Gallery
Exhibitions
The Ankeny Art Center is dedicated to promoting and supporting professional and emerging Iowa artists. Our gallery gives artists an avenue to exhibit their work, and the community an opportunity to experience art. Receptions and exhibits are always free and open to the public! Join us for free food and drinks! Throughout the reception, you'll even have an opportunity to chat with the artists!
Main Galleries
2026 Exhibitions
Main Galleries
May 28th - July 21st: Rachel Goebel & Christian D'Cruz
Rachel Goebel, Inspect and Adapt on the Journey of Being
Rachel Goebel, Your New Landscape Begins
Rachel Goebel's "Imperfectly Held" Exhibition is a celebration of movement, transformation, and vitality—an expression of what it means to expand fully into one’s creative and emotional space. Her abstract paintings are filled with bold color, sweeping motion, and vibrant energy, each one a testament to growth, renewal, and possibility. Created through an intuitive process, this collection captures the essence of momentum and emergence. Layers of paint interact unpredictably, colors bloom and shift, and textures build upon one another- just as we do when we step into new phases of life. Each piece is an invitation to embrace change, to revel in the beauty of spontaneity, and to recognize the power of transformation through expression. Though deeply personal in origin, these paintings are meant to be experienced in ways that resonate uniquely with each viewer. Art, to me, is not just about the image- it’s about what it evokes, the dialogue it sparks, and the space it creates for reflection and connection. As my practice expands beyond painting into experiential and immersive forms, this collection stands as a bridge between past and future- a reflection of creative evolution in motion.
Christian D'Cruz, Rubble to Rebirth
Christian D'Cruz, Blossom Boom
Christian D’Cruz is a Des Moines-based Iowa artist. Obsessed with drawing since boyhood, he has been cultivating his visual language from a young age. As a first-generation American of mixed heritage, growing up in Iowa deeply shaped who he is today. Through his work, he seeks to make sense of this ever changing landscape of culture, place, and the untouchable surreal. His visual style is influenced by early 3Dgraphics, 90’s cartoons, and surrealist artists of past and present. His work is heavily grounded in a playful depiction of form creating abstracted objects with loose flowing gestures. His works seek to captivate and engage in mystic untouchable beauty. Through this methodology he engages the viewer with provocative mixed media paintings. PROTEAN /ˈprō-tē-ˌan/; An adjective describing something or someone that is highly mutable, transformative or shape-shifting. It originates from the Greek sea god Proteus who is known for his ability to morph and transform into any and all forms. This concept speaks to the cycle of evolution in life as matter always creates life, loses that life and becomes dust only to feed new life and bloom once more.
July 30th - September 22nd: Ankeny Quilter's Guild & Anna Drake
Whirligig 2023
Group Quilt 2020
The Ankeny Area Quilter's Guild is a non‑profit organization open to anyone with an appreciation for quilting. United by a shared love of fabric, pattern, and craft, the AAQG is dedicated to nurturing the art of quilting through community, education, and philanthropy. Members gather to learn from one another, preserve time‑honored techniques, explore new methods, and celebrate the creativity that quilting inspires.
At its heart, the guild exists to keep the quilting tradition vibrant and evolving. Through workshops, demonstrations, service projects, and collaborative events, the AAQG fosters a space where artistry and generosity meet. Whether creating quilts for local charities, sharing skills across generations, or simply finding joy in the rhythm of needle and thread, the guild works to ensure that the love and legacy of quilting continue to flourish within the community.
Anna Drake, Not Present
Anna Drake, Brain in Repose
Anna Drake's practice centers on discarded plastic bags, transformed through crochet, knotting, sewing, and other domestic handcrafts to question how we assign value to objects, emotions, and one another. Guided by the belief that nothing and no one is truly disposable, she uses slow, tactile labor to shift the narrative from waste to worth, extending gestures of care to materials typically overlooked. An early exploration of hyperbolic geometry led her to create a brain‑like form from plastic waste- a vessel for suppressed thoughts, devalued people, and the systems that shape what society deems important. Her work moves fluidly between the personal and the societal, rendering internal states like distraction and neurodivergence while confronting broader cultures of disposability. Each piece becomes an act of transmutation, asking what might emerge when even our messiest realities are met with patience, attention, and care.
