March brings with it the hope for warmer spring days as well as exciting community engagement opportunities at the University of Iowa. Instructors incorporating community engagement into their Fall 2023 courses are encouraged to apply for the Community Engaged Course (CEC) designation. Undergraduate and graduate students in the arts shoulder consider registering for the upcoming Art as Community Engagement workshop, which will train students to bring their artistic vision to uplifting Iowa communities while building their portfolio and preparing to advance as professional artists.

We are inspired by the significant campus interest in our recently launched Community Engagement Network (CEN), which offers engaged faculty and staff opportunities to build connections and community and advance their work. There is still time to register for the first CEN meeting, and we encourage interested faculty and staff to click the link below. For those looking to launch or enhance their CECs, dates are now available for the Faculty Engagement Corps (FEC) orientation, formerly the Engaged Faculty Institute, to walk you through the process of developing a compelling and impactful experiential course for students while forming meaningful community partnerships.

Thank you to our campus and community partners whose passion and dedication are reaching every corner of the university while providing new and innovative pathways for faculty, staff and students to make a difference in communities.

In partnership,

Nick Benson

Executive Director

We are available to assist instructors in developing their CEC courses.

Please reach out to Nick Benson at nicholas-benson@uiowa.edu to receive help in designing your course to meet the CEC designation standards. 

Instructors and faculty planning to incorporate community engagement into their Fall 2023 courses have until Monday, March 27th, to apply for the Community Engaged Course (CEC) designation in MyUI. This designation allows students to proactively identify and register for courses that include community partnerships. 

Instructors will then be notified whether their course received the CEC designation. If the course did not meet the CEC criteria, instructors will receive feedback and support in making any modifications that would contribute to a stronger CEC application. Applicants will have time to re-submit their CEC application before the final list is due to the Office of the Registrar shortly before early registration for the Fall 2023 semester begins.

Courses previously designated as a CEC should be submitted using the abbreviated Re-Designation application. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

This two-day, intensive workshop is open to UI undergraduate and graduate students who have the skills and aptitude for visual and performing arts in the public sphere. Attendees will learn about innovative practices and techniques through a series of expert speakers as well as time to work on personal projects alongside working professionals.     

Students who successfully complete the two-day residency will be eligible to answer future requests for publicly engaged art by Iowa communities.

March 24 and 31, 2023, 12 - 3PM

University Capitol Centre

UCC 2520D (lunch included)

Public art installations elevate community pride while sharing local history and identity with visitors from across Iowa

Community-engaged residency partners student artists with communities while producing the next generation of public artists

Maura Pilcher is the director of the Grant Wood Art Colony (GWAC), which celebrates the life and legacy of Iowa's most famous artist, Grant Wood. Each year, the Colony provides three Fellowships in Painting & Drawing, Printmaking, and Interdisciplinary Performance in addition to hosting a biennial symposium and supporting community-engaged art partnerships with Arts Share and the Office of Community Engagement (OCE).

The history of community-engaged art at the University of Iowa (UI) begins with Grant Wood, who came to the university as part of the Public Works of Art Program in 1934.

"He had just completed American Gothic, which was all the rage at the time," Pilcher said. "When he was here, he worked on many murals and public art projects with university students, which made our community-engaged art residency and fellowship programs a good fit for GWAC, whose goal is to continue the life and legacy of Grant Wood."

Annual GWAC fellows stay at the UI for one year, teaching students, holding workshops, and bringing art programs to Iowa communities.

"Our fellows are only here for a year, which doesn't allow for deep engagement in a community," Pilcher said. "We have long-term connections with communities, but our fellows only get to do these little touches across Iowa. We needed a different way to ensure we participated in our mission's engagement component."

In response to the demand from communities across Iowa for sustained public art partnerships, GWAC and Arts Share came together within the OCE to create opportunities for UI students to bring their creativity and vision to public art installations that uplift the identity of local towns and cities while reflecting the values and history which define them.

The process began with a symposium in 2018 called Art in Public, where educators, artists, and working professionals - from lawyers to urban and regional planners – came to campus to talk about what art in public spaces means from practitioner and organizational perspectives along with how to create a program to teach the next generation of community-engaged artists at the university.

Following the symposium, GWAC held a public art residency, training nine UI undergrads and graduate students during a weeklong intensive. The following summer, students partnered with Iowa communities to create artwork in public spaces.

IMPACTING COMMUNITY EXPERIENCES

One of the first community-engaged art partnerships that formed was between the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities and Cedar County, Iowa, exploring the potential for a grant to fund a student video and public art project. Although the funding didn't come through, it did lead to a mural program focused on placemaking in communities.

"One of the Cedar County administrators was a strong believer that he wanted to get people off the interstate to travel through the county and check off these postcard murals as they drove through," Pilcher said. "As part of the residency, students met with local stakeholders, visited the towns, and created concept drawings that they presented to community members."

