I, too am Des Moines
Jared Ledesma is the new Assistant Curator at the Des Moines Art Center, having only moved to the city five months ago. Ledesma’s first exhibition with the Art Center is titled “I, too, am America”, and highlights the stories of artists (and members of our own communities) who sometimes fall through the cracks. “I, too” calls to mind voices of the feminist, Civil Rights, and LGBTQ+ movements that took place between the 1930s up until the new millennium in a way that is both personal for Ledesma while still offering commentary on the sociopolitical realities of our nation and our own backyard.
Can you delve into some of your background in art?
Before that [coming to Des Moines], I was at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. I was there for a while. I was in their painting and sculpture curatorial department. There the museum is very large; it’s about ten floors of gallery space. It is huge, and there I just didn’t have as much freedom as I do here — which is why I wanted to move to a smaller museum.
If you want to be a curator you usually choose a period you want to specialize in. For my undergraduate degree I did 20th century modernism and for my graduate degree I did queer art history.
What part of your job makes you enjoy what you do?
I’d say the research part. I studied art history in college and grad school, so I’m really lucky to be doing what I love. A lot of art history is about research and writing…going to the library and digging; it’s a lot of fun.
Tell me about the Langston Hughes poem from which the exhibition draws its name. How was that poem chosen to represent the whole theme of the showcase?
The poem is called ‘I,Too,’ and it’s from his first book of poetry that he published in 1926. It was actually not well received by African American critics, but the general African American population loved it. I actually thought of the verse from the poem for the title at the end when I had everything selected. For me, I wanted the title of the show to be something from the time period; a voice of the time period.
Why did you feel compelled to put together a showcase of art depicting minority and marginalized stories?
I think it comes from both [a personal and socio-political place]. The artist that I wrote my thesis on was gay, Latino and an immigrant, and I’ve always been interested in those kinds of stories.
For this show, it was during the 2016 Presidential election, and after that I started noticing museums getting to show more political art; art inspired by our frenetic political climate. So, when I came here I wanted to do something similar.
It was important for me to show how artists responded to their political climate. I think it is really interesting to see how that was done throughout the 20th century and is still being done today.
The work in the exhibition is nearly as diverse style-wise as the topics represented. There are photographs, prints, paintings, and sculptures. What is special about the inclusion of the Tilly Woodward portraits?
“[Tilly Woodward] was making work in the 1990s about AIDS and how Iowans were affected by AIDS, and how the disease wasn’t just focused in New York City and it doesn’t discriminate.
Lastly, why is it important for the people of Des Moines to see exhibitions like this?
It’s important to realize that these struggles aren’t new. We’ve struggled with them in the past. It’s important to see how artists use art as a voice but not as a weapon to harm individuals. It’s a way to create conversation and get people talking.