October 1st - November 24th: Group Show featuring Lindsey Harrison, Kate Chandler, & Chase Lilleholm, and John Shymanski
Lindsey Harrison, Botanical #4
Kate Chandler, Landscape Green Stripe
Chase Lilleholm, Charcuterie & Clay
Lindsey Harrison, Kate Chandler, & Chase Lilleholm are a group of Iowa artists working together to create a layered group show featuring 2D and 3D work. Their exhibition brings together form, symbolism, and the narratives embedded in the objects and landscapes around us, and incorporates clay, watercolor, pastel, and mixed media. Lindsey’s wheel‑thrown and altered vessels become lively explorations of stylized cacti and flowers, where carved negative space and exposed clay create rhythm, depth, and movement. Kate layers maps, landscapes, and anatomical references, using slip‑cast bottles as symbolic bodies of memory, experience, and inquiry.
Alongside Lindsey and Kate, Chase focuses on handcrafted functional pottery designed for the rituals that bring people together. His pieces honor the beauty of everyday ceremony and invite us to become part of shared histories. Together, Lindsey, Kate, and Chase create a collective conversation about place, body, and belonging, and how crafted objects can hold stories, invite questions, and deepen our experience of the world and one another.
John Shymanski, Wildflowers
John Shymanski, Ultraviolet
John Shymanski is a lifelong watercolor artist from Carroll, Iowa, whose three decades of drawing and painting have shaped a style that feels both familiar and quietly imaginative. Rooted in the rhythms of Midwestern life, his work often centers on homesteads, sweeping landscapes, and the occasional city vignette. Many of his pieces unfold in Violet Falls, a fictional town he’s developed over the years.
His portfolio ranges from traditional rural scenes to more whimsical interpretations, sometimes blending ink with watercolor and other times relying solely on the fluidity of pigment and water. Across all of it runs a deep appreciation for form, texture, and nostalgia. Shymanski’s exhibition invites viewers into a world shaped by imagination and lived experience, offering artwork that feels both grounded and quietly transportive.
December 3rd - January 26th: Member Show
The Ankeny Art Center Member Show is an annual celebration of the diverse talents and creative voices within our artistic community. This exhibition showcases works exclusively crafted by our valued members, highlighting a wide range of styles, mediums, and perspectives. From painting and sculpture to photography and mixed media, this show is a testament to the vibrant creativity that thrives within our organization. Artists are encouraged to submit original works that are entirely their own, ensuring an authentic and personal representation of their artistic vision. Join us as we honor and support the artists who make our community truly special.
Kirkendall Library
January 29th - April 2nd: Janice Bell
Janice Bell’s paintings are inspired by her love of all God’s creations and all the richness of colors and textures found there. Hiking through Iowa's woodlands, gardening, and everyday objects found in homes have provided her with wonderful subject matter. She finds the mixing and blending of pigments on and off paper to be exciting and she delights in the challenge of creating a successful work of art. Janice loves to work with rich saturated color and enjoys trying to capture the play of light and shadow. Over the years she has developed her own style of capturing the beauty found around us every day. She invites viewers to pause and take a closer look at their surroundings. Janice considers her paintings a respite from the everyday hustle and bustle of life and hopes that viewers will feel the same. Her message is slow down, take a deep breath and see the beauty that is all around you.
Janice Bell, Good Neighbors
Janice Bell, Tiger in My Garden
April 2nd - June 4th: Justin Young
The goal of Justin Young's art is to be able to connect with others through his work in a unique way. He feels that he was given talent with a paintbrush so he would be able to share his view of the world with others which has brought a tremendous amount of joy and satisfaction. When Justin sees his work connect with someone else, there’s nothing like it!
Justin Young, Rainy Day
Downtown
Justin Young, Old Main- Drake University
May 28th - July 21st: Rachel Goebel
See a continuation of Rachel's Ankeny Art Center Main Gallery Exhibition at the Kirkendall Library through July 21st!
July 30th - September 22nd: Branscom Chavez
IXIL: Persistent Beauty is a tribute to the Ixil people of Guatemala, whose strength, history, and enduring beauty have deeply influenced photographer Branscom Chavaque. Through years of travel to the Guatemalan highlands, he has created portraits that reveal not only individual faces but stories of resilience, cultural pride, and unshakable identity. Despite a history marked by colonization, displacement, and armed conflict, the Ixil community’s traditions, language, and dignity remain steadfast, reflected in every image. For Chavaque, the project is both personal—shaped by the profound impact the Ixil people have had on his life—and collective, amplifying voices too often overlooked beyond the highlands. The exhibition invites viewers to see more than portraits, offering a living legacy of cultural resilience and a presence that refuses to fade.