In response, multiple communities in Cedar County decided to move forward with a mural, including Stanwood, Mechanicsville, Tipton, and Lowden.

"Of the seven communities we had initially done, four are already up," Pilcher said. "I was at a City Hall meeting at West Branch, and one of the board members said, 'I just drove through Stanwood, and I want that in our community.' It was so great and affirming to hear that she was excited by how the students' art represented Stanwood."

Lowden, Iowa, was one of those communities looking to create an art installation to represent the community while attracting visitors.

"The front of our town was bland and uninviting, and we were looking for inspiration to attract new residents and visitors to our community," said Lowden City Clerk Sarah Carlson.

Despite having a large park, golf course, hotel, and restaurants to greet visitors, Lowden wanted to add more character to the entrance of the town off Highway 30.

"After much debate and community input, the city embarked on a mission to make a mural as visible as possible," Carlson said. "The final location we chose was a little unconventional but has had a big impact."

Lowden wanted to put a large mural on a fertilizer tank visible from the highway and worked with the UI to secure an artist to help capture the town's vision.

"The process was straightforward, and we met with the artist [Katlynne Underhill] on several occasions to discuss our needs," Carlson said. "The artist was very professional and inspired our residents with ideas and storyboards to help us decide on a postcard theme."

Since completing the installation, Lowden has received many compliments regarding the mural from new and existing residents, including visitors from other local communities.



"The City of Lowden chose the university program, and the artist who made the town's vision come to life and the finished product was amazing," Carlson said. "The impact to our community is one of pride and will continue to represent our town for years to come."

Have a story about how community-engaged teaching, learning, research, or the arts at the University of Iowa is impacting Iowa communities?

Reach out to james-dykeman@uiowa.edu to share your experience!

Faculty Engagement Corps Orientation Begins June 5th

If you teach at the university and are interested in learning more about how you can infuse community engagement into your courses, consider joining the Faculty Engagement Corps (FEC) and attend an orientation on June 5th & 6th, 2023. 

The orientation provides in-depth training on the components and best practices of community engaged teaching and learning and walks instructors through the entire process of creating or re-designing a community engaged course.

Join the Community Engagement Network (CEN)

The Community Engagement Network brings together UI scholars and practitioners who engage in community partnerships as a key part of their job or who work to create the environment that makes community engagement possible. 

Summer 2023 HPG Internships - Apply by March 9th

This is the fifth summer of the Mellon Foundation–funded Humanities for the Public Good internships, offered by the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies with support from the UI Graduate College.

These experiential opportunities allow UI humanities PhD students to work with local & campus partners for eight weeks. During this time, the students apply their skills as researchers & writers who are adept at critical analysis to a wide range of issues affecting our community.

Journal of Community Practice: Collaborations in Community-Engaged Research

Research collaborations between community engaged scholars and community practice partners often have an implied focus on issues that emerge from the community—rather than the academy.

Paper proposals are solicited that aim to highlight novel and creative methods, delineate lessons learned, identify funding strategies and challenges, explicate data analytic/meaning-making techniques, and underscore the importance of community voice.

The Office of Community Engagement is here to help with letters of support and one-on-one meetings with our office to discuss upcoming courses, research projects, and community partnerships.

UIDC is centering their research and performance this year on themes of belonging, community connection, and collective action toward climate change. 

Iowa High School students awarded 2023 Grant Wood Legacy Prize

The University of Iowa’s Grant Wood Art Colony (GWAC) will award three students from Iowa high schools with the Grant Wood Legacy Prize for outstanding visual arts at a writing awards ceremony as part of GWAC’s annual contest which aims to identify and uplift young artists. 

Current GWAC Fellows Michael Dixon and Johanna Winters selected Tanya Rastogi (Pleasant Valley High School, Riverdale), Samantha Bassanmas (Nowalk High School, Norwalk), and Charlotte Littlemoon (Iowa City High School, Iowa City) as winners for their demonstration of a Regional voice and skill. 

The Grant Wood Legacy Prize is a collaboration with the Belin-Blank Center, the Iowa and Midwest Region-at-Large Scholastic Art & Writing Awards affiliate. Prize winners and their educators will be recognized during the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards celebration video, available on March 4, 2023. 

Arts as Community Engagement Two Day Intensive

March 24 and 31, 12 - 3PM

University Capitol Centre

UCC 2520D (lunch included)

University of Iowa Dance Company - Workshop

March 6, 2:30 – 4 PM

The Arc of Southeast Iowa (Iowa City)

GEC Workshop - International Engagement

March 02, 5:30 - 7:30 PM

UI Theatre Building

Arts as Community Engagement Workshop

March 24, 12 - 3PM

UCC 2520D (lunch included)

GEC Workshop #3

March 27, 4:30 - 6:30 PM

UCC Seminar Room

Arts as Community Engagement Workshop

March 31, 12 - 3PM

UCC 2520D (lunch included)