The Iowa Biennial Exhibition and Archive (TIBEA) began in 2004 as an international survey of contemporary miniature printmaking with its initial exhibition held at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

in Iowa City,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. Works juried for the

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

travel for exhibitions within the U.S. as well as internationally, with exhibitions in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...

and

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, to date. The Iowa Biennial Exhibition is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

endeavor that serves to support a collection of works accessioned within an open

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organ ...

, The Iowa Biennial Exhibition Archive, while making the public collection available for

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

education, research,

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

s, artists, and print students. Works within the archive are used to promote a greater awareness of the uniqueness and beauty of the print, print media, and printmaking (both traditional and non-traditional). Submissions for works are accepted on even years beginning in January through April. The Iowa Biennial Exhibition is an all-volunteer, non-profit, cultural and research-oriented event, and no profits are sought from its submissions or participants, while submitted and accepted works will never be sold. Distinguished jurors invited to participate are established professionals from a diverse selection of art disciplines within Iowa. Notable jurors have included: Virginia A. Myers, Peter Feldstein, and Dr. Rachel M. Williams, all from the University of Iowa’s School of Art & Art History; Julie Leonard from the University of Iowa’s Center for the Book and the School of Art & Art History; Shannon Kennedy from the University of Iowa’s School of Art & Art History and Coe College's Department of Art in Cedar Rapids lso formerly at Kirkwood Community College-Iowa City Kayt Conrad of the University of Iowa’s Division of Performing Arts ormerly Art Coordinator and Interim Dean of Arts & Humanities at Kirkwood Community College as well as Helen Grunwald, Doug Hall, and Rahat Sodaev, all faculty from the Arts & Humanities Department of Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids. The 2006 received a 2007 "ICKY" award nomination—along with exhibitions on Andy Warhol and Grant Wood—for Best Visual Arts Programming from the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance for its exhibition at th
University of Iowa Project Art
Gallery. In late 2007, The Iowa Biennial Exhibition & Archive merged its efforts with The Texas Biennial Exhibition & Archive to form The Americas Biennial Exhibition & Archive of Contemporary Prints, a non-profit, all-volunteer, fine arts endeavor. All works formerly entered into either The Iowa Biennial Exhibition & Archive or the Texas Biennial Exhibition & Archive have been accessioned into The Americas Biennial Exhibition & Archive ABEAwithin their respective collections.

External links

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Arts Iowa CityUniversity of IowaKirkwood Community CollegeIowa Cultural Corridor AllianceThe Americas Biennial Exhibition & Archive
{{List of Biennales Non-profit organizations based in Iowa Iowa culture Iowa City, Iowa History of Cedar Rapids, Iowa University of Iowa Art biennials 2004 establishments in Iowa

See also

External links