African American Museum of Iowa

To accomplish the mission, the organization runs a Museum that produces exhibits, on-site programs, off-site programs, virtual programs, and houses a collection. Exhibits: the Museum's facility features two exhibit galleries. The permanent exhibit, "endless possibilities", explores over 200 years of Iowa's African American history. The gale sayers changing exhibit gallery hosts a new exhibit each year on a different theme. Several traveling exhibits are also made available to organizations, businesses, libraries, and other museums for a small fee. The Museum building closed in 2023 due to a major renovation. Off-site exhibits were held at the cedar rapids public library Museum of art. Traveling exhibits visited 22 different communities, with an estimated viewership of over 23,050 people. The Museum conducts numerous programs for youth and adults, both on-site at the Museum and off-site at locations around the state. This includes hands-on workshops, lectures, and performances. 32 off-site programs reached 1544 people in 12 Iowa counties. The Museum maintains a collection of approximately 10,000 objects including 100 linear feet of archival material, and dozens of oral histories. In addition to preserving these items for future generations, they are utilized in exhibits and programs. The Museum also has a non-circulating research library available to on-site visitors during regular open hours. Most of the collection database and a selection of oral histories are available on the Museum's website. In fall 2022, the Museum closed to the public for a major renovation project that will transform the buildings interior and exterior. During the renovation, the Museum is maintaining its mission fulfillment through off-site programs and exhibits.