When you think of a vibrant community, what are some things that come to mind? Perhaps the bustle of traffic, pedestrians, bike-friendly, a multitude of community events, beautiful flowers and public art. Our community is working on many of these initiatives, and a recent grant award to the Grinnell Area Arts Council will help add public art to our town.

The Arts Council was recently awarded a grant from the Iowa Arts Council to introduce a new public art initiative in Grinnell. The initiative will commission four works of public art to be installed in the downtown area of Grinnell next summer. The new pieces will join existing artwork (murals, mosaics and a small number of sculptures) in our community and will be added to our "art walking tour" that is published on our website and in our visitor guide. An increased selection and variety of public art also opens up possibilities for including those things on group tour itineraries.

This mural adds color and interest to our downtown. It is painted on the side of the Grinnell Railway Express building near the Peppertree at the Depot Crossing restaurant.

The beauty of public art from a tourism perspective is that it is free-no tickets required. It is open to everyone, and you can view it alone or in groups. Public art adds to our culture and identity.

If you own a building or land in the downtown area and may be interested in hosting a piece of artwork, please let us know. And if you're an artist who may be interested in creating a piece of work, send us a note and we'll help connect you with more information.

--Rachael 

P.S. What else comes to mind when you think of vibrant communities? Please reply and let me know your thoughts!