Iowa Arts & Culture

🎭 Arts Celebrating America in Rural Iowa. As the nation prepares to mark America's 250th anniversary, arts organizations are helping communities preserve cultural heritage and tell the story of our democracy through creativity, performance, and local voices. Cedar Summerstock Theatre in Saint Ansgar is one of those leaders.

The organization recently received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support musical theater productions and educational programming. Serving rural north-central Iowa, Cedar Summerstock brings people together through live performance while fostering civic pride and shared understanding across generations.

🎨 Help shape the future of the arts in Iowa! The Iowa Arts Council is now accepting applications for its Advisory Council. This is a unique opportunity to support arts and culture across the state by sharing your voice, perspective, and leadership. We're looking for passionate individuals who are about expanding access to the arts and strengthening Iowa's creative communities.

🗓️ Applications are open now through May 31.
📍Apply via IAppoint today! Make an impact, get involved, and help champion the arts in Iowa.
https://boards-iappoint.iowa.gov/boards/71

boards-iappoint.iowa.gov

📣 Now Open: Statewide Art Contest & Exhibition

The Call for Entries is officially open for the 2026 Iowa State Fair Statewide Art Contest & Exhibition, presented by the Iowa Arts Council as part of Iowa America 250.

Open to students (ages 8–18) and adult artists, this exhibition invites Iowans to explore themes like creativity and innovation, people, places and events, and America’s founding principles.

🖼️ Selected artworks will be exhibited at the Fair
📅 Deadline: June 1, 2026
🔗 https://bit.ly/4bG4GpQ

✨ Iowa Fellowship Spotlight: Interwoven Worlds ✨

Step into a powerful intersection of dance, visual art, and film with Interwoven Worlds, a new work by Iowa Arts Council Fellowship recipient Eloy Barragán (2025–2026). This dynamic, three-part dance journey transforms iconic artworks from across Iowa into movement—bridging disciplines, communities, and creative expression.

Each movement draws inspiration from a masterwork housed in a different Iowa museum:

🖼️ Movement I | Figge Art Museum
📅 May 12, 2026 | ⏰ 4:30 PM
Inspired by Woman Ironing (Isis) by Vik Muniz

🖼️ Movement II | Stanley Museum of Art
📅 May 14, 2026 | ⏰ 6:30 PM
Inspired by Which Way? by Elizabeth Catlett

🖼️ Movement III | Des Moines Art Center
📅 May 13, 2026 | ⏰ 2:00 PM
Inspired by Manos (Hands) by José Clemente Orozco

Through movement, dancers embody themes of labor, identity, direction, and resilience—bringing each artwork to life in a deeply human way.

🎭 Don’t miss an early presentation of the first and second movements:
📍 Space Place Theater
📅 March 12 & 13, 2026 | ⏰ 8:00 PM

The journey culminates this fall with the full performance of all three movements at Hancher Auditorium on November 13 & 14, 2026.

Interwoven Worlds invites us to consider how movement carries memory, how cities connect through art, and how collaboration creates something greater than the sum of its parts.

🚨 1 Week Away! 🚨

Calling all Iowa creatives! 🎨 The Exchange is coming to Council Bluffs, bringing together artists, cultural leaders, and community members for conversation, connection and collaboration. This is your chance to build relationships, share ideas, and be part of a vibrant creative network.

📍 May 15, 2026 — Council Bluffs
📝 Register Now: https://bit.ly/4etxEv5

🔥 Grantee Spotlight: Groundswell Joy Collective

The Iowa Arts Council is proud to support artists and organizations across the state who bring people together through meaningful creative experiences. One recent example is Groundswell Joy Collective’s production of “Brigid’s Flame,” a participatory community performance held in Dubuque earlier this year.

Inspired by the Irish celebration of St. Brigid and the seasonal turning toward spring, Brigid’s Flame invited audiences into an immersive experience of storytelling, song, dance, puppetry, and shared reflection. Through mythic retellings and community participation, the performance explored our connections to one another, to the land, and to the rhythms of nature.

The event brought together artists and community members in a celebration of creativity and renewal, drawing on folklore figures such as Brigid, the Cailleach, and the selkies to tell a powerful story of seasonal change and collective imagination.

Projects like Brigid’s Flame demonstrate how the arts can spark connection, joy, and reflection in communities across Iowa. We’re honored to help support this work and the artists who make it possible.

✨ Learn more about the project:
https://www.groundswelljoy.org/brigids-flame

🎨 Explore Iowa Through Art! The Iowa Arts Council has partnered with Travel Iowa to launch the Public Art by Iowa Artists Passport — an interactive way to discover murals, sculptures, and more across the state. From small towns to city streets, this passport celebrates the creativity woven into communities throughout Iowa.

Our goal? To highlight public art and the artists behind it in all 99 counties. Know a public artwork that should be included? We'd love to hear from you!

Submit your recommendation by May 15 for consideration. Start exploring and celebrating Iowa's vibrant artistic landscape!

Fill | Public Art Passport Location Submission The Iowa Arts Council has partnered with Travel Iowa on the Public Art by Iowa Artists Passport! Our goal is to eventually highlight public art and artists in all 99 Iowa counties. Use this form to submit your community’s public art for consideration. Not all submissions m...

We’re excited to see Iowa Artist Fellow Kelly Devitt featured in the American Craft Council! 🎉

In “Clay Bodies Invite Touch,” Devitt’s ceramic work explores the body as both vessel and surface—inviting viewers to engage with themes of skin, care, and emotional experience through tactile, intimate forms. Her practice uses clay to reflect the ways our bodies hold, protect, and reveal what’s beneath the surface.

As a 2025/2026 Iowa Artist Fellow, Devitt is part of a vibrant community of creatives shaping the future of the arts in Iowa and beyond.

👉 Read the full feature: https://craftcouncil.org/articles/kelly-devitts-clay-bodies-invite-touch/

Happy birthday to Cloris Leachman, who would have celebrated her 100th year today! We fondly remember when the award-winning actress came back to her hometown of Des Moines for the proclaimed "Cloris Leachman Day," a celebration of her achievements and records in her long film career.

We know she was as proud of being from Iowa as we are to celebrate her accomplishments!

State Historical Society of Iowa

🩰💃 Happy International Dance Day! 🕺🪩

Today we celebrate the power of movement to express emotion, tell stories, and connect communities.

Rooted in creativity and community, Iowa Dance Collective is transforming the dance landscape in Fairfield and beyond. Founded by Artistic Director Tyler Malone, the Collective has grown from a small studio into a vibrant cultural hub, offering rigorous, inclusive dance education and performance opportunities to hundreds of students each year.

This International Dance Day, we're especially excited to celebrate their work bringing "The Legacy of Isadora Duncan" to Iowa. In partnership with the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation and renowned artist Lori Belilove, this project invites Iowans of all ages to explore the revolutionary spirit of Isadora Duncan, the "mother of modern dance."

Through classes, workshops and community-based programming in schools, libraries, and eldercare spaces, participants will experience Duncan's technique and legacy firsthand. The project will culminate in a special performance at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre for the Performing Arts, alongside the filming of Isadora 150, a documentary highlighting Iowa's role in preserving and advancing dance history.

👏 Join us in celebrating dance as a living, evolving art form, and the incredible Iowa artists and organizations keeping it in motion.

💬 Tag your favorite Iowa dance artist or group below—and show some love for the art of dance!