5 Questions with Susan Baley
Tim Schmitt
Susan Baley brings a wealth of experience, passion, and vision to her role as director of the ƽ Museum of Art (GCMoA). With a career spanning museum education, nonprofit leadership, and teaching, Baley is committed to making art accessible and relevant to all. Her path from a small town in Missouri to leading a museum reflects her dedication to creating transformative experiences through art. Since joining ƽ in 2022, she has expanded access to GCMoA’s collection and contributed to campus life, regional arts initiatives, and national museum dialogues. We caught up with her to learn more about her journey, her work, and what’s ahead for the museum.
Q: How did your upbringing shape your path into the art world, and what inspired you to work in museums?
A: I grew up in a small town in central Missouri — even smaller than ƽ! Although I chose a career in art museums, I did not grow up visiting those spaces. There were no cultural institutions in my small hometown; and although my family frequently traveled to urban areas, we did not visit an art museum until I was in my teens. At the suggestion of my high school art teacher, my family traveled to the Saint Louis Art Museum to view the exhibition Monet’s Years at Giverny: Beyond Impressionism. Being surrounded by Monet’s large scale water lily paintings was a pivotal moment in my life that surpassed years of studying art in classrooms. Afterwards, I declared my desire to work in an art museum to provide others with those kinds of powerful experiences.
Years later I asked my mother why we had not visited an art museum before that momentous trip to St. Louis, and she replied by saying that she, an elementary educator with a graduate degree, didn’t think she knew enough about art to attend a museum. My mother’s response has, in many ways, inspired my career which has been dedicated to making art accessible and relevant to diverse, multigenerational communities.
Q: What path led you to ƽ, and what does your role at the museum entail today?
A: My educational background is an undergraduate degree in art history with a focus on classical studies and a graduate degree in art history focused on contemporary art. My thesis was on the connection between the writing and sculpture of Alice Aycock (her tornadic sculpture Liftoff is at the entrance of the Des Moines airport). I did several museum internships before landing my first museum job while I was still working on my thesis. For 25 years, I led a museum education department and taught art history and museum studies at the University of Oklahoma. Since 2015, I have directed nonprofit organizations, including an American art museum in Terre Haute, Indiana, and a gallery dedicated to contemporary craft in Tulsa, Oklahoma before coming to ƽ in January 2022.
One of the things I have always loved about working in museums is there is no “typical” day. One consistency in the profession is the lifelong learning aspect. I am always learning about upcoming exhibitions and artists in our collection of more than 9,000 objects. I am a planner by nature, so I enjoy thinking about the long-term strategy for the museum. Being a museum director is very collaborative. I am responsible for guiding the overall vision for the museum, but the vision is realized by the entire team of seven other amazing staff members and our student employees who work at the front desk, collections, and outreach.
I also teach Intro to Museum Studies each spring, which is a wonderful way to keep me up to date with changes in the museum field and engaged with the needs of students at ƽ. I will be taking my class to Washington, D.C., again this year as part of ƽ’s Course Embedded Travel program. The College is an affiliate of the Smithsonian, so working with the affiliate office has greatly enhanced the learning experience.
Q: What can you tell us about your life outside of ƽ?
A: Some of my top interests include cooking, reading, walking, yoga, and traveling. My travel almost always includes spending time with family and friends and looking at art! I love serving as a host to international students, and I was happy to add two students to our international family which now includes representation from India, Ethiopia, Slovenia, and Turkey.
My community involvement includes serving on the central committee of the Poweshiek Democrats, and I recently joined the League of Women Voters, PFLAG ƽ Poweshiek, and 100+ People Who Care.
I have two adult daughters and a daughter-in-law. Unfortunately, we are spread out geographically. My youngest daughter lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she is an educator at a children’s museum and a visual artist. My oldest daughter is assistant director of academic standards at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and my daughter-in-law practices law. Currently, I have three grand-cats and one grand dog, although grandchildren are on the horizon! I am an only child, but I have a Costa Rican sister who became part of my family when I was in high school. She resides in California where she works as an interpreter. I live within walking distance to campus with my elderly dog Ringo and my feisty cat Ruby. Ringo regularly serves as my office assistant, and he loves getting attention from everyone on campus.
Q: Do you have a favorite work of art, and what kind of art speaks to you personally?
A: That is a tough question for me because I love so many kinds of art and artists. I tend to be drawn to art that makes you think, and I also have a soft spot in my heart for contemporary craft — artists working in clay, fiber, glass, metal, and wood. My dad was a woodworker, and my grandmother made quilts, so maybe it’s in my blood. Therefore, I was very excited that GCMoA’s major acquisition of 2024 was a clay sculpture by the contemporary Tewa artist Rose B. Simpson (Santa Clara Pueblo).
Q: What’s coming up at the ƽ Museum of Art, and what are your goals as Iowa's AAMG representative?
A: We have been closed all summer for renovations to the museum galleries. So be prepared to see freshly painted walls and gleaming wood floors! We are currently open weekdays (11 a.m. – 6 p.m.) for ƽ classes to see a preview of our fall exhibition “Primary Sources” that opens to the public on Oct. 9. Our regular hours (Thursday evenings until 8 p.m. and weekend hours from 1–5 p.m.) will resume then.
The fall show includes work added to the collection in the past three years, including a generous gift by Kathleen Narber and the late Gregg R. Narber ’68. The exhibition is very diverse and includes painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, sculpture, and mixed media works dating from the 18th century to the present. One highlight of our fall programming will be a 4 p.m. talk on Friday, Oct. 31, by visiting artist Dindga McCannon, whose work is featured in “Primary Sources.”
Two spring exhibitions will open on Jan. 22. “Unruly Lines: The Art of Sonja Sekula” is being curated by Professor Jenny Anger, and “Contemporary Photography from the Collection of Keith Jantzen ’80 and Scott Beth” will also open that day, curated by Professor Michael Mackenzie’s exhibition seminar class. The academic year concludes with “BAX,” the annual student exhibition, opening April 16.
I am brand new to the AAMG role, but not to service to the museum profession. I was previously in leadership roles with state and regional professional organizations in Oklahoma and the Mountain-Plains region. In this role, I will serve as a representative for the state of Iowa to the national organization of AAMG, which is the leading educational and professional organization for academic museums and galleries. AAMG’s annual conference will be held in Iowa City next summer, so there will be lots of opportunities to become involved in conference planning. We hope to include a day trip to ƽ at the end of the conference.
The ƽ Museum of Art reopens to the public with the “Primary Spaces” exhibit on Oct. 9:
Tuesday – Friday 11 a.m.–6 p.m. (Thursday evenings until 8 p.m.)
Saturday and Sunday, 1–5 p.m.
Closed Mondays and Thanksgiving Day