CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — In 2016, Cedar Rapids will celebrate Iowa artist Grant Wood’s 125th birthday with approximately 30 to 40 life-size fiberglass statues depicting Woods’ iconic farmer and daughter “American Gothic” painting displayed around town from May through September.
The painting, one of the most familiar images in 20th-century American art, was painted at 5 Turner Alley in Cedar Rapids.
Local artists will create unique designs on each of the statues. Print and digital maps will direct visitors to their locations.
In conjunction with the celebration, the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, which houses the largest collection of Grant Wood works in the world, will celebrate Wood’s and Marvin Cone’s 125th birthdays with a special exhibition titled “Grant Wood and Marvin Cone: Barns, Farms, and America’s Heartland.”
The two artists began their lifelong friendship in Cedar Rapids, attended high school together and were an active force in the Stone City Art Colony. The exhibit will focus on their shared interest in Iowa’s rolling countryside, farms and the people who inhabit them.
It will run February 6-May 15, 2016.
