2021 Art on the Prairie
Featured Activities
Chad Elliott
Wilderman's Treetop Tales
Children's Concerts @ Perry Public Library | 1101 Willis Avenue
Saturday, November 13th @ 10:30am & 1pm
Sunday, November 14th @ 1pm
Saturday, November 13th @ 10:30am & 1pm
Sunday, November 14th @ 1pm
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Midwest singer-songwriter Chad Elliott blends folk roots, swampy blues and soulful writing to deliver an original Americana sound. His live performances have been honed over a decade of being on the road performing more than 200 shows each year. Elliott is lauded as “Iowa’s Renaissance Man” by Culture Buzz Magazine. He has penned more than 1,500 songs in his career while also cultivating his skills as a painter, sculptor, illustrator and author, creating work at Elliott Art Studio in his home in Lamoni, IA.
Chad Elliott strives to create music and art that inspires, uplifts and moves audiences emotionally by relating life experiences through dream-like imagery. Elliott, who has 3 children, was inspired to write and record the Wilderman's book and album after becoming a father. Wilderman’s books, albums and art exhibits embrace the fires of creativity and inspiration. Elliott hopes this work will kindle a love for the
arts and the outdoors in children for generations to come.
Chad Elliott strives to create music and art that inspires, uplifts and moves audiences emotionally by relating life experiences through dream-like imagery. Elliott, who has 3 children, was inspired to write and record the Wilderman's book and album after becoming a father. Wilderman’s books, albums and art exhibits embrace the fires of creativity and inspiration. Elliott hopes this work will kindle a love for the
arts and the outdoors in children for generations to come.
Wilderman's Treetop Tales
Think Shel Silverstein with more color and a song album to imagine the whimsical lyrics and paintings of Wilderman’s Treetop Tales created by Chad Elliott.
The book is designed for ages 3-10 and contains both heartwarming and giggle-worthy poetry accompanied by Chad’s own illustrations. Elliott, who has been performing original songs for 20 years and is a winner of the Woody Guthrie Song contest, brings 10 of the lyrics from the book to life in the companion music album, also titled Wilderman’s Treetop Tales. Together, the book and album create an interdisciplinary offering of art, music and writing which allows the whole family to embrace wild imagination.
Think Shel Silverstein with more color and a song album to imagine the whimsical lyrics and paintings of Wilderman’s Treetop Tales created by Chad Elliott.
The book is designed for ages 3-10 and contains both heartwarming and giggle-worthy poetry accompanied by Chad’s own illustrations. Elliott, who has been performing original songs for 20 years and is a winner of the Woody Guthrie Song contest, brings 10 of the lyrics from the book to life in the companion music album, also titled Wilderman’s Treetop Tales. Together, the book and album create an interdisciplinary offering of art, music and writing which allows the whole family to embrace wild imagination.
Featured Artist: Jennifer Drinkwater
The What's Good Project & 168 Hours Series
Featured in The Cellar of La Poste | 1219 Warford Street
Saturday, November 13th 10am-5pm
Saturday, November 14th 10am-4pm
Saturday, November 13th 10am-5pm
Saturday, November 14th 10am-4pm
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A Mississippi native, Jennifer Drinkwater has lived in a lot of places - including the Mississippi Delta, a state park in Western Massachusetts, New Orleans, three Appalachian Trail crew base camps, a Blackfoot reservation in Montana, along the shoreline of Lake Turkana in Kenya, Eastern North Carolina, Atlanta, and artist residencies in several states. She has spent one year of her life in tents, and currently lives with her beloved husband and dog in an almost tiny house in Ames, Iowa.
Jennifer explores how we bring artwork from the studio into the world, and how art-making can both build and shape community. Over the years, she helped to organize a community-wide steamroll printmaking event in Perry, Iowa; created installations in restored prairies in Nebraska; collaborated on public art projects in vacant sites on Iowa main streets; spearheaded a community knit-bombing project; and has painted murals with middle school children on a juke joint in the Mississippi Delta and behind City Hall in Perry, Iowa.
Jennifer explores how we bring artwork from the studio into the world, and how art-making can both build and shape community. Over the years, she helped to organize a community-wide steamroll printmaking event in Perry, Iowa; created installations in restored prairies in Nebraska; collaborated on public art projects in vacant sites on Iowa main streets; spearheaded a community knit-bombing project; and has painted murals with middle school children on a juke joint in the Mississippi Delta and behind City Hall in Perry, Iowa.
