The Grant Wood Art Colony celebrates the life and legacy of Iowa’s most famous artist, Grant Wood. After painting one of the most recognizable images in the world, American Gothic, Wood joined the University of Iowa faculty. Each year, the Colony provides three Fellowships in Painting & Drawing, Printmaking , and Interdisciplinary Performance.
Fellows teach courses, engage Iowans, and pursue their artistic endeavors. The Colony also hosts a biennial symposium and provides outreach to perpetuate Wood’s legacy as an artist and advocate of contemporary art.
Featured
Giving
The Grant Wood Art Colony is a featured program of the University of Iowa Provost’s Office of Outreach & Engagement. The program exemplifies the University of Iowa’s historic commitment to creative work and pioneering of the Master of Fine Arts degree.
2022 Symposium
The 7th Biennial Grant Wood Symposium will be held April 8-10, 2022, on the University of Iowa campus. The Grant Wood Art Colony will host a compelling series of presentations investigating 20th-21st-century artists who extended their practice to creating distinctive homes and studios.
Latest News
Events
GWAC Events
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, 2026 Updates"
"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...