THIS WEEKEND WILL BE THE LAST TIME THE PUBLIC CAN SEE SIOUX CITY’S MOST FAMOUS ART LANDMARK BEFORE IT IS TEMPORARILY REMOVED.
GRANT WOOD’S CORN ROOM MURAL, WHICH WERE PAINTED IN 1926 AND HAVE BEEN ON PERMANENT DISPLAY SINCE 2007, WILL UNDERGO A YEAR-LONG CONSERVATION PROCESS.
ART CENTER CURATOR CHRISTOPHER ATKINS SAYS THE LAST TIME THEY WERE TREATED WAS 40 YEARS AGO:
CORNMURAL1 OC……….PEOPLE TO ENJOY. :25
THE CORN ROOM WAS ORIGINALLY COMMISSIONED BY EUGENE EPPLEY FOR THE MARTIN HOTEL IN SIOUX CITY NEARLY 100 YEARS AGO:
CORNMURAL2 OC…100 YEARS AGO. :23
ATKINS SAYS THE MURAL CONSERVATION PROCESS SHOULD BE FINISHED IN TIME FOR A CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THEM:
CORNMURAL3 OC……..AS WELL. :12
EPPLEY COMMISSIONED THREE CORN ROOM MURALS, WHICH WOOD PAINTED IN 1926-27 FOR HOTELS IN CEDAR RAPIDS, COUNCIL BLUFF, AND SIOUX CITY.
TOGETHER, THEY EPITOMIZE WOOD’S EARLY VISION OF AGRICULTURE AS THE BACKBONE OF THIS REGION.
WOOD WAS BORN IN ANAMOSA, IOWA, AND IS BEST KNOWN FOR AMERICAN GOTHIC, WHICH HE PAINTED IN 1930.
