Iowa Artists Collection

Tilly Woodward ‘s oil paintings are often mistaken for photographs because of their unbelievable detail. Tilly creates intimate glimpses at objects both man-made and from the natural world and sometimes a pairing of the two, in her oil on board paintings. Raised on a family farm with deep historical roots, Tilly developed an early habit of careful observation, spending hours immersed in the natural world. Her work is grounded in the practice of witnessing—looking closely at everyday objects and landscapes to reveal their beauty, meaning, and connection to memory, family, and place. Through oil paint, she honors both the quiet details of life and the larger forces of nature, building each piece through a thoughtful accumulation of small, deliberate actions.

Ashley Mary is a freelance multi-disciplinary artist, designer, and muralist with an MA in graphic design from Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Mary’s creative work plays in two spaces. Her studio practice, which has evolved over the last 18 years, is a mixed medium with a primary focus on painting, collage, and stained glass. Creating is Mary’s reminder to play – an intuitive practice rooted in childlike expression. Her work embraces spontaneity, vibrancy, texture, and imperfection. She feels most connected to her process when surprises happen, the best parts unplanned. In turn, her art becomes a visual mantra for a way of living with more delight and curiosity and paying attention to life’s glorious inconsistencies.

Emily Milewsky’s objective is to make art that is equally therapeutic in process as the end result. As art lives in spaces inhabited by humans, she is compelled to produce paintings with the capacity to improve the mental well-being of the viewer. Finding solace in art making, Milewksy explores a variety of mediums including painting, collage, and embroidery. Her current work of acrylic landscape paintings depict vibrant terrains emphasizing color with multiple layers of brushstrokes. Milewsky earned a BFA in painting from the University of Northern Iowa in 2006 and her professional experience includes retail gallery management, art production, and marketing. She works out of her home studio in Clive, Iowa, where she resides with her husband and son. When painting, she is most pleased with a cup of coffee and the company of her cat, Fox.

Rocky Reed is a self-taught artist living in Des Moines, Iowa. He currently paints contemporary realist pieces, featuring still life, plein air, portrait, and figurative subjects. Reed makes an effort to impart a sense of poetry, technical bravura, and presence to his paintings. He selects subjects and compositions based on complexity, variety, and compelling visual relationships. He also adheres to a vegan approach when selecting painting materials, completing paintings using all vegan-friendly paints/pigments, glues, and supports. In addition to painting, Reed enjoys athletics, culinary arts, computer programming, music, and literature.

James Navarro is a Northern Wisconsin native, now living and working in Des Moines, Iowa. He attended Minneapolis College of Art and Design and received his BFA in Design with a focus on painting, illustration, and furniture. Navarro is best known for his Midwestern landscapes and his still-life compositions. He approaches his work in a traditional manner, painting plein air and adding his own unique style in the studio. His work is representational of a traditional style that concentrates on light, shadows, and bright colors. He is inspired not only by the beauty in nature but finds creativity in everyday objects. When he is not painting, James spends his spare time working on the family farm in Wisconsin.

Genevieve Lavalle is a fine art fiber artist, specializing in narrative-based and landscape punch needle rugs for the wall. Lavalle often describes her practice as “painting with yarn” which draws from her painting and drawing background. Lavalle’s rugs are colorful moments in time that combine an old craft with a modern perspective. The work is joyful, colorful, and often comments on everyday life, pets, the changing of seasons, homewares, and beauty in routines.

Quiltmaking is Ben Millett’s creative outlet outside his work at an agriculture company in Des Moines. He employs personal color palettes in quilts to examine nuances of Queer identity, pop culture, and quiltmaking itself. Turning digital concepts into a physical reality with fabric and thread, he creates to play, to communicate ideas, to further the gay agenda and to make what he wants to see. His work was recently on display in “Iowa Artists 2025: Ben Millett,” the Des Moines Art Center’s first exhibition of a quilt artist.

Jeff Klisares is painter from Des Moines. Klisares’ paintings are rooted in hope and the belief that optimism and cheerfulness can be cultivated and sustained. Regarding his work, Klisares says his paintings are often deemed cheerful depictions of the landscape. While they may appear sentimental, they showcase the mounting complexities and urgent problems that we must confront in modern life. While most successes in life are attributed to skill and talent, this overlooks the fact that optimism determines the outcome of most challenging endeavors in life.

Megan Hammer has been creating vibrant, expressive fiber art since 2018. Through the process of transforming wispy wool fibers into soft, strong felt, Hammer explores the potential for harmony and collaboration with nature. She embraces the natural textures revealed through the felting process and presents intricate details that immerse the viewer in her discoveries, exploration of place, and experiences in our natural world. Hammer earned a bachelor’s degree in studio art with an emphasis in painting and drawing from the University of Northern Iowa in 2003.

Igor Khalandovskiy was born in Ukraine in the city of Kharkiv. His paintings are general mixed media – tempera, pastel, watercolor, acrylic, and oil paints. Khalandovskiy’s pictures are a fusion of symbolism and surrealism. Such an eclectic approach offers a unique opportunity to represent life as a dramatic duel between dreams and reality.

Richard Michels is a painter and printmaker, who is also an award-winning magazine and book art director. After receiving a BFA from the University of Northern Iowa, his art director career relocated him to Des Moines, Atlanta, New York City, Cincinnati, and finally back to Des Moines. His large photo-realistic paintings show graphic and colorful compositions which are based on his photographs. His subject matter celebrates buildings and events where we hope to find an escape from the “everyday”. Richard is currently working on new paintings, as well as linocut and intaglio printmaking projects at his Des Moines’ Mainframe Studio.

Angie Heuton is a nature-loving artist who works primarily in watercolor, using her art to celebrate the beauty and intricacy of the natural world. Her work is delicate, vibrant, and deeply inspired by flora and fauna. Currently, she’s focused on a unique series that explores cruelty-free taxidermy, crafting lifelike animal forms from hand-painted paper. This imaginative project blends her love for wildlife with a commitment to compassionate creativity, offering a fresh, thoughtful take on how we honor nature.