Amana Arts Guild

Visitors of Amana often speak of having had a certain picture of Iowa in their minds: a flat, uniform landscape with endless rows of corn. But when they arrive, they are surprised to find rolling hills with luxurious textures that have inspired vibrant landscapes and portraits by Grant Wood and other artists. As a community, Amana works hard to keep its fine arts and handcrafts alive. Currently the Amana Arts Guild recruits and assists blacksmiths, coppersmiths, broom makers and tinsmiths, reinvigorating Amana’s early trades. Today, the community finds itself at a critical point in its history where it must keep a balance between its tradition of innovation and preservation of the ways of the past in order to retain the rich skill sets of its tradespeople. To ensure that this knowledge, passed on through hands-on instruction, is properly shared, the Amana Arts Guild is working to find new ways to support and highlight these talented individuals.
Amana Arts Guild activities provide people of all age rich and rewarding cultural experiences in many areas of the arts. Established in 1978 as a non profit community arts council, the Guild continues to expand its list of programs and serves as a valuable resource of the Greater Amana area, the state of Iowa and the entire Midwest region. To further these activities the Guild maintains an Art and Folklife Center in High Amana that houses our art gallery and a shop filled with locally handmade items.