The CRMA Is for Art Lovers - Cedar Rapids Tourism Blog

Cedar Rapids: One Of America’s Great Small Art Museums

Over the past century, the CRMA has been bringing art to Cedar Rapids with a strong collection of more than 7,700 works of art.

The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art (CRMA) was founded as the Cedar Rapids Art Association in 1895 by a civic-minded group of citizens who were determined to have a visual arts institution at the core of this community.

Each year, the Museum presents a diverse series of exhibitions which brings the world of art to Cedar Rapids, as well as a wide variety of educational programs both at the Museum location and at the Grant Wood Studio which the CRMA owns and operates. The annual exhibition program generally includes 6-10 different temporary exhibitions chosen each year for the quality of the art and the potential for community educational activities. These temporary exhibitions complement the series of permanent collection exhibitions, which highlight the Museum’s holdings of Roman art, American art, and the work of Grant Wood and Marvin Cone. Since opening its new building in 1989, the CRMA has held nearly 400 exhibitions. Annually, the CRMA receives more than 35,000 visitors from all 50 states, as well as a dozen foreign countries.

In 2017, the Museum will present a wide variety of art through a series of temporary exhibitions. The spring season (January-May) will focus on the art of the print with one exhibition focusing on American printmaking and another on the art of the woodcut. The summer season (June-September) will be dominated by two exhibitions that concentrate on the art of watercolor painting, looking broadly at the medium in one exhibition and focusing on the art of local artist Tara Moorman in the other. The fall exhibition season (October- December) will look at two different but related exhibitions: Living Proof: The Visualization of Hope, a juried exhibition of art by area cancer survivors; and Figure Study: The Body in Art, which will investigate the changing perceptions of the human form in art over time.

All temporary exhibitions—as well as the permanent collection galleries— are accompanied by a rich series of educational programs, ranging from family-oriented activities, art-making classes and workshops for all ages, gallery tours, lectures, artist demonstrations, and much more.

CRMA gift shop