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

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. 

Read More 

1925 Grant Wood studio

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. 

Read More 

Latest News

Events

GWAC Events

"Race and Regionalism: Representation in the Heartland" promotional image

"Race and Regionalism: Representation in the Heartland"

Friday, April 25 to Saturday, April 26, 2025 (all day)
Seamans Center
Scholars and artists from across North America will convene at the Seamans Center on the University of Iowa’s campus April 25-26 for the eighth biennial Grant Wood Symposium. By redressing the multivalent intersections between race and Regionalist art, this symposium endeavors to uncover new and perhaps unexpected answers about who is representing and represented in the American Scene. The program features four panel discussions, a film screening, and an exhibition visit.Day one and two will...
Rush Baker IV - Shifting Grounds  promotional image

Rush Baker IV - Shifting Grounds

Friday, April 25, 2025 8:00am to 8:00pm
Visual Arts Building
embracing the void: moments between space and time exhibition by matthew willie garcia promotional image

embracing the void: moments between space and time exhibition by matthew willie garcia

Friday, April 25, 2025 8:00am to 8:00pm
Visual Arts Building
Opening reception: April 24, 5-7 p.m. in the Drewelowe GalleryExhibition dates: April 22–May 3Suminigashi workshop: April 27, 1–2 p.m.Gallery talk: April 27, 2–3 p.m.Communion: song circle led by Lyndsey Scott & Federico Rincón Pedraza, April 30, 5 p.m.
Film Screening & Artist Conversation | Christopher Harris & Cameron Granger promotional image

Film Screening & Artist Conversation | Christopher Harris & Cameron Granger

Friday, April 25, 2025 6:00pm to 8:00pm
Art Building West
Join us for a special evening of film screenings and conversation with acclaimed filmmakers/artists Christopher Harris and Cameron Granger. This program is part of the Grant Wood Art Colony's 8th Biennial Symposium, Race and Regionalism: Representation in the Heartland, and is held in conjunction with the Stanley Museum of Art's exhibition, it's a fine thing.Featured FilmsChristopher HarrisDistant Shores (2016, 3min)Christopher Harris’s Distant Shores, to take one, models a necessary imaginative...
"Race and Regionalism: Representation in the Heartland" promotional image

"Race and Regionalism: Representation in the Heartland"

Saturday, April 26, 2025 (all day)
Seamans Center
Scholars and artists from across North America will convene at the Seamans Center on the University of Iowa’s campus April 25-26 for the eighth biennial Grant Wood Symposium. By redressing the multivalent intersections between race and Regionalist art, this symposium endeavors to uncover new and perhaps unexpected answers about who is representing and represented in the American Scene. The program features four panel discussions, a film screening, and an exhibition visit.Day one and two will...