swedish immigrant to the Midwest. Among the many hand crafted items from the latter half of the nineteenth century were two intricately and nearly […]
Grilling Ice LEE RAINBOTH July 6 - August 11, 2018 COMMUNITY GALLERY This exhibit examines the ways that matters of mortality and masculinity manifest themselves in a contemporary Haitian context. Too often for young men in Haiti the way that they express their masculinity becomes a matter of survival itself. In an environment where simply […]
ARTISANS ROADTRIP August 17 - October 27, 2018 SWEENEY GALLERY This year is the 15th Annual Artisans Road Trip. Artisans Road Trip invites you to travel Iowa's scenic byways and back roads looking for one-of-a-kind treasures. Artisans will offer a rare glimpse into creative processes as they demonstrate their craft in personal and unique work spaces. […]
Tales from a Ghost Town JOANNE ALBERDA August 17 - September 29, 2018 COMMUNITY GALLERY Virginia City is a ghost town—the skeleton of a booming Montana gold mining camp in the late 19th century. As a museum it is the record of one of hundreds of get-rich-quick dramas related to the search for gold in […]
Aperture: The Biennial Juried Photography Exhibit 2018 Theme: Community Sports September 14 - November 21, 2018 Main Gallery We experience the world around us in flashes of action and emotion in the world of sports. From the youngest to the oldest members of our community, competitive games bring people together and spark movement and involvement. Photographers […]
Smithsonian Institution's Museum on Main Street Exhibit Hometown Teams October 4 - November 10 MAIN GALLERY Our love of sports begins in our hometowns. We play them on ball fields and sandlots, on courts and on ice, in parks and playgrounds, even in the street. From pick-up games to organized leagues, millions of Americans of […]
Worlds Apart by BOGUMIL BRONKOWSKI October 4 - November 10, 2018 COMMUNITY GALLERY My current body of work explores the concepts of struggle, place, and belonging. I immigrated to America at the age of nine; initially, no one told me that my family was permanently moving here. I boarded that international flight thinking that my family […]
Cairo, Illinois: Photographs & Enamels by SARAH PERKINS & GWEN WALSTRAND November 15 - December 21, 2018 COMMUNITY GALLERY This work is a collaboration, of sorts, by Gwen Walstrand, photographer, and Sarah Perkins, metalsmith and enamelist. The works themselves are not collaborations, but instead are designed to be viewed together in order to have an impact […]
LOCATED IN THE COMMUNITY GALLERY (Street level) Artist Statement: Pacia Sallomi I began this series in 2010. In the beginning, I was focused on roundabouts or in French, rond-point, which came about because of an experience of being lost on back roads and small villages in the French countryside. I had begun to think about […]
LOCATED IN MAIN GALLERY AND SWEENEY GALLERY (3rd floor) Octagonal: The All-Media Exhibit is the annual, juried all-media exhibition at the Octagon Center for the Arts in Ames, Iowa. Originally titled the Clay and Paper Show, the exhibit opened in 1968 to provide an opportunity to the central Iowa arts community. Over the past 51 years, the […]
About Us
The Octagon Center for the Arts is a non-profit community art center in the heart of downtown Ames, Iowa. A cornerstone of the cultural scene in Ames since 1966, the Octagon serves more than 30,000 people each year through art classes and outreach, rotating exhibits, a retail gallery shop, and the annual Octagon Art Festival.
The Octagon Center for the Arts is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization funded in part through memberships, donations, and grants, including the City of Ames Commission on the Arts (COTA) and the Iowa Arts Council.
© 2025 Octagon Center for the Arts. All rights reserved.
Octagon Center for the Arts
413 & 427 Douglas Avenue
Ames, IA 50010
Phone: 515-232-5331
Email: info@octagonarts.org
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Octagon Shop and Community Gallery
Monday-Wednesday 10:00am-5:30pm
Thursday 10:00am-7:00pm
Friday 10:00am-5:30pm
Saturday 10:00am-5:00pm
Sunday CLOSED (except during the holidays)