Cedar Rapids adds Gothic art

Des Moines had pigs. Chicago had cows. Now Cedar Rapids plans to have Iowa artists decorate 60 pairs of fiberglass statues of the man and woman from the painting “American Gothic.” Josh Schamberger, of the Cedar Rapids-area Convention and Visitors Bureau, says it’s a tribute to artist Grant Wood.Schamberger says the American Gothic is the world’s second-most recognized painting behind only the Mona Lisa. Iowa-born Wood painted the portrait in Cedar Rapids of the now-famous stone-faced farm couple, with the man holding a pitchfork. Schamberger says the artists will be taking many liberties with the two through this project, dubbed “Overalls All Over.” Besides being depicted as bikers, other artists plan to portray the life-size statues as fish or rabbits. The statues will go on display around Cedar Rapids in June and will be up through the summer with a fundraising auction later this year. The American Gothic may be the second-most recognizable painting in the world, but Schamberger says it is the most “spoofed” painting in the world.