Branscom Chavaque, Raíces
Branscom Chavaque, Susurro de la Montana
October 1st - November 24th: Summer & Evan Hoyt
Trust & Wonder brings together the married team, the Artists Hoyt, whose work blends natural and spiritual themes through expressionistic, mixed‑media paintings. Summer creates the original illustrations, and Evan reinterprets them through hand‑cut stencils, layering acrylic, spray paint, and gouache to depict mated animal pairs and flocks of birds intertwined with themes of passion, loss, and triumph. The series draws on noir‑inspired atmospheres and explores how relationships evolve through moments of intensity, trauma, and renewal. Wolves, herons, and peafowl move across textured, ethereal backgrounds, becoming symbols of human connection and the emotional landscapes that shape our shared journeys.
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Summer & Evan Hoyt, Marriage Dance
Summer & Evan Hoyt, I Promise You
December 3rd - January 26, 2027: Isaac Prior
In Illusionary Lines, Isaac explores expansive “what‑if” possibilities through thousands of lines and serene, illusion‑filled scenes. Their work draws on mythology and ancient legends to interpret the mysteries of the cosmos, reflecting on the idea of “sonder”. The awareness that every passerby lives a life as vivid and complex as one’s own. Much of the imagery incorporates optical illusions that shift with distance, revealing hidden details, acting as an elephant emerging only when viewed up close. Through this intricate linework, the artist creates a meditative space for processing daily life while inviting viewers to discover layered meanings within each piece.
Isaac Prior, Trilobite Beetle
Isaac Prior, Blue Waves, Folds
Porch Light Coffee House
Sara Carlson, Drinking No Driving
Holly Majerus, Colorful Bloom
January 29th - April 2nd: Sara Carlson
Sara Carlson is often drawn to things that other people view as ugly or useless or of little value. Her photography seeks to show others her perspective of finding beauty in the discarded, and her goal in this exhibition is to showcase the places and items where she has found such beauty.
April 2nd - June 4th: Holly Majerus
Holly's work celebrates the beauty of nature and still-life through colorful pastel drawings, detailed pencil drawings, and vibrant canvas paintings. They range in size, color, subject matter, and medium. The pieces begin as a blank page and transform into something meaningful full of life and color.
May 28th - July 21st: Andrea Woolman
Andrea Woolman, Kaleidoscope
Barb Campbell, Bird's Eye View
Andrea is Des Moines-based artist working in ink, watercolor, and graphite. Her work explores the disruption experienced in the transition from childhood to adulthood, blending serious themes with a sense of whimsy and wonder. Capturing both the fear and the freedom that accompany self‑discovery, she illustrates the gradual process of understanding who we are meant to become.
July 30th - September 22nd: Barb Campbell
Barb Campbell’s work is rooted in a realist style, driven by her love of detail and the emotional response it evokes in viewers. She gravitates toward a wide range of subjects, drawn to anything that sparks her creative impulse. Campbell’s dedication to realism reflects both her technical skill and her desire to capture the subtle nuances that bring each piece to life.
October 1st - November 24th: Meredith Drummond
Meredith Drummond, Carved Earth, Valle Caldera, New Mexico
Brad Jenewein, Country Day
Warning: I Brake for Barns (and Vanishing Landscapes) highlights Drummond's deep fascination with America’s rural architecture and shifting landscapes. Her oil paintings preserve barns, cropland, and forgotten structures, inviting viewers to savor rural beauty before it disappears, and find both poignancy and playfulness in the landscapes that define America’s heartland.
December 3rd - January 26th: Brad Jenewein
Brad Jenewein's work centers on capturing the mood and essence of the landscape exactly as it exists in a given moment, using color, light, and composition as guiding elements. Believing that beauty is always present and waiting to be discovered, he creates pieces that explore the emotional narratives embedded in natural settings. Each painting invites viewers to pause, breathe, and reconnect with the rhythms of the earth, offering a moment of reflection through the landscape’s shifting atmosphere.
APPLY
to the
GALLERY
Applying to the Ankeny Art Center Gallery and the Ankeny Kirkendall Library Gallery
Exhibition space is available to any artist residing in Iowa or with strong ties to the state. Collaborative show ideas may be submitted with the selection based on the strength of the entire group.
The Ankeny Art Center’s gallery exhibition dates are June-July, August-September, and October-November. The Kirkendall Library exhibition dates are February - March, and April - May, and December-January. Each exhibition lasts about 8 weeks. Please refer to the application and gallery brochure for additional information or email nicole@ankenyartcenter.com
We are accepting artist applications for the 2027 calendar year. The deadline to apply is December 1st, 2027.