Iowa City has long been known as a city of the arts. This year, however, it’s hosting an unprecedented exhibition spanning multiple mediums at one of the city’s centers for art, the Stanley Museum of Art.
Over the years, the Stanley Museum has acted as a reflection and celebration of the abundant art scene in Iowa City. In spring 2025, the Stanley Museum partnered with the National Endowment of the Arts, or NEA, Big Read program.
The initiative, which includes a community-wide reading of the novel “Beloved” by Toni Morrison, will take place at the same time as the Stanley’s latest exhibit, “it’s a fine thing.”
“it’s a fine thing” is curated by Katherine Simóne Reynolds and supported by a cohort of advisors. Through it, Reynolds seeks to explore the landscapes and narratives of the often-overlooked Black Midwest. She also views the exhibit as a way to examine the residues erased from the pages of history.
This history of erasure is present both locally and in the story of Buxton, Iowa. Buxton was founded in 1900 and defied the racial norms of the era it inhabited. A coal mining town, many of the Black residents from Buxton held positions of power and influence. However, once the coal mines closed, the town faded into memory — erased from Iowa’s history.
“The opportunity to share that was important to me,” Reynolds said. “And so was trying to understand what that landscape is — to not just be from it, but to gaze upon it.”
The exhibit opened on Feb. 13 to a crowd of a few dozen people who enjoyed a banquet of food and an opening reception that introduced the show and its themes.
Visitors to the Stanley were invited to enter a section of the museum dimly lit and painted in hues of purple. “it’s a fine thing” adorns itself with different pieces from the Stanley and UI Special Collections and Archives. Each piece is meant to celebrate the resilience and creativity of Black Midwestern artists.
One piece, for example, comes from the scrapbook of Patrobas Cassius Robinson, a student who attended the UI from 1923-27. The photo acts as a time capsule into the early 20th century and into what life for Black students may have looked like at the time. Robinson’s photo is included on the front of the light violet brochures available at the Stanley front desk, which act as a short guide to the exhibit.
While planning the exhibit, Reynolds drew upon the experiences and ideas of her curatorial cohort. Members of this cohort include Kemi Adeyemi, Angel Bat Dawid, Ashley Howard, Mpho Matsipa, and Terrion L. Williamson.
“I was thinking of their eclectic backgrounds. There were some musicians, writers, thinkers, scholars, architects — all Black women and historians,” Reynolds said. “Working with them through the collection the Stanley has was a little difficult, if only because the Stanley doesn’t necessarily have a lot of specific Black Midwestern artists.”
Reynolds said her work with the cohort helped her to think more expansively about things, allowing her to include the Rust Belt in the area she was examining— an area that may not always be associated with the Midwest.
“When it comes to geography, we had to think of expansiveness, like in the migration of Black people into other spaces, whether it be the Rust Belt or other post-industrial landscapes,” Reynolds said.
One of Reynolds’ favorite aspects of the exhibit is its color palette, inspired by photos from her grandmother’s house. She said she has also enjoyed meeting the Iowa City community and viewing all the Stanley offers through special collections.
“It’s been really cool to be able to work with certain legends of Black art, work, and creativity,” Reynolds said. “These are the things I’ve been able to uncover. There are all these levels and layers of uncovering residue, which I’ve always loved with the process of curatorial work.”
At the same time “it’s a fine thing” makes its debut, the Stanley Museum will also be participating in the 2024-25 NEA’s Big Read event, which features a list of 29 books. Through the event, participating cities are rewarded with a grant and tasked with bringing together their communities through reading.
Derek Nnuro, the Stanley’s curator of special projects, believes Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” provides a great historical anchor for the topics explored in “it’s a fine thing.”
“I don’t think any other book is as perfect as this book for this show and for what we are seeking to do, which is to expand the exhibition’s narrative into a discussion about the historical origins of the Black Midwest,” Nnuro said.
Written in 1987, “Beloved” examines the legacy of slavery and racial history in America. It’s a challenging but important read based on the true life of an enslaved woman.
Students and community members living in Iowa City could pick up a free copy of the novel from either the Stanley Museum or 12 other participating locations.
The program launched on Jan. 20 during Martin Luther King Jr. Day and concluded on Feb. 12 just before the opening of “it’s a fine thing.”
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Throughout the spring, Nnuro will host four separate discussions, each offering a conversation about parts of the novel and a few of the works from the “it’s a fine thing show.” The first discussion was hosted on Feb.15, and the others will be held on March 8, April 5, and May 10.
By May, Nnuro hopes to examine every piece within the show and connect it to the novel.
“I want people to come to all of them, but I think that’s a tall order. So, I love that the objects allow me to continue the conversation from each session to the next,” Nnuro said. “Anyone can drop in because each discussion is going to be very much individualized.”
The Stanley’s approach and care put into the “it’s a fine thing” exhibit and “Beloved” reading is in keeping with the museum’s desire to entwine art and expression within the broader Iowa City community.
“This is the perfect time for this show to be happening in this city and this state,” Nnuro said.
Several Iowa City businesses participated in sharing free copies of “Beloved.” Jason Paulios, the adult service coordinator at the Iowa City Public Library, spoke about his experience as their “contact person,” communicating with the Stanley staff to distribute copies of the book.
“These big community read events are a nice focal point for the community, for gathering, social interaction, engagement with either people,” Paulios said. “But it could also be a chance to meet new people and step outside your comfort zone with literature. Maybe [“Beloved” is] a title you wouldn’t normally choose to read, but this way your eyes are open to a new work.”
Paulios emphasized that the Big Read offers a unique opportunity for community members to engage with the arts, explaining how someone might be moved by a book passage and then feel compelled to attend one of the Stanley discussions, eventually making their way to the exhibit.
“It’s a good excuse to get together and learn a lot more about your world,” he said.
Paulios also noted Iowa City’s strong literature background and why it was chosen as one of the 62 worldwide locations to host the Big Read.
“We have a really strong library system in this region and historically strong libraries in Iowa as well,” Paulios said, also noting Iowa City’s UNESCO City of Literature designation. “[Iowa City] would have been an easy one for NEA to choose, I would think.”
Paulios is familiar with Toni Morrison’s work but hasn’t read “Beloved” in many years. He’s looking forward to reading it again in conjunction with the city’s various events.
“I remember being impressed with it when I read it, of course, and it’s been long enough that I need to revisit [it],” he said, emphasizing Morrison’s influence both as a writer and a cultural icon. “I think she was an intellectual American looked up to.”
Reynolds is excited to share her own work with Iowa City and celebrate the fruits of four years worth of hard work and planning.
“It’s pretty incredible and poignant at this time to really discuss the complexities of erasure but also the complexities of joy and desire,” Reynolds said. “Being able to do so at this exhibition, particularly as a Black woman and thinking of the ambitions of other Black women — I’m just trying to manifest that as much as possible within any space I go to.”
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