Hustling? The Grinnell Area Arts Council knows all about the grind — in these upcoming months, the Arts Council will have launched at least one art exhibition a month, co-hosted a major summer musical theatre performance, and offered numerous art camps for local kids.
At the heart of the Arts Council’s hard work is Monica St. Angelo and her team of volunteers and staff. Together, they help bring art opportunities and public art to town, such as the wheat paste murals celebrating Edith Renfrow Smith, her family, and other Grinnellians back in 2024.
“What the wheat paste murals did was get people excited about public art in a way that maybe they hadn’t been before,” shared St. Angelo with Chamber Ambassadors. “And it was a lesson to us about how valuable that community connection piece is — it had us thinking about continuing to pursue public art with local artists or involving area kids.”
So when St. Angelo had a chance to apply for a grant with the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s Creative Places Accelerator, she built a team and got creative. The grant, which provided money to five Iowa communities for public art projects, gave St. Angelo and her partners the chance to launch a new public art project called “Creatures of Grinnell.”
Last summer, the Arts Council’s intern, Noelle Buehrer, collected drawings of creatures from Grinnell kids all over town, whether at Storytime Art in the Park, LINK programs, or even the Poweshiek County Fair. Then, a committee chose 15 of those creatures for Latitude Signage + Design to blow up into larger art installations.
The creatures are now being planted around Grinnell, with a large number concentrated downtown. During their big Kickoff Picnic on Sat., June 13 at the Grinnell Arts Center Lawn, the Arts Council will hand out interactive maps with the rough locations of the creatures. Plus, there will be free food and a creature parade! Through early July, the Arts Council will also display drawings of creatures from other area kids in their gallery.
“We ordered a lot of food, so please come by!” laughs St. Angelo. “But we saw how people were excited about finding the Clarke Cats mini-murals, and so we wanted to do a scavenger hunt again with the creatures.”
At the picnic, everyone will receive a map with a rough location of the creatures. When you find one, you’ll place a sticker (each one being one of the creatures) on your map of where you found it. These creatures will not be up permanently, but will be up for a long time, according to St. Angelo.
For those interested in art and engaging in more of their offerings, visit the Grinnell Area Arts Council website at https://www.grinnellarts.org/. Currently, the Arts Council team is responsible for Music in the Park on Thursday evenings and are helping to spearhead the upcoming production of “A Year with Frog and Toad.” Purchase tickets for the production online or at the Arts Council (926 Broad St).
“I really feel strongly about the Arts Council’s economic impact on the community — we’re seeing public art brings people to towns and make them want to live in town, especially in rural communities,” remarks St. Angelo.
Join her and her team at the Creatures of Grinnell Kickoff Picnic this Saturday!
Chamber Ambassadors from left to right:
- Evan Petig — The Grinnellian
- Nikki Armstead — Grinnell Chamber
- Cassie Busby — Pioneer Bookshop, Grinnell College
- Jennifer McAlexander — JM Consulting & Hawkeye Lock & Security
- Monique Shore — PFLAG Grinnell Poweshiek
- Palmer Muckler – Budding Entrepreneur
- Fran Conn
- Nicolle Donnelly — Poweshiek Insurance Agency
- Blake Pearson — Converge Chiropractic PLLC
- Monica St. Angelo — Grinnell Area Arts Council
- Trent Arment — MCG - Mahaska Communication Group
- Dan McCue — McCue & Associates LLC - American Family Insurance
- Donna Fischer — UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center
- Erin Bustin — Grinnell School of Music
- Kyra Pruszinfki — Grinnell Area Arts Council
- Sarah Bacehowski — OnMedia TV And Digital Marketing Sales
- Geneva Knobbe — Grinnell Motors
- Sarah Smith — Grinnell College with Grinnell College Community Connections
- Shivam Sharma — Country Inn & Suites by Radisson
- Libby Eggert — Grinnell College with Grinnell College Community Connections
- Yesenia Mozo — Grinnell Chamber
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