The Governor and Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) announced the final round of the Destination Iowa grants designed to attract new people to the state.
One of the largest grants is $8 million for a new Dubuque Museum of Art. Executive Director Gary Stoppelman says it’s a big boost to their plans. “State support is really essential to launching a project of this scale. This grant will really be a catalyst we think that’s going to help stakeholders outside of the organization see all of the projects’ diverse impacts,” Stoppelman says.
The plan is to create 45,000 square feet of new space while tearing down the 15,000 square foot current building and making it into a sculpture garden. He says the space is needed for classes in particular, and to display the work of the artists from the area.
The two Grant Wood paintings in their collection are an example.
“We have the two most important Grant Woods outside of Chicago, those are crammed into a corner right now, instead of being showcased in a gallery that can reveal and share the breadth of Grant Woods’ work and the diversity of materials that he works with,” he says. “We can’t even get a whole class in front of his work right now.”
He says the new grant puts them well on the way to their 55 million-dollar campaign. “That is 45 million dollars of project costs and 20 million dollars towards the endowment. And we are sitting with this grant now — that puts us at 38. So 38, towards the 45, or the 65, depending on how you want to think about it,” Stoppelman says.
Stoppelman says the new building should be ready in a couple of years. “We’ve already begun in terms of planning, zoning and understanding, our ability to build and expand on the site. And then so that work has already begun. We’ll be going out that spring to select an architect,” he says. “And so I would imagine that we’re breaking ground hopefully by the end of the year, if not early next year, and our plans call for us to be substantially done by the end of ’26.”
Destination Iowa awards were granted to 46 projects totaling 115 million dollars. For a complete list of the grants, go to iowaeda.com.