Windows '95

October 7, 2024 - January 6, 2025

In 1995, Jane Gilmor received a grant from the Iowa Arts Council and then the University of Iowa Health Care to create Windows '95, now part of the Des Moines Art Center's permanent collection. This exhibition features embossed transfers from the original drawings by pediatric patients to metal foil which are in the hospital's permanent collection.

Artist Rick Edelman built the walk-in structure for Gilmor, who covered it inside and out with repoussé sheets of notes and drawings created by pediatric and long-term care patients during a year-long series of workshops at the University of Iowa Health Care. The process of drawing in a semi-classroom setting created a semblance of normalcy and served as a survival tool, helping to make sense of their individual experiences in the hospital.

This piece holds deep personal significance for Gilmor, serving as an elegy to her youngest sister, who was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder that halted her development at three months old. Gilmor and her family spent much of her sister's short five-year life at the University of Iowa Health Care. the piece is a testament to hope and the recording of human presence.

Jane Gilmor pursued her education at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Iowa State University, earning an MFA from the University of Iowa. She is an Emeritus Professor of Art at mount mercy University and is associated with A.I.R. Gallery in New York City and Olson-Larsen Galleries in Des Moines. Gilmor also maintains a studio in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Image credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines, Windows '95