OLIVIA
VALENTINE
Last year marked the first collaboration between Ballet Des Moines and the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation, with the announcement of Olivia Valentine as the inaugural Artist-in-Residence. Valentine, a visual artist working in textile construction, drawing, photography, and installation, created a work that became part of Eric Trope’s Shadow Dances, featured in the ballet’s world premiere as part of BDM’s winter performance Nothing Holds Still.
spilled shadows
Valentine’s installation, Spilled Shadows, was created in collaboration with BDM Company Dancer Megan Boyette, producing a series of spilled paint drawings that became the source material for the large weaving featured on stage. This handwoven, digital jacquard tapestry was produced by Valentine at Praxis Fiber Workshop in Cleveland, Ohio.
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE /
FINDLEY ELEMENTARY
Included in the residency, was a collaboration with By Degrees Foundation and the students of Findley Elementary. The in-school engagement included two visits by Valentine to work with the students, including an all-school assemble as well as hands-on activities in the six grade art classroom.
IN THE NEWS
She enlisted company member Megan Boyette to “draw” on a big sheet of paper, using her feet to spread black paint across the surface. Afterward, Valentine photographed the drawing and fed the photos into a digital loom, which she used to recreate the image as a 5-yard jacquard weaving that will serve as a backdrop to the dance.
Valentine said she wanted to take something that happens fast and slow it down. It’s about “capturing something that’s more ethereal,” she said. “It’s just a trace or shadow of movement.”
At the ballet, three premieres in one creative show, dsm Magazine, 2/25/26
Shadow Dances was a celebration of visual art as well. Ballet Des Moines Artist-in-Residence Olivia Valentine collaborated with one of the company dancers, Megan Boyette, to create an art installation for the ballet. Boyette danced in paint-covered pointe shoes, the canvas capturing the “shadow” of her movements. Using a digital loom, Valentine transformed this painting into a large backdrop that hung onstage.
Review: Ballet Des Moines’ ‘Nothing Holds Still’ featured veiled dancers, intricate partner work, the Belin Quartet and a painting danced onto the canvas, Little Village Magazine, 3/6/26
“You’re creating something static, which is a completely different, temporal experience as an audience member, and you’re enlivening it with dance, with music, with lights, with production,” said Beau Kenyon, Ballet Des Moines’ director of education and outreach. “And visual artwork is a way of historicizing a moment in time.”
Interweaving artistic forms: Ballet Des Moines artist residency inspires new work by ISU’s Olivia Valentine, ISU College of Design, 3/17/26
The hands-on experiment in the classroom reflects the same collaborative processes and artistic techniques Valentine used throughout her residency working with the Ballet Des Moines team, including dancer Megan Boyette and artistic director Eric Trope.
“Together, they explored the synergy between Olivia Valentine's artistic practice and Megan Boyette's dancing to create an artwork that is inextricably linked with Eric's ballet itself. This interconnectedness brought visual art, ballet and live music via the Belin Quartet together on stage to form a cohesive work,” said Alexa McCarthy, executive director of the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation.
Artist residency shares unique art process with Des Moines students, ISU University Marketing & Communications, 6/3/26
The 9-month residency welcomes a mid-career Des Moines-area visual artist into the Ballet Des Moines studio to create new visual artwork inspired by movement and dance. Applications will be accepted beginning July 7, 2026 through Friday, August 14.