The past week marked the culmination of the 2024-25 Grant Wood Fellowship year, a vibrant series of events that showcased the creative achievements and community contributions of this year's Fellows. From gallery openings and public workshops to immersive singing events, the celebrations reflected a year of artistic exploration deeply rooted in place and people.
Visual Arts Building played host to solo exhibitions by Painting & Drawing Fellow Rush Baker IV and Printmaking Fellow Matthew Willie Garcia. On April 25, their work was unveiled during an opening reception attended by students, faculty, and community members.
Baker’s exhibition, Shifting Grounds, presented a series of paintings created during his residency. The work ranged from intimate watercolors—such as a depiction of his home at the Grant Wood Art Colony—to bold, large-scale acrylic canvases inspired by the layered history of Buxton, Iowa, a once-thriving African American coal mining town.
Garcia’s show, embracing the void: moments between space and time, featured large Sumi ink drawings and intricate mokuhanga prints. Visitors had the chance to deepen their experience of his work through a Sunday gallery talk and hands-on suminigashi (Japanese marbling) workshop on April 27. Garcia also collaborated with Interdisciplinary Performance—Music Fellow Lyndsey Scott and Federico Rincón Pedraza for communion, a contemplative song circle held amidst the artwork.
Scott’s Song Lines project expanded its community at the Iowa City Bike Library on April 27. Over the past three months, she has led community singing gatherings across Iowa City, including events at RSFIC, Sacred Collective, PS1 Close House, City High School, the Stanley Museum of Art, and the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm. What began with 50 participants grew steadily, culminating in a 100-voice choir for the final celebration—The Big Sing—held at Old Brick on May 4.
As the year draws to a close, it is clear that the Grant Wood Fellows have not only created bold, thoughtful work, but also built meaningful relationships with the people and places of Iowa. Their impact resonates not only in galleries and performances but in the voices, stories, and connections they have helped foster throughout the community.