What a pleasant surprise! Who knew Des Moines had such an outstanding collection of art in such a unique building on such beautiful grounds. From now on, no more "suches," I promise.

My wife and I went to the Art Center as art lovers with the attitude, "well, it's here, so we might as well see how cruddy it is." Fortunately, my previously negative attitude about Des Moines in general has been turned on its head often. (Can you turn an attitude on its head or am I mixing metaphors?) Our visit to the Art Center was one of these times.

If you want paintings by old masters, of course, you will have to go to Chicago or Rome. If, like me, new masters are what you dig, the Art Center has a very nice collection. It has works from some well known Impressionists, which I enjoyed very much. It also has many works that are more contemporary, and these are very good also. As for the building, I forget if it is Frank Gehry or I.M. Pei, but whoever did it, they did a spectacular job--it is very cool.

Check out the Art Center the first chance you get. Hopefully, low expectations are not necessary for an outstanding visit.