About us

We are working to bring artistic opportunity and cultural experiences to small towns and communities in Northeastern Iowa, starting with the community we know best, Jesup. For those who did not know Steve Brown you should know he very well may have hated having an organization named after him. Though he inspired and supported countless students during his career as a high school art teacher, he was never one for the spotlight and in fact often went out of his way to avoid it. Unfortunately for him, he was successful in encouraging students and colleagues to dream and to embrace big ideas, lots of color, and the musical stylings of Ms Tina Turner. As a result, we now have a community who wants to honor his legacy by ensuring a permanent place for artists, culture, creatives, and community.

STEVE BROWN ART CENTER PRESENTS: Jesup News

We are excited to share The Steve Brown Art Center Podcast series with the world! We understand newspapers may be on their way out of small towns, and while we aren’t advocating for the change in news delivery, we are adapting so that we may provide low cost coverage of local news. Every Monday we will share our podcast which will include updates from Jesup Community School, White Funeral Home, Jesup community groups, and more to help keep our community updated on local happenings. The podcast is accessible on both Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

If you would like to contribute to our podcast please contact our producer Blake at blake@whatblxke.live or our host Jim Gillespie at 319-290-0241.

Our initiatives

  • Community Speaker Series

    Steve Brown’s classroom was a place students went to create, gather, and occasionally start fires. We’d like to recreate the space he made for his students by providing opportunities for the community to participate and engage with the artists and creatives who keep our town interesting.

  • Artist Residency

    Starving artists make the world go round. Well maybe they don’t, but they make it a pleasant world to live in, a prettier world even. We want to encourage students to dream, create, and contribute to their community. To help us do this we are fundraising for a property which will serve as a free place of living for college students in the arts, as well as early career artists. Artists who reside on the property will not pay rent but will contribute by offering free programming for local school systems and communities.

  • Pop-up Series

    Art doesn’t exist in a bubble and neither should we! Creativity goes well beyond a paint brush. We are excited to provide opportunities for those who might enjoy a wider array of community programs. Sparking interest in a new hobby or activity is essential to the creative process and building community while doing so is even better. We are designing both free and low-cost opportunities to engage with local businesses and community members by establishing community programming and special events.