See Iowa-made art and craft featured in the Smithsonian's State Fairs exhibition.
The Iowa State Fair has a place on the national stage. At the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., Iowa artists and makers are part of State Fairs: Growing American Craft.
Transcript
[Mary Savig, Curator-in-Charge for the Renwick Gallery] When I went to state fairs, including the Iowa State Fair, I saw craft everywhere. And for me, that is defined by things that are made with skill and by hand and also really emphasize ideas of process and memory. Fairgrounds are able to offer this really unique lens on American art.
(A gold, black, blue and red butterfly made of thread sits in a display case.)
(On screen text: Anne Hanson, Cedar Rapids — Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly)
(On screen text: Deborah Zeitler, Iowa City — Green Vessel with Beads)
As a fellow Midwesterner, one of my favorite conversation topics is the weather.
(On screen text: Debra Wykert, Muscatine — Temperature Quilt, Wonky Weather)
When I went to the 2023 State Fair and I saw this temperature quilt, I knew we had to have it in the show. I loved the storytelling of this. The artist, Debra Wykert, documented the weather for an entire year.
(A full size butter cow stands in the Renwick Gallery.)
(On screen text: Sarah, Hannah and Grace Pratt, West Des Moines — Curious Regard)
This is an example from the miniature competition at the Iowa State Fair, which was a very delightful surprise for me. It was one of my favorite unique competitions I came across during my state fair research.
(On screen text: Beth Grabu, Adel — The Pump House)
Someone who has earned a lot of accolades in the miniature competitive categories is Beth Grabau. She recreated this really amazing scene of her memory of her grandmother's pump house.
(On screen text: Deborah Zeitler, Iowa City — Leather Shoes)
(On screen text: Mary Shotwell, Des Moines — My Millefiore)
This amazing pyramid of canned foods is an homage to a lot of the canning and produce displays at state fairs. Historically, these were really elaborate displays that were really meant to promote the abundance of agriculture in the United States. We worked with an Iowa canner named Rod Zeitler. For Rod especially, things like color and composition are important.
And the biggest question I get on tours is what is in the fluorescent green jars, and that is Rod's award-winning mint jelly.
It's all I've talked about for the last 6 years to anybody who will listen, like how great these fairs are and what I'm learning from them. It's honestly just been a highlight of my career, if not my entire life. I never got to be a Dairy Queen, so I think this has been my, sort of, backup plan. If I couldn't be a Dairy Queen, it was to curate this show.
(On screen text: Growing American Craft)
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