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The Blanden: A gift that has kept giving for 90 years to the citizens of Fort Dodge, North Central Iowa

-Submitted photo
An area youth shows off some art work made during a class at the Blanden Memorial Art Museum.

For 90 years, the Blanden Memorial Art Museum has been the gift that keeps on giving.

And now, with plans for an offsite building to add more classroom space and more outside-the-box programs such as a robot-building class held in mid-July, the museum is moving forward to find new ways to benefit of the city of Fort Dodge and all of north central Iowa.

“The Blanden is always looking for ways to innovate and connect the art to the community,” said Eric Anderson, who has been museum director since 2015. “The offsite classroom will be a big step in that direction as we look to add equipment such as ceramic 3D printers and other art equipment that unites technology with art. There are other ideas and projects I wish to explore with new ways of connecting the Blanden to the greater area the museum serves. But one step at a time – we will let the dominos of progress fall as they need to and keep moving forward with the classroom project.”

It’s doubtful that Charles Granger Blanden – who in the midst of the Great Depression donated $40,000 (the equivalent of $865,000 in today’s dollars) toward the building of the museum to honor his wife Elizabeth – could have envisioned a three-day art camp in July at the Blanden where a dozen young people were charged with creating robots that, in turn, create art.

Robot Class: STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) vs. Art, it was called.

“The morning class created a movable art robot using simple tools such as a pool noodle, electric toothbrush, a rubber band and a lot of imagination,” said Meg Beshey, a museum assistant. “The robot would twirl around depending how you positioned the markers around its body or the pipe cleaner arm shapes. After construction, the kids got to test them out to see what would happen, what would be drawn and how long it would do a certain action. All elemental science type research done right there at the Blanden in the art education room.

“The neat part was watching their reactions to how the robot would behave depending on the marker, the task we made it do (we had them do time tests, pulling tests and a bowling test).

Mixing art and science is not often considered a “thing”. We made it that. Creating a science type object to create something artistic seemed odd to them, but they liked the challenge.

The challenge was getting the robot to do the art, much like an artist struggling with that next inspiration. It was interesting to watch the students figure out how to “adjust” a marker weight or motor inside would the robot do different designs or move faster in creating the art on paper.”

Anderson said the museum continually seeks new exhibits “to make as many connections as possible with the community and culture/sub-cultures that make up the fabric of Webster County and north central Iowa.” They include a comic book exhibit to show original drawings that were used in comic publications, an exhibit of quilting artists and a plan for a photo exhibit that focuses on county fairs and 4-H/FFA.

“A couple of exhibits that I have been working on and hope to showcase in the future,” he added, “would be an exhibit that connects with Dayton Rodeo and individuals who enjoy horses, an exhibit that would interest car lovers and also an exhibit about sports and/or car racing. It is really about looking at the community and seeing the large group interests and finding creative avenues to bring people to the Blanden.

“Staying relevant is a really good question, I see it as using technology as a tool to enhance the visitors’ visit and exploration of the art on display. The Blanden uses QR codes throughout the museum to connect visitors to videos about the artists or the creative process employed by the artist such as printing.”

Since it opened in 1932, the Blanden has been located in one building, at 920 Third Ave S., in the Historic Oak Hill District of Fort Dodge. By next summer, it hopes to open an offsite location that will create much-needed classroom space.

“We’ve started a kickoff, the Diamond Club, to celebrate the 90th to raise funds to help with facility development, looking out into the future,” Anderson said. “We’ll move our classrooms over there and then look at the space this creates in the museum – better ways to store our collection, more exhibit space, moving offices around.”

Anderson said more detail on the location and other aspects of the building will be known later this month.

“The new building triples the space that we now have for classrooms,” he said, noting that one classroom is undersized and located in the museum basement. “We have a number of different art classes for children of all ages, we do adult workshops – for those in high school and up. Our classrooms host a wide variety of activities.”

No doubt, the man who made all this possible and his wife who he honored would both approve.

Charles Granger Blanden’s father, Granger Blanden, was a grain dealer who died in 1861, leaving his wife Anna to raise their sons, Charles and Alonzo. Granger’s three brothers helped with raising the family and when one of them, Leander, a Civil War veteran who owned a 3,300-acre cattle ranch northwest of Manson, moved to Fort Dodge from Illinois in 1867, Anna Blanden and her sons followed in 1874. (Leander and brother Zeno are buried in Fort Dodge’s Oakland Cemetery.)

Charles Blanden, or “Charley” as he was called, worked as a clerk at the First National Bank in Fort Dodge where his uncle Leander had an ownership interest. Charley rose to the position of head cashier.

The Rev. William Mills brought his family to town from Ottumwa in 1876 to become the new rector at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. His daughter, Sarah Elizabeth (Lizzie), became a respected schoolteacher in Fort Dodge. In 1884, Charles Blanden and Lizzie were wed in Ottumwa at the old St. Mary’s Episcopal Church where her father had been reassigned.

Charles Blanden became Fort Dodge’s youngest mayor in 1887. His two-year term was highlighted by a cow ordinance controversy that divided the townspeople over the issue of whether to allow cows to roam free in the business district or banish them to the outskirts, according to a story by Alan F. Nelson in Iowa History Journal, titled: “Charles Blanden: Poet Laureate of Fort Dodge.”

The story continued:

“He wrote his first book of poetry as a resident of Fort Dodge as “Tancred’s Daughter and Other Poems” was published in 1889. With a substantial job opportunity and aspirations of furthering his writing career, Blanden and his wife moved to the Chicago, Illinois, area in 1890. The J. Rhodes Co. had offered him a position as manager of a major “Loop” building — the nine-story Postal Telegraph Building was also known as the Rialto Building. He held his job there until he retired in 1922. This was a position that offered him many business advantages to begin his accumulation of wealth.

