For three months in the summer of 1920, Grant Wood and his best friend Marvin Cone traveled to Paris to see great art, soak up the sights, and to paint. This brief sojourn proved to be pivotal for both artists, enhancing their nascent interest in Impressionism and painting en plein air.  While each artist was not to continue painting in this style beyond the early 1930s, this trip to Paris (Wood’s first trip abroad, Cone’s second) was critical to their development as artists.  What the artists did, saw, and painted is carefully outlined in Cone’s meticulous and well-written diary of the trip, including where the artists painted on which days.  As such, this diary enables the ability to date certain works to the precise date of creation.  It also allows viewers to see how each artist depicted the same scene, often in very different terms.

Rounding out our anniversary year will be an unusual look at arguably Iowa’s most important artist, Grant Wood. While known for his iconic American Gothic (Art Institute of Chicago) and other Regionalist works from his mature style, Grant Wood was constantly exploring styles, techniques, and media.  This exhibition will bring together works from both the CRMA collection as well as from private collections to celebrate Wood’s inquisitive mind.  Rarely seen paintings will be joined with diverse metalwork pieces, drawings, and studies to construct a fuller view of Wood’s genius.

Come out for a socially distanced Friends of the Library Book Sale in the Coralville Library’s lower level parking ramp.  It’s a pay what you want free will donation sale.  There will be fiction and children’s books available. Masks required, please bring your own bags.

Grant Wood’s American Gothic is probably the world’s most parodied American painting, second only to Leonardo’s Mona Lisa.  The fact that thousands of parodies of American Gothic exist, dating back several decades, speaks to the enduring inspiration of one of America’s greatest works of art.  This exhibition—a first for the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art—will look at many of these parodies—some in the flesh on the gallery’s walls and many others digitally projected in an attempt to share the incredible reach of this iconic painting.  From Bill and Hillary Clinton to Leonardo and Mona Lisa to RuPaul as male and female, these parodies speak to how this one painting serves as the basis for looking at various contemporary people and issues.  Wood’s impactful 1930 painting continues to inspire “artists” of all ages and skills in a playful and humorous way that Wood would no doubt have applauded.

Led by Lauren Linahon, art education masters student, UI College of Education

Stanley Creates is an interactive program for children and teens to learn artmaking techniques using everyday materials. Taking inspiration from the museum’s collection, participants will play with materials to create unique projects at home. Lauren Linahon will demonstrate the process and provide feedback and support to participants as they make their artwork.

In this workshop, participants will learn how to marble paper using materials found at home. Taking inspiration from the exhibition Fluidity, Linahon will guide kids through the process of creating colorful marble patterns on paper. She’ll also give participants ideas for how to use the marbled paper in other projects.

Lauren Linahon is a graduate student in art education. She has led artmaking workshops for United Action for Youth and taught studio sections of the course Create, Imagine, Play: Human Development through Arts at the University of Iowa.

Registration for this event has CLOSED. Thank you for your interest.

Video instructions will be available after the event for those who are unable to attend, but would like to make the projects.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact the SMA in advance at 319-335-1727.