Anamosa - A Reminiscence 1838 - 1988

the beginning of the change to a one-day event.
Historical vignettes were staged by the New
Chautauqua Society. Admission was increased to 82. A
Grant Wood Coloring Book. offered for sale. featured 46
of 866 black and white line drawings submitted by
students from five area grade schools. Two large road
signs in the shape of the ice wagon and painted red and
yellow. the official festival colors. were used for the first
time.
With the help of Frank Deutmeyer and Weber Stone
Co.. the festival had a new road cut through the
countryside by the barn to help ease the flow of traffic
in 1981. A new ice wagon was painted by artist John
Klopp and two former Art Colony students. Bob Proost
and Don Houts. and displayed at the Festival.
The 1982 Festival. the 10th anniversary of the
Festival and the 50th anniversary of the Art Colony.
saw an expanded historical exhibit at the Blacksmith
Shop. This anniversary. along with renewed interest in
regionalist art. expanded media coverage and excellent
weather made this year's festival the largest to date.
Nan Wood Graham was a special guest of the 1983
Festival and was presented with second purchase prize.
An exhibit of American Gothic caricatures. collected by
Anamosa businessman Price Slate. was exhibited at
the Blacksmith Shop for the first time. Also new this
year. was the awarding of two art scholarships in honor
of Bob Proost. former Art Colony student. and George
and Annie -Nissen. owners of the Green-Nissen Estate.
site of the Festival.
An antique car display and vintage clothing style
show were special features of the 1984 Festival. For the
flrst time. information booths designed like the ice
wagons provided guests with directions to various
attractions at the Festival. Two weeks later. the
Festival board and a group of dance theater volunteers
sponsored workshops and a performance of the
Nikolais Dance Theater as part of the Iowa Dance
Residency program at the University of Iowa.
Seven pre-festival workshops were offered in 1985 as
the result of a grant received from the Iowa Arts
Council. The only change was the Festival badge. now
$3. for those I4 and older. The badge also provided
admission to ‘Saturday Night in Stone City’. a concert
under the stars by the Meredith String Quartet of the
Des Moines Symphony.
As part of the Iowa Homecoming '86. former Art
Colony and other students of Grant Wood were invited
as special guests at the 1986 Festival. Six former
students were present and honored. A window
decorating contest for Anamosa merchants and
Saturday night country and bluegrass concert helped
promote the Festival. now a well-known event.
attracting nearly 100 juried artists. In the fall of 1986.
the Festival board donated $500 to the Anamosa
Chamber of Commerce toward the new Anamosa-Grant
Wood Country sign at the southeast intersection to
town and sponsored a Very Special Arts Iowa traveling
exhibit.
A grant from the Iowa Arts Council provided the
funds for a second stage of entertainment at the
Blacksmith Shop and a display of nine Grant Wood
original paintings in St. Joseph's Church Hall in 1987.
Both were popular additions and contributed to the
large crowd in spite of the 100 degree heat. A new fourcolor
brochure had been printed earlier in the year and
widely distributed at mall promotions. travel shows
and mail. A photography contest was sponsored for the
first time. Also pa.rt of the Festival was a special exhibit
in Anamosa of a life-size bronze eagle by artist Denny
Rogers.
In 1987. a storage building was erected just north of
the church on property donated by Frank Deutmeyer.
The front of the building is a facade of Wood's famous
American Gothic house. Ice wagons. signs and other
properties are now housed in this building. In July.
through the efforts of state legislators Bev Hannon and
Andy McKean. the Festival received a $40,000
appropriation from the Iowa Department of Economic
Development. All money must be matched by the
Festival by cash or in-kind funds and will help pay for
the storage building and purchase the former l.E.
building in Anamosa. This site is now headquarters for
Grant Wood Tourism Center and Gallery and also
serves as office for the Chamber of Commerce and the
Sesquicentennial.. During its 15 years of existence.
the annual Festival is recognized nationwide as a major
art event. attacting vistitors from all over the world. At
the 1987 festival. guests were registered from 15 states
and flve foreign countr1es. In addition. the juried art
show attracts artists from throughout the mid-west.
Enany returning for the annuual event in historic Stone
ity.
Through purchase prizes. scholarships. badges and
other contests. and cash contributions of over 89.000
for the preservation of the Stone City school building.
the Grant Wood Festival has been an important factor
in the cultural developemt of the community. The
original purpose of the Festival — to preserve the
heritage of Artist Grant Wood and the historic area of
Stone City — has. indeed. been fulfilled.
The old fairgrounds provided the site for the main
feature of Anamosa‘s 1938 Centennial Pageant. with
the history of Anamosa told in pageantry and
pantomime on a Friday night under the stars. in the
open fields of the grounds area. The program.
presented under the auspices of the Daughters of the
American Revolution. was given in seven sections.
telling the past 100 years history.
The first scene was an Indian village on the trail
between Dubuque and Iowa City. and the arrival of the
first settlers. the setting up of the saw mill and
blacksmith shop on the spot which later became
193 8 Centennial Pageant
compiled by Mildred Brown
266
Anamosa.
The second scene was Mr.and Mrs. Ford and Edmund
Booth in the Wapsi House. and the arrival of the Indian
girl. Anamosa.
The third section was devoted to the playing of oldtime
games. which were popular in pioneer days.
A home scene during the Civil War days was provided
by the Women's Relief Corps. as the fourth section.
The fifth scene included a group of young people.
dancing the Virgina Reel. a popular dance in the early
days.
The sixth portion of the program represented the