University of Iowa renames art museum after family who donated $10M

A Muscatine couple is donating $10 million to the University of Iowa for the construction of a new art museum on the Iowa City campus.

Richard and Mary Jo Stanley committed the money in November, Rod Lehnertz, senior vice president of finance and operations for UI, told the Iowa Board of Regents during a telephonic meeting on Wednesday.

The gift comes from two generations of the family that has strong ties to UI.

Richard Stanley, who died in November, earned his master's degree in engineering from Iowa in 1963. In addition, his parents, C. Maxwell and Elizabeth Stanley, also earned degrees from the university.

The regents agreed to UI officials’ request to rename the museum the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art. The new name will begin being used in the spring of 2018.

The building that previously housed the museum and its 15,500 pieces of artwork and artifacts — valued at $500 million — was extensively damaged during the 2008 June floods.

Much of the art collection was moved to the Figge Art Museum in Davenport.

The university cannot exhibit art collections in the former museum building because of its close proximity to the Iowa River and the high cost of insurance.

The building did not qualify for money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency because it was not structurally damaged in the flood.

The new facility will be built with a private money and bonds.

Cost of the new facility, which will be built near UI's Main Library, is estimated at $50 million. Earlier this year, the regents approved schematic designs and project descriptions for the facility, the last large construction project related to the 2008 floods.

A portion of the Stanley financial donation to UI comes from the estate of Richard Stanley’s parents, C. Maxwell and Elizabeth Stanley, who donated their African art collection to the museum in 1985, Lehnertz said.

“The Stanley collection of African art continues to be an important resource for research” for UI students and others nationwide, Lehnertz said.

The Stanley family owned and operated one of the world’s largest manufacturing company of office furniture.

Richard Stanley was 85 when died in November after a brief illness. His wife, Mary Jo Stanley, resides in Muscatine.

The Stanley family’s “generosity is documented across our campus,” Lehnertz said.

Construction of the new art museum is expected to begin in 2018; the new facility is expected to open in 2020, Lehnertz said. “This will complete a vibrant art campus that serves the university, Iowa City and the state of Iowa.”

Also Wednesday, the regents approved the University of Northern Iowa’s request to spend nearly $3 million to buy University Book and Supply, a Cedar Falls business that sells and rents textbooks and classroom materials to students.

Both Iowa State University and the University of Iowa own and operate bookstores on their campuses. UNI, however, has not operated a bookstore in at least the past eight decades although it operates several campus retail outlets that sell university merchandise and apparel.

The purchase is expected to be finalized Feb. 26.