Clarinda Carnegie Art Museum

[Abby Brown] Just up these stairs is an art museum that's a window to the world for all its visitors. It's a true treasure of imagination in this small southwest Iowa community.

(Map marking Page County in southwest Iowa.)

The Clarinda Carnegie Art Museum used to be a library. It was built in the early 1900s with money from Andrew Carnegie, a wealthy American businessman who decided to use some of his riches to fund the creation of over 2,500 libraries worldwide.

This Carnegie library had a huge impact on Karen and Robert Duncan, who grew up right here in Clarinda. When this building was no longer a library, it was just sitting empty and waiting for its next purpose. They bought it.

The Duncans are art collectors, so they decided to renovate the Carnegie Library building and turn it into a beautiful art gallery.

Visitors can see art from all over the world, in all types of mediums like sculptures, paintings, photographs, and even some unexpected styles.

(A wooden ladder with birds and other animals hanging off of its steps and at the top like puppets waiting for their strings to be pulled by the puppeteer.)

The exhibits change regularly, so there's always something new to admire. Just like a library, it's free to explore.

And just like a library, the Clarinda Carnegie Art Museum is where people can come to learn, grow, and use their imaginations to envision the world both near and far.

Andrew Carnegie's belief in the power of education resulted in 101 libraries being built in Iowa. One of them is now an impressive art museum continuing the quest for knowledge.

Every county in Iowa has its own unique outlook on the world. In Page County, that worldly view is through the lens of art.

Funding for FIND Iowa has been provided by The Coons Foundation, Pella and the Gilchrist Foundation.