PS1

MISSION
PUBLIC SPACE ONE (PS1) is an artist-led, community-driven, contemporary art center. We aim to:
• provide an independent, innovative, diverse, and inclusive space for making and presenting art
• produce unique programs that stretch boundaries and present diverse perspectives
• provide resources for artists and cultural educational opportunities, and
• advocate for the importance of art in everyday life for any and everyone.

VALUES
Openness • Accessibility • Community • Process & Experimentation • Art & Artists’ Work
Relationships • Care • Generosity • Transparency • Equity • Joy

PS1 was founded in 2002 in a donated space above the Deadwood bar by University of Iowa students in need of an off-campus space to rehearse and perform an original play. Since then, we have maintained a multidisciplinary, experimental space for the Iowa City community to present and experience creative work, moving from our original location to the Jefferson Building (2009-2012) to the Wesley Student Center (2012-2019). 

In 2009, our gallery began presenting work from artists around the country and our focus expanded to include workshops, public art projects, and residencies. In 2012, we established Iowa's only community-access printmaking studio (then Zenzic Press, now the Iowa City Press Co-op (ICPC)), and in 2016, the Center for Afrofuturist Studies (the CAS), a residency and visiting artist program for artists of color.

In 2019, with support from the City of Iowa City and many community members, we purchased two historic houses in Iowa City’s Northside neighborhood to serve as a permanent home for our gallery, the ICPC, and the CAS. We also took on the mission and space of IC’s public access station (PATV) in order to continue their work of providing community access to media production equipment, education, and resources — now the Media Arts Co-op.

PS1 has collaborated with the Iowa Youth Writing Project, the University of Iowa Intermedia Department, Hancher Auditorium, Mission Creek Festival, the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, and the Iowa City Downtown District. We are also a founding member of the Iowa City Downtown Arts Alliance.

Our programming has been supported by the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, the Iowa Arts Council, a Division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Community Foundation of Johnson County, the City of Iowa City Public Art Program, the Black Art Futures Fund, mediaThe Foundation, Humanities Iowa, the VIA | Wagner Incubator Grant Fund, and the United States Regional Arts Resilience Fund.

Public Space One is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.