“On the one hand, he was a shrewd businessman capable of standing up to the graft of big city bureaucrats. On the other, he was a prolific poet compared by serious critics to the likes of Edna St. Vincent Millay and Robert Frost. Forty years after leaving Fort Dodge, the town where he grew to manhood and began his career, Blanden donated enough money during the Great Depression to build the “Gem of the Cornfields” — the Blanden Memorial Art Museum in Fort Dodge.”

When Charles retired, he and Elizabeth moved to San Diego, where she died in 1929 at the age of 70. A year later, the Fort Dodge Federation of the Arts represented by Mr. and Mrs. O.M. Oleson traveled to San Diego to talk with Blanden about their plans for an art museum. Blanden considered two options: building an art museum in San Diego dedicated to his wife’s memory or in Fort Dodge. He chose Fort Dodge, giving $40,000 to build the museum (the total cost of which was $65,000) in a classic architectural style. The Blanden was designed by architect E.O. Damon Jr. of Fort Dodge after the neo-classical design of the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio. Blanden, who died in 1933 at the age of 76, also bequeathed his collection of art to the museum.

The museum site land was located on the grounds of a house that had burned down. The land was donated by Mrs. Ringland, the heir of Woolsey Wells, a pioneer settler of Fort Dodge, and maternal grandmother of Ann Smeltzer. The Blanden Memorial Art Museum opened on June 5, 1932, as Iowa’s first municipal art facility, donated to the city of Fort Dodge at completion.

According to Museums USA, the Blanden’s permanent collection is recognized for its superb holdings of modern American and European paintings, African sculptures, and the 16th – 20th century American, European, and Japanese prints. The museum permanent collection, rotated every few months for public viewing, includes the Ann R. Smeltzer Modernist collection of European and American painting and sculpture, the Harold D. Peterson collection of European and American prints, American photography, contemporary American art, Iowa artists, and Japanese screens and prints.

The newest exhibition features the work of Fort Dodge native Taylor Laufersweiler, who lives and works out of Brooklyn, New York. The show is titled “Out Of Place” and features a collection of Laufersweiler’s oil paintings. It will run through Sept. 17 in the second-floor gallery.

“The Blanden was my first exposure to painting/art as a young kid,” Laufersweiler said. “We went on a school field trip very early on in elementary school. Returning back to the Blanden years later by having a show there was a full-circle moment for me. My show ‘Out of Place’ has been really important to me because it’s the first time a lot of my family is seeing a presentation of my work in person. It is such a cool experience to see my art on the walls of the Blanden after growing up and seeing really incredible artwork presented there.

“The Blanden has a really exciting collection and it’s super cool to share space with those artists. Returning to my hometown for this show was great. Ever since I left for college my visits back home have been brief. Because they’re such short visits I focus on spending time with my family. In that way, this show was an exciting opportunity to reconnect with those that I haven’t had a chance to see in such a long time. I’m extremely grateful to Eric and the Blanden for this opportunity.”

In its early days, the museum was open only one day a week and was operated entirely by volunteers until 1970.

Now the Blanden has a staff of five – three of them fulltime: Director Eric Anderson, maintenance staffer Brad Bushman and a newly hired art educator, Angela Ayala. Part-time staffers are Pamela Kay and Meg Beshey. Since the easing of the pandemic, Anderson said the Blanden is in a “rebuilding state” for docents – “young and old, anybody who has an interest in art, a passion for history, enjoys talking to people.”

Bushman’s role is essential to the Blanden.

“My role at the museum entails a wide variety of duties,” Bushman said. “Cleaning the facility, maintenance of the property inside and out. Maintaining the heating and cooling system and keeping the functioning properly. This building was built in 1931 of brick and stone it was designed for the sole purpose of being an art museum. Regulating the temperature and humidity is the biggest challenge. Art work has to be kept at a constant temperature and humidity at all times and with an older building that can be a challenge as heating and cooling has advanced since. Every day is a busy day, whether it be tourist or maintenance itself. I learn every day and meet new and interesting people. I take care of everything within the building so my director has no worries and can concentrate on the museum operations and art. I truly enjoy my job.”

The Blanden Memorial Board of Trustees is headed by Chair/President Doug Brightman, a retired Fort Dodge school teacher. Jo Seltz is president of the Blanden Charitable Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the museum that raises funds through museum membership and gift endowment to provide for program funding for special exhibitions, education, events, collections conservation, and publications.

The museum is open five days a week – Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free. More information can be found on its website at www.blanden.org or by calling 515-573-2316.

Anderson said the total typical museum attendance is 9,000 yearly and that total typical program attendance is 5,000 yearly – “this includes art in the schools, community focus and other outreach programming along with in-house art classes.” The Blanden offers art workshops for all ages and skill levels, as well as art history lectures and other events throughout the year.

So, would Charles Granger Blanden approve of what has become of the building he named for his wife?

“I am sure Charles envisioned the Blanden being a great asset to the community,” Anderson said. “From what I understand of Charles as mayor, he was always striving for the city of Fort Dodge to be more of a metropolitan area. I think the Blanden was his way to provide a layer of culture and beauty to a town and community he had hopes for to become a beacon in the middle of Iowa.

“I feel that the Blanden is a place of creative energy providing beauty, contemplation, inspiration and understanding for the community. The museum’s purpose to be as welcoming as possible for all who visit and to let the visitor own their experience. Through that interaction of creativity, ownership, and learning, visitors become inspired to produce and express themselves through the arts.”

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