Regionalism: Selections from the Permanent Collection

April 12, 2022

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December 31, 2040

This modest gallery was built when Grant Wood’s Corn Room mural was put on permanent display in 2007. That was the first time visitors could see this important piece of local art history since 1992. It had been recently conserved and the display was accompanied by a temporary exhibition called, Regionalism: Selections from the Permanent Collection.

Since the Corn Room panels were removed in February 2025 and are being conserved for the second time in 40 years, I have reprised this exhibition to celebrate the Regionalist movement from the Art Center’s collection. It shines a light on some of the other artists who were inspired by Wood and his cohort, including include Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry, Criss Glasell, and Jim Spencer.

Regionalism, which emerged in the 1930s and continued into the 1940s, was an important art movement that celebrated the agricultural heartland, exploring the complex and evolving relationship between American art, rural landscapes, and the idealized vision of Midwestern life. Even in the 1960 – 70s, artists such as Dimitar Krustev drew inspiration from Grant Wood and others. Together, the artworks in this exhibition examine the historical framing of Regionalism as a cultural inquiry of the social and creative dimensions of rural America, with a particular focus on agriculture, community, and the enduring iconography of the Midwest.

The Corn Room mural will return to the Sioux City Art Center in 2026.