Art Projects
Prairie Cairn
British installation artist Andy Goldsworthy created this sculpture at Grinnell College's Conard Environmental Research Area in 2001
Roots of Renewal
A 2003 art exhibition focusing on challenges and changes in the Upper Midwest under pressure from new immigrants, new industries, new farming practices, and new attitudes towards the original tallgrass prairie; a collaboration between Grinnell College's Faulconer Gallery and the Center for Prairie Studies
The Prairie Suite
A suite of 12 original prints by twelve artists, commissioned by the Center for Prairie Studies and completed in 2001, united around the themes of prairie and place
Iowa's Vanishing Agrarian Landscapes
A collaboration between the Center for Prairie Studies and New Haven, Connecticut, photographer David Ottenstein resulted in thousands of photographs of the changing Iowa countryside.
Collaborations
Grinnell Parks
Local Food System - the Grinnell Area Local Foods Alliance is a multifaceted effort to promote better understanding of our current food system and local foods-based alternatives to it.
Local Food System
The Grinnell Area Local Foods Alliance is a multifaceted effort to promote better understanding of our current food system and local food-based alternatives to it.
Outreach - Local Schools
The Center continually seeks ways of connecting people of all ages to the natural landscape of this region. One such way is through partnerships with local schools that create opportunities for kids to learn about prairie and other native habitats.
Pioneer Cemeteries
The Center for Prairie Studies has worked with the Poweshiek County Pioneer Cemetery Commission in planning prairie restoration and maintenance at a pioneer cemetery near Victor.
Pioneer cemeteries are some of the best places to look for prairie remnants, prairies that have never been plowed. A pioneer cemetery is a cemetery that has had fewer than 6 burials in the last 50 years.
Center staff, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, students with the Grinnell College Environmental Action Group, members of the Poweshiek County Pioneer Cemetery Commission, and Township trustees are all working together to restore prairie to the Old Victor Pioneer Cemetery in Poweshiek County.
Poweshiek Skipper Project
The Poweshiek skipper, Oarisma poweshiek (Parker 1870) is a small butterfly that was discovered in Grinnell, Iowa and named after the county in which it was found. Volunteers have looked for this butterfly for two years in a row. Read more about this project in the Fall Newsletter and on the Poweshiek Skipper website.
Iowa River Corridor
In 2005, the Center for Prairie Studies collaborated with the Iowa Valley Resource Conservation & Development office, Free River Press, and author and publisher Robert Wolf to create The Iowa River Corridor Book: A Subregional Profile from the Amanas to Tama and Toledo. The publication, based on the premise that economic and cultural regionalism offer an alternative to globalization, explores the Iowa River corridor through short essays (many written by Grinnell College students and faculty), photographs (most of them taken by high school students from corridor communities), and an assessment of community assets and needs.