Before I moved to Des Moines, I had never been to a state fair before. Sure, I grew up just one state east in Illinois, but we lived close enough to the city that agricultural contests and friends in 4-H were never part of my reality. Then I relocated to Iowa and was introduced to the Iowa State Fair.Continue Reading…
Of all the things to see at this year’s Iowa State Fair, a 25-foot-tall replica of Grant Wood’s famed “American Gothic” was among my favorites. The sculpture, titled”God Bless America” and built by New Jersey artist J. Seward Johnson Jr., has been in Iowa for years, but somehow I’m just getting around to seeing it now.Continue Reading…