Anamosa - A Reminiscence 1838 - 1988

appeared on the ABC Good Morning America show. and
then on to The Whitney Museum. where she opened the
art exhibit of her late brother. Grant.
While on a visit to Anamosa. she was asked if she had
a favorite among Grant's work. She immediately
replied. “Woman With Plants". and added. "It is our
mother."
Nan Wood was the honored guest at the opening of
her brother Grant's traveling exhibition. ‘Grant Wood
— The Regionalist Vision’. at the Whitney Museum of
American Art in New York. June 16. 1983.
The cameo brooch that Nan wore for the painting.
‘American Gothic’ was a gift from Grant to his mother.
He had selected the gift because he saw in it a likeness
of his sister. Nan. It was also worn by his mother in the
painting. ‘Woman With Plants‘. For some of us. cameo
brooches and three-tined pitchforks have become
synonymous with Nan. Grant Wood. and his art.
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Artist Grant Wood's sister, Nan Wood Graham. is
shown with Dr. Gerald F. Brown at a reception in her
honor at the Fawn Creek Country Club in i 978.
Lisa Meeks. Nan Wood Graham and Johnny Meeks
are pictured at a reception in Anamosa. June I973.
Note Nan holding the Nan Wood Doll.
The Paint 'n Palette Club was organized June 8.
1955. by Mae Amelia Rumple. Mildred Barker Brown.
Marjorie Douglas. and Bemeita Carradus. all of
Anamosa.
The first meeting was held July 8. 1955. and the
charter members. besides the organizational
committee. were: Marion Salts. Irma Wilson, Alene
Easterly and Malinda Nielsen Derga.
The club is made up of amateur artists and was
fonned to provide a get-together for persons who like to
paint and to help stimulate creative ability. and to help
promote art appreciation in the community. The group
met in homes of the artists until Clate Dearbom offered
the upstairs of his general store at Stone City. Iowa. to
be used as a studio and art gallery for the artists.
In October 1955, only three months after it was
organized. the members held their first art show in
front of Dearborn's store building where 400 guests
registered. The following year. over 1000 persons
signed the attendance record.
In 1957 the Paint ‘n Palette Club was one of the
deciding factors in the selecting of Anamosa as the
subject of the film. ‘Small Town U.S.A.‘. a
documentary filmed by the U.S. Information Agency.
in 1959 the store building in Stone City was sold by
Mr. Dearborn. and after four years at that location. the
art club needed new facilities for the growing
Paint ’n Palette Club
Where Artists Get Together
submitted by Malinda Derga
261
organization. One week after the Dearborn store
building was sold. the reorganization of schools in the
area closed the doors of Antioch School. four miles east
of Anamosa. The Board of Directors of the school
offered the little one-room school house and grounds to
the Paint ‘n Palette Club. hoping that the group of
artists would be the logical group to appreciate and
preserve the first classroom of Iowa's most famous
artist. Grant Wood.
The property was bought by the club. restored. and
used as a studio and gallery. In July I962. a formal
dedication of the building as a Grant Wood Memorial.
was held. Paul Engle. noted writer and poet. and former
head of the Writer's Workshop at the University of
Iowa. gave the dedicatory address. Mr. Engle had been
a friend and contemporary of Grant's. Marvin Cone. the
Director of Art at Coe College in Cedar Rapids and a
fellow artist and good friend of Grant Wood. presented a
plaque. donated by John B. Turner of Cedar Rapids.
Thomas B. Powell. editor of the Anamosa newspapers.
a friend of the arts and a long time promoter of the Paint
‘n Palette Club. served as Master of Ceremonies.
Membership to the club continued to grow and more
space was needed to display artists’ works.
In 1964. Dr. Gerald F. Brown. an Anamosa physician
and surgeon. and also a member of the Paint ’n Palette
Club. financed the construction of a Log Cabin Art