About Grinnell

Arts and Culture in Grinnell

Grinnell offers a variety of cultural experiences, both in town and through the college. From theatre, art galleries, museums and even the library, Grinnell is a wonderful cultural center of central Iowa.

Art
Grinnell College's Faulconer Gallery hosts major changing exhibitions of significant historical and contemporary art on a rotating basis. Free and open to the public, Faulconer Gallery strives to be a college gallery of distinction and to serve as a cultural resource for our communities on and off campus.

The Grinnell Area Arts Council is full of activities open to public participation as well as offering a variety of art classes to all experience levels.

Downtown offers the opportunity to view art exhibits at the Grinnell Community Art Gallery, The Phoenix Cafe & Inn, and Saint's Rest Coffee House.

For additional points of interest, visit the Faulconer Gallery points of interest page.

Film
Grinnell College offers a variety of film opportunities. From cultural films to popular flicks in Harris Cinema, all events are free and open to the public.

Newly restored in 2004, the Strand 3 Theatre is a state-of-the art, triplex theater. Located in the heart of downtown, the Strand features current first-run movies. For show times, call (641) 236-7600 or visit the Fridley Theatres webite.

Built in 1916, the Strand served as an active movie theatre until March, 2002, when it closed because the single-screen format was no longer viable in a town the size of Grinnell. Shortly thereafter, a group of local investors formed the Strand LLC to bring the theater back to life. Grinnell Renaissance, a downtown revitalization partnership of the City of Grinnell and Grinnell College, worked with the Strand LLC to successfully raise over $100,000 locally to help restore the original facade.

Libraries
Stewart Library is a community institution whose mission is to provide free, open access to the records of human thought and achievement. Regular reading programs open the world of books to readers of all ages.

Grinnell College's Burling Library also offers a variety of resources to both college students and Grinnell residents. From research books to periodicals Burling Library is a wealth of information. The library also maintains a print and drawing collection through the archive collection in the Iowa Room.

 

Grinnell Historical Museum
Housed in the untouched Victorian-era McMurray House dating from 1895, the Grinnell Historical Museum, 1125 Broad Street, is dedicated to preserving the community's link to the past. It features horse-drawn carriages built in Grinnell, the desk of city founder J.B. Grinnell, and other local artifacts.

In addition to the material displays, the museum preserves many forms of historical and genealogical information about former residents of this and nearby communities. From scrapbooks to plat records to cemetery listings, the archive room of the museum is packed with fascinating information about the lives of Grinnell's inhabitants.

The museum is open from 2–4 p.m. on weekends. In June, July, and August, the museum has extended summer hours from 2-4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

Theatre and Music

Grinnell College’s Bucksbaum Center for the Arts houses four well-used performance spaces:

• Robert's Theatre, a modern caliper stage;
• Hallie Flanagan Studio Theatre, a black box theatre;
• The Wall Performance Lab, a small, flexible performance space; and
• Sebring-Lewis Recital Hall, a state-of-the-art auditorium.

From fully mounted mainstage productions to improvisation shows and visiting world-renowned musicians to student recitals, all events are free and open to the public.

From late May through August, the Grinnell Area Arts Council sponsors Thursday evening "Music in the Park" concerts in the city's Central Park gazebo.  The series features a variety of regional folk, blues, country, jazz and rock performers, as well as Grinnell's own Community Band.

In the community, performances are regularly held at the Babe Voertman Theater as well as other innovative venues such as dinner theatre and Shakespeare in the Park. Grinnell High School also hosts many performances that are open to the public.