Krause Group believes that the Krause Family Art Collection plays a significant role in helping Krause Group and its various brands achieve ambitious CSR goals.

We actively seek art engagement with Associates and visitors, encouraging people to connect while attending to their own individual experiences. In doing so, we intend to foster empathy, respect, and curiosity among people and cultures. Our 2023 programming continued to build our previous years’ CSR-focused art curation. Some of the highlights of the past year include:

The Summer 2023 Exhibition in the Krause Family Gallery

In spring 2023, Krause Group launched the fifth art exhibition in the Krause Family Art Gallery at the Krause Gateway Center. This exhibition focused on a single sculpture, Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos, by noted contemporary multimedia artist Rashid Johnson. The exhibition also included a short documentary film by Midwest-based entrepreneur and racial justice advocate, Andrė Wright. This marked the first time the gallery space incorporated video to tell a larger story about the intersections of art, culture, and social justice issues. The accompanying gallery booklet included writings from six influential social justice and arts advocates, including documentary filmmaker Andrė Robert Lee, executive director of the Iowa Public Health Association Lina Tucker Reinders, and Jasmine Martin, coauthor with Tariq Trotter (also known as Black Thought of the band The Roots) of The Upcycled Self: A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are. Booklet contributors received an honorarium in their name donated to a charity of their choice.

Using Art and Social Justice as a Community Teaching Tool

We organized two arts- and social justice-based events that invited Krause Group Associates and members of the greater Des Moines, Iowa, community to engage in meaningful dialogue and discussion.

The Juneteenth: Humanize My Hoodie program included a documentary film screening and Q&A with entrepreneur and racial justice activist Andrė Wright. As part of the program, a limited-edition hoodie was created for our Krause Group Associates, designed by Krause Group and House of Wright artists, with hoodie proceeds benefiting House of Wright and Humanize My Hoodie.

Sharing Artworks from the Krause Family Art Collection with the Broader Community

Lending artwork benefits both the art collection and the borrowing institutions by sharing work with broader public and academic audiences and helping Krause Group to support arts education and access.

In 2023, works from the Krause Family Art Collection were included in important exhibitions across the country and around the world:

Jannis Kounellis in Six Acts

Together

Underneath Everything: Humility and Grandeur in Contemporary Ceramics

Artists Choose Parrish

Jennifer Guidi: And so it is.

Mario Nigro. Mostra Antologica 1947-1992