Sue Blodgett

Artist / Maker Rose Frantzen ((American, b. 1965))

Date2020

MediumOil on canvas

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineCommissioned by University Museums. Funded by the Natural Resource Ecology Management Department. In the Art on Campus Collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, IA.

Object numberU2020.18

Status

On view

Collections

CultureAmerican

Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: President Raymond Hughes initiated the portrait collection at Iowa State University as part of Iowa State College’s 75th anniversary in 1933 when he commissioned portraits of past presidents, current leaders, and other influential alums. The tradition of honoring influential leaders on campus continues with contemporary commissioned portraits. Those selected for portraits has changed over time, as the greater ratio of men in leadership throughout Iowa State’s early history can be overwhelming to contemporary viewers. However, the portrait collection has evolved over time as women ascended into leadership positions. Examples of posthumous portraiture continues, with artists using photographs to complete lineages of leaders who may not have been painted in their lifetime, such as Frantzen’s Dean Floyd Andre, which was painted from an archived photograph from his time as Dean of the Agronomy Department.

Locations