Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces.

Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists.

Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each session and...

For this workshop, five UI faculty members will submit book proposal drafts for a collaborative feedback session on Wednesday, Oct. 7, from 9 a.m. to noon, led by Walter Biggins, editor-in-chief at University of Pennsylvania Press. The session is designed to help authors write a compelling book proposal, with a focus on crafting a strong pitch, identifying target audiences, and outlining the project’s structure. The workshop’s goal is for participants to walk away with a strong and cohesive book...

Join us for a lecture at the museum by Nora Annesley Taylor introducing audiences to the field of modern and contemporary Southeast Asian art. This program accompanies the student-curated exhibition of contemporary Myanmar paintings on view in the Visual Lab in Fall 2026.

Nora Annesley Taylor is the Alsdorf Professor of South and Southeast Asian Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a specialist in the art of the region. She is the author of Painters in Hanoi: An Ethnography of...

Drawing Salon with Robert Caputo is a monthly workshop held at the museum on Sunday afternoons. It is free to attend and suitable for all skill levels. Registration is required to secure a spot.

Each session focuses on drawing artworks from the museum's collection, led by Iowa City-based artist, Robert Caputo. The sessions will begin with an introduction and discussion of the selected work. Participants will be encouraged to pursue their own visions and to take inspiration from the artworks in...