Upcoming events
Grant Wood Country Forum: "Grant Wood On the Radar in the ‘60s and 70s"
"Grant Wood On the Radar in the ‘60s and 70s" by Elaine Mattingly
Mattingly will discuss her research into Grant Wood's resurgence during the 1960s and '70s, including the first Grant Wood Art Festival and a teaser for Stranded in Stone City, a new musical of which Mattingly is writer/producer/editor.
Elaine Mattingly’s connection to all things Grant Wood goes back six generations in the Anamosa, Stone City, Viola and Cedar Rapids areas of Iowa. She presses into service her experience as a...
Grant Wood Country Forum: "An Artist's Brush with Hollywood: Where Art Meets Celebrity and Fame"
"Grant Wood and Hollywood" by Dorothy Bunting Montgomery and Debbie Beilstein
Learn about a 1940 Hollywood art happening in which nine Associated American Artists created twelve paintings. That Hollywood commission was the largest of Grant Wood’s career and resulted in perhaps his least-known painting, Sentimental Ballad. Plus, hear from a relative of Grant Wood, Debbie Beilstein.
Dorothy Bunting Montgomery is a nonfiction writer, novelist, and a native of Iowa, whose stories capture the rhythms...
Grant Wood Country Forum: "Grant Wood: Seriously Silly" and "Midwest Identity: Grant Wood’s 'Main Street'"
"Grant Wood: Seriously Silly" by Tara Templeman
Gain insight into the Linn County History Center's newest exhibit that focuses on the humor and satire of Grant Wood's genius.
Tara Templeman is the Curator and Collection Manager at The History Center, a role they have loved for six years. They received two Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of New Mexico, graduating Cum Laude with a certificate in Museum Studies. They received a Master’s of...
Grant Wood Country Forum: "'Wild and Tame Flowers': Context, Symbolism and Musings on Possible Meanings in Grant Wood’s Flower Lithographs"
"Wild and Tame Flowers: Context, Symbolism and Musings on Possible Meanings in Grant Wood’s Flower Lithographs," by Thomas Harvran
Havran will explore the paired prints, Wild Flowers and Tame Flowers, during this talk and share an original poem inspired by the works.
Thomas Havran, occasional artist and writer, but perpetually obsessed plant nerd, cultivates a simple life within Grant Wood’s “Young Corn” landscape near Amana, Iowa.
Grant Wood Country Forum: "The Book’s the Thing: Grant Wood’s Book Covers" and "Where the Artist Stood: Grant Wood and Regionalist Places Then and Now"
"The Book’s the Thing: Grant Wood’s Book Covers," by Paul C. Juhl
Paul C. Juhl is a graduate of the University of Iowa, Iowa City, with majors in history and education; holds a master’s Degree in College Student Personnel Work from the University of Northern Iowa and has completed additional graduate work at the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley. He is a retired educator (teacher, counselor and administrator) in public and private schools in Iowa and Switzerland and earned Iowa High School...
Grant Wood Country Forum: "Grant Wood and the Paradox of 'Art for Everybody'”
"Grant Wood and the Paradox of Art for Everybody,” by Joe Coffey
Joe Coffey is a Chicago-based writer who examines Grant Wood’s legacy through a dual lens of journalistic storytelling and critical cultural analysis. With a background in television news and a Master’s in Journalism & Mass Communication from the University of Iowa, his work is informed by both a reporter’s eye for narrative and a scholar’s engagement with cultural context. His connection to the material is also personal: for nearly...