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The What’s Good Project
Inspired by the conversations she has with folks around the country, Jennifer creates original paintings about “what’s good” in communities to celebrate the meaningful stories from where we all live. A portion of each art sale is donated back to those communities. 
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168 Hours Series
Using a deliberately slow, simple process with thousands of tiny cross-stitches, Jennifer has created a series of 24 replicas of Time and People magazines, the most popular weekly magazines in the U.S. Both short and long, 168 Hours refers to the amount of time each magazine spends on the newsstand, and a rough estimate of time spent stitching each cover. 
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2019 People's Choice
Betsy Peterson
Featured at Betsy Peterson Designs | 1121 2nd Street
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In 2019, festival-goers selected Betsy Peterson for the People's Choice Award. Usually this honor is rewarded by the selected artist choosing their booth space at the next year's festival. Although we skipped a year to host an online event in 2020, it wasn't a tough decision for where Betsy wanted to set-up this year... her own gallery!
Art has always been a part of Betsy Peterson, with early expression naturally spilling out as she experienced the
world around her. Following a formal art education at University of Iowa, Betsy taught elementary art
before home-schooling her two now-adult sons.
Inspiration is everywhere for Betsy, expressing what
she experiences in soft-sculpted figures with twig limbs, paintings and drawings. With bright colors, whimsical characters, and meaningful words, Betsy’s art draws from her soul. Her love of words, color, and childlike spontaneity pour into each piece, creating art that inspires generosity, gratitude and joy.
The Gallery is housed in the former 1927 JC Penney building on the corner of Second and Warford Streets, which she and her husband bought in 2015.
Art has always been a part of Betsy Peterson, with early expression naturally spilling out as she experienced the
world around her. Following a formal art education at University of Iowa, Betsy taught elementary art
before home-schooling her two now-adult sons.
Inspiration is everywhere for Betsy, expressing what
she experiences in soft-sculpted figures with twig limbs, paintings and drawings. With bright colors, whimsical characters, and meaningful words, Betsy’s art draws from her soul. Her love of words, color, and childlike spontaneity pour into each piece, creating art that inspires generosity, gratitude and joy.
The Gallery is housed in the former 1927 JC Penney building on the corner of Second and Warford Streets, which she and her husband bought in 2015.
Book Signing w/Bill & Barb Clark
Featured @ Hotel Pattee | 1112 Warford Street
Turtle on a Fence Post: Anecdotal Stories from the Restoration of the Hotel Pattee and Carnegie Library in Perry, Iowa by Bill & Barb Clark with Forward by Roberta Green Ahmanson
All profits to Hotel Pattee Capital Campaign
All profits to Hotel Pattee Capital Campaign
Video Screening:
We the Many Perry:
A Lively Evening of Music and True Stories
& Community Interviews
Featured @ Perry Public Library | 1101 Willis Avenue
In 2019, Perry was selected as one of just three communities in the Midwest to take part in a pilot program, We the Many, coordinated by Arts Midwest, with generous support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and in partnership with the Indiana Arts Commission, Iowa Arts Council, and
South Dakota Arts Festival.
We invite you to witness the outcome of this project, which sought to use creativity, empathy, and optimism to support the three towns in building new bridges within and beyond their communities, expanding the understanding of what it means to be a Midwesterner through the creative exchange of voices, cultures, and ideas.
We the Many of Perry: A Lively Evening of Music and True Stories was one of several art programs to celebrate the people and places of Perry. The evening was a chance for both novice and expert storytellers to share their reflections on life in
and beyond Perry, Iowa. These stories were months in the making, guided by artist in residence Erik Dominguez.
View the recorded performance and other short videos in the Perry Public Library Community Room during the Festival.
The We the Many of Perry storytelling event - which can also be viewed on YouTube - was the culmination of multiple storytelling workshops.
South Dakota Arts Festival.
We invite you to witness the outcome of this project, which sought to use creativity, empathy, and optimism to support the three towns in building new bridges within and beyond their communities, expanding the understanding of what it means to be a Midwesterner through the creative exchange of voices, cultures, and ideas.
We the Many of Perry: A Lively Evening of Music and True Stories was one of several art programs to celebrate the people and places of Perry. The evening was a chance for both novice and expert storytellers to share their reflections on life in
and beyond Perry, Iowa. These stories were months in the making, guided by artist in residence Erik Dominguez.
View the recorded performance and other short videos in the Perry Public Library Community Room during the Festival.
The We the Many of Perry storytelling event - which can also be viewed on YouTube - was the culmination of multiple storytelling workshops.