University of Iowa

Sean Harken, a student in the University of Iowa School of Music, found a natural outlet for his musical talents. The Iowa City native created the soundtrack for a new video hyping the Performing Arts at Iowa initiative.

Students in the University of Iowa choral, orchestral, and wind conducting programs find unique opportunities to lead the campus' premier musical ensembles, preparing them for a wide variety of careers.

Within one year of starting at the University of Iowa, Ella McDaniel has realized two of her childhood dreams: to become Iowa's Golden Girl and to be crowned Miss Majorette of America.

Iowa Playwrights Workshop students find a supportive environment to develop their unique voices and multiple opportunities to have their works produced -- and that includes undergraduate students.

Iowa Playwrights Workshop students like Dakota Parobek and Ikram Basra find a supportive environment to develop their unique voices and multiple opportunities to have their works produced.

Hao Zhou wants to make films with LGBTQ+ themes-something he couldn't do freely in his home country of China. At the University of Iowa, the MFA student has found a place that wholeheartedly supports his projects and goals.

The COVID-19 pandemic has halted many longtime traditions this year. But the University of Iowa Department of Dance did not allow it stop the 39th edition of Dance Gala. Dance Gala maintained its high level of professionalism and artistry, but it with a slightly different viewing experience. Instead of watching at Hancher Auditorium or Space Place Theater, audiences tuned in online to watch more than 35 students bring to life works created by six Department of Dance faculty members.

Almost 150 University of Iowa students in the UI School of Music's University Choir, Camerata, Women's Chorale ensembles recently performaned in the annual Choral Collage staged inside the award-winning Voxman Music Building. Performance is a core component of all of the academic programs at the UI School of Music. Its more than 30 ensembles, large and small, are filled with students pursuing their passion for making music on and off campus. The University of Iowa takes pride in the quality of our ensembles, but most of all, we care about the achievement of our students.

With its copyright set to expire, the literary classic is being reimagined by University of Iowa students in what's thought to be a first-of-its-kind class.

Earlier this fall, the University of Iowa Orchestra performed a concert exclusively for fourth grade students in the Iowa City Community School District. The annual event, staged in the UI's Voxman Music Building, attracted more than 1,400 students.

The Office of Outreach and Engagement at the University of Iowa partners with Iowa communities on dozens of projects each year. One of the most popular requests: public art. In fact, the office often receives more requests for public art than resources can provide. Thanks in part to a new residency program to train students in the intricacies of creating public art, boarded-up windows, concrete walls, and fertilizer bins will become canvases for large-scale public art projects in 10 Iowa communities this summer. One city also will welcome a large-scale, solar-powered sculpture to its downtown plaza. "Public art has been positioned as a driver of economic reinvestment," says Vero Rose Smith, associate curator at the UI Stanley Museum of Art and one of two faculty members working on the inaugural Grant Wood Public Art Residency. "It's hard to document; it's obliquely provable. But it does at the very least demonstrate a renewed sense of value and investment on an emotional level in the fabric of a place."