LOCATED IN SWEENEY GALLERY (3RD FLOOR) Emily Verdoorn Through drawing, I form vital relationships with the world of my everyday experience. My process often begins by drawing on location. I enjoy drawing places and spaces steeped in the personality of their inhabitants. My drawings develop in response to time spent observing places and things – […]
LOCATED IN THE SMALL WALL GALLERY (3RD FLOOR) I think of these works as inklings, for their humble beginnings as tiny ink doodles, and for those small, nagging ideas, fears, and behaviors that have the power to become reality – whether beautiful or monstrous in their realization. The earliest works date back to 1997, when […]
LOCATED IN THE COMMUNITY GALLERY Ange Altenhofen "Metaphorical function" is a term I use to describe my work, dovetailing sculptural form with the innate potential for usefulness and interaction that every three-dimensional object possesses. In this scenario function follows form, recycling art into a prosaic, functional object that is activated through touch and let loose […]
LOCATED IN THE COMMUNITY GALLERY (FIRST FLOOR) Artist Biography Emily Lambertsen Minnie is an artist who specializes in charcoal drawing and oil painting. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Northern Iowa and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Tennessee. Emily taught art for three years […]
LOCATED IN SWEENEY GALLERY (THIRD FLOOR) Artist Statement Limen may pertain to the sill of a doorway, the threshold itself, or the point at which a stimulus produces a physiological or psychological response. It marks a boundary of perception. The thresholds presented here explore feelings of liminality, and loss. Things emerge and divide, crystalize in time, […]
LOCATED IN THE MAIN GALLERY 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 exhibit morphed over the […]
You can see all the details about this important and unusual exhibit here.
LOCATED IN THE COMMUNITY GALLERY (STREET LEVEL) Peggy Johnston Artist Statement My love of paper made it almost inevitable that I would discover the book arts. Since crafting my first books 30 years ago, I have explored bookmaking as an art as well as a craft. I love to be surprised by my work (and […]
LOCATED IN THE COMMUNITY GALLERY Kat Silent Water is a printmaker based out of Ankeny, Iowa, working in woodblock and linoleum relief since 2014. She recently embraced the alchemical properties of encaustic painting in her latest body of work, ‘Wax Cathedral’. Silent Water’s inspiration has taken root in Art Nouveau’s celebration of organic forms […]
LOCATED IN THE COMMUNITY GALLERY About Terry Brigman: After graduating in 1970, I went to work for a local company as a draftsman. In my spare time, I painted, sketched, and created small pieces of artwork that I sold or gave away. Art and the creation of art has wound its way through my […]
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)