Becca Castle Laughlin, with Golden Hills RC&D, said this self-guided tour allows participants to begin and end where they would like, come and go from location to location at their leisure, and explore diverse art forms – including fiber art, sculpture, pottery, painting, metal works, jewelry, glassware and much more from more than 90 artists.

This year’s Friday “Sneak Peek” hours are from 4 to 7 PM on September 15^th at 9 of the 18 locations.  This will provide attendees with the additional opportunity to explore the Gathering Places in Clarinda, Essex, Macedonia, Malvern, Neola and Villisca a little early – whether you can’t make it the other days or just need additional time to visit all locations over the weekend.  Avoca, Council Bluffs, Glenwood, Harlan and Red Oak’s Gathering Places will join the tour on Saturday morning; the hours for all locations are from 10 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, September 16^th and from Noon to 4 PM on Sunday, September 17^th.

Laughlin said two of the original locations are celebrating their own milestones this year.

The Southwest Iowa Art Tour is free to the public.

For more information, check the “Southwest Iowa Art” Tour Facebook page (with individual Facebook Events for each Gathering Place) and visit the website:  www.swiarttour.com, or contact Becca at rebecca.castle@goldenhillsrcd.org.

Becca Castle Laughlin, the Project Coordinator for Golden Hills Resource Conservation and Development, says in 2014, a group of southwest Iowa artists came together to pull off a regional event to connect their rural communities with a self-guided “Art Tour” to showcase their artworks, studios, galleries, and hometowns. The first year included nine participating communities and thirty artists.

Castle-Laughlin says the success of the Southwest Iowa Art Tour has grown to eleven communities, sixteen gathering places, and more than seventy local artists.

Castle-Laughlin says the tour features all artworks from fiber art, life-sized sculptures, pottery, painting, metal works, jewelry, and glassware from over seventy artists. She encourages attendees to go to the website to check out the locations of the various art exhibits.

The Friday, September 16, “sneak peek” hours are from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at 10 of the 16 locations.

This year a special “sneak peek” will be held on Friday, September 16, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at ten of the sixteen gathering locations at Clarinda, Essex, Macedonia, Malvern, Neola, and Villisca. The other gathering locations are Avoca, rural Clarinda, rural Essex, Harlan, and rural Malvern.

The  Oakland, Iowa-based Golden Hills Resource Conservation and Development coordinate the Southwest Iowa Art Tour and local participating artists’ collaborative efforts. The event is free to the public.

Click HERE to see the list of gatherings and locations