Construction plans for a new flood wall in Cedar Rapids in 2022 may have blocked the entrance to the African American Museum of Iowa — but it also presented an opportunity.
“We thought, if we're going to be moving the entrance, we may as well look at the sprinkler system, the H-VAC, the roof, all the finishes and just make the space a much more appealing and welcoming place and a little bit better for operational delivery," said executive director LaNisha Cassell. "So that's what we decided to do.”
The result was a $5 million renovation — the museum's first in 19 years — that has kept it closed for more than 18 months. It officially reopens May 11 with some significant changes to both the interior and exterior of the building.
When visitors return, they'll be greeted by some new exhibits and resources. A temporary exhibit explores the 30-year history of the museum itself, from its founding in 1993 by a small group of members of the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church to the start of the renovation, and sprinkled with a sampling of past exhibits. In another room, a family research kiosk allows people to research their genealogy and find their ancestors for free.
“We're hopeful that people will be really open to learning how to utilize the tools to be able to learn more about their own history," Cassell said.
The museum's permanent exhibit — “Endless Possibilities” — which starts with the West African slave trade and goes through present day, now features a new mural painted by local artist Marcus Irvin. The exhibit begins in a room designed to look like a cargo ship, simulating the real ships enslaved Africans were ruthlessly packed into and sent on to America. Visitors then take a journey through Iowa's history — getting to know George Washington Carver learning about Iowa's role in the Civil Rights Movement and the Underground Railroad, and culminating in former President Barack Obama's caucus victory.
While the museum was closed, it took its programming to schools, libraries and museums across the state with traveling exhibits. Cassell hopes the museum will maintain its statewide reach and the conversations that came with it.
“I think [traveling] allowed us to see that our mission was already broad, and that we could go other places besides just being a repository of artifacts and exhibits," Cassell said.
She said that outreach, in addition to the renovation, will bring more people to the museum.
“People don't know we're here, and that we have the resources that we have, so I'm envisioning more awareness about our resources, more visibility because of our project, but moreso because of what the content is." she said. "People see that we're a place to get authentic and truthful information and stories about people they’ve either heard of or not heard of. And so that kind of just gives us some joy and pleasure — being able to share those stories and know that people are gonna resonate at some level.”
The museum has already undergone plenty of change and overcome many challenges since opening in 1993. Cassell welcomes that change. She said during nationwide Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2020, people turned to the museum as a place they could rely on for resources and information, which allowed the museum to rethink and expand upon what it could mean to the community and the state.
“One of the things that really stood out to me in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder was that people were calling us and asking us questions that we weren't used to getting," she said. "What are the resources? What books do you recommend? What organizations can I support that are doing things in the community that support racial justice, or are relevant in these spaces?”
“People see that we're a place to get authentic and truthful information and stories about people they’ve either heard of or not heard of. And so that kind of just gives us some joy and pleasure and being able to share those stories and know that people are gonna resonate at some level.”LaNisha Cassell, executive director of the African American Museum of Iow
The museum is still $300,000 shy of a fundraising goal to support the renovations, but Cassell and curator Felicite Wolfe are looking eagerly toward the reopening date.
“I'm really excited to just get back into the building, I think the whole staff is," Wolfe said. "We feel like we've been away from our space for a very long time, and just to have people come in and have a look at this new space and just feel a new sense of the importance of the history that is in here